Gloucestershire under GrahamB (story)

[GrahamB]

More coming after the real life World Cup!

[GrahamB]

FC Match 4 - Home v Sussex

Ferisco Adams pulled up short at training with a hamstring injury. He is likely to be out for three weeks at least, so reserve overseas player 22 year old Aussie Henry McKenzie will get the chance to demonstrate his talents.
McKenzie is probably a better batsman than Adams, but less dominant with the ball.

With conditions expected to favour the pace bowlers, we've made two changes to our side.
McKenzie replaces Adams, while Ryan Higgins gets another chance in place of Mark Watt.


Gloucestershire

J.Goodwin
M.Hammond
I.Cockbain
T.Hellawell
A.Copperfield
B.Brown (wk and capt)
A.Hunt
H.McKenzie
R.Higgins
O.Robinson
P.Bramble


Sussex

S.van Zyl
H.Finch
P.Salt
M.Burgess
L.Wells
S.Bishop
M.Yapp
G.Dockrell
J.Archer
C.Overton
M.Rahman


We've again lost the toss and will be in the field.
Could be a tough challenge!

[GrahamB]

Glamorgan - 433 (J.Lawlor-130, A.Perera-74, N.Selman-69, M.Hammond-6/63)

Gloucestershire - 394/9 declared (J.Goodwin-141, A.Copperfield-106*, I.Cockbain-58, R.Smith-3/95, S.Harmer-3/111)

Glamorgan - 253/5 declared (J.Lawlor-78, T.Bentall-73, P.Bramble-3/59)

Gloucestershire - 178/2 (M.Hammond-65*)

Match drawn.


In what seems to be fairly typical, the Glamorgan pitch was batsman-friendly.

We lost the toss and our poor bowlers had to toil long and hard.
Jeremy Lawlor and Nick Selman had an opening stand of 144, and then Lawlor and Kiran Carson took the score through to 244 before the second wicket fell.
In desperation, we turned to the part-time spin of Miles Hammond to give others a well=earned rest.
What a masterstroke that turned out to be, as he proceeded to claim 6/63!
Angelo Perera tried to hold things together with a fine half century, but Phil Bramble eventually removed him.
Still, 433 was a great total for the home side and put them on top.

Fortunately, batting continued to be fairly comfortable, and led by centuries to both Jake Goodwin and Anthony Copperfield we eventually declared, conceding a small first innings lead.
At 282/3, it had promised to be so much better, but Ruaidhri Smith inspired a Glamorgan fightback, finishing with 3/95.

Young Glamorgan opening batsman, Lawlor, was again prominent along with Terry Bentall as the home side got through to 253/5 before declaring

We required 287 for victory, but despite the good batting conditions, time was heavily against us.
As a consequence, the game ended in a draw.

[bryce87]

They use Billy Root and Angelo Pereira for spin.

Wow, enjoy piling on the runs!

[GrahamB]

Glamorgan playing only three bowlers?

They use Billy Root and Angelo Pereira for spin.

[bryce87]

Glamorgan playing only three bowlers?

In two seasons Hammond has been great on my save! Haven't needed him much in LO though because have a lot of OD openers.

[GrahamB]

FC Match 3 - Away v Glamorgan

We're up against a solid looking Glamorgan side next.
With all squad members available for selection, Ian Cockbain and Anthony Copperfield come back in, replacing Ben Charlesworth and Benny Howell.
Ryan Higgins continues to be omitted.


Gloucestershire

J.Goodwin
M.Hammond
I.Cockbain
T.Hellawell
A.Copperfield
B.Brown (wk and capt)
A.Hunt
F.Adams
M.Watt
O.Robinson
P.Bramble


Glamorgan

J.Lawlor
N.Selman
K.Carlson
T.Bentall
A.Perera
B.Root
C.Ingram
P.Rattee (wk)
R.Smith
S.Harmer
M.de Lange

[GrahamB]

We batted first and it was Tom Hellawell, moving up to number 3, who held us together with a classy century.
Later in the innings there were useful contributions from both Benny Howell and Mark Watt, as we put up 309 all out.
Young Afghani spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman impressed and was a real handful, finishing with 4/72.
Shane Snater also bowled well and took three wickets.

Despite Nick Browne, Daniel Lawrence and Ravi Bopara all getting into their forties before being dismissed, Essex were looking like they might concede a first innings lead at 227/6.
However, Chris Dent had a point to make against us and he did so with a defiant 115, gaining good support from paceman Matt Quinn, who registered the fourth half century of his career.
Essex were finally dismissed for 359 and the pressure was back on us.
Mark Watt was the most successful of our bowlers with 4/80.

Jake Goodwin and Miles Hammond put our minds at ease with an opening stand of 111.
Half centuries to Ben Charlesworth and Ben Brown as well saw us declaring at 351/4 half an hour before on the final day to let our bowlers loose again.
A sporting declaration was never on unfortunately, and the match ended up as drawn.


Gloucestershire - 309 (T.Hellawell-109, M.Ur Rahman-4/75, S.Snater-3/52)

Essex - 369 (C.Dent-115, M.Quinn-61, M.Watt-4/80)

Gloucestershire - 351/4 declared (B.Brown-87, J.Goodwin-84, B.Charlesworth-61*, M.Hammond-58)

Essex - 70/1

Match drawn.

[GrahamB]

FC Match 2 - Home v Essex

Following our extended OD campaign, a few of our players require a rest and will not be playing in this match.
Those affected and therefore unavailable are Ian Cockbain, Anthony Copperfield and Gareth Roderick.
Ex-Gloucestershire player Chris Dent has found a new home at Essex as a middle order batsman, and will be playing against us.


Gloucestershire

J.Goodwin
M.Hammond
T.Hellawell
B.Charlesworth
B.Brown (wk and capt)
A.Hunt
B.Howell
F.Adams
M.Watt
O.Robinson
P.Bramble


Essex

N.Browne
A.Cook
D.Lawrence
R.Bopara
C.Dent
V.Chopra
A.Wheater (wk)
M.Quinn
M.Ur Rahman
S.Snater
S.Cook

[GrahamB]

Well done. I'm on the third season of my county save, needed an opener and Hammond was available so I scooped him up after seeing him go so well for you! Good luck for the semi!

Thanks.

[bryce87]

Well done. I'm on the third season of my county save, needed an opener and Hammond was available so I scooped him up after seeing him go so well for you! Good luck for the semi!

[GrahamB]

OD SEMI-FINAL

Hampshire won the toss and elected to bat.
This was disappointing for us because we knew that conditions were becoming very cloudy as the day progressed.

Once we'd got rid of Cameron Bancroft early, Rilee Roussow and Samit Patel developed a good partnership for the second wicket.
After both had been sent on their way, we made regular inroads into the batting, and before too long, Hampshire were 212/8.
In what would prove to be the winning of the match, James Fuller and Chris Wood then took their side through to a more than respectable (under the conditions) total of 259/8.
Miles Hammond was the best of our bowlers with 3/41. He was only brought on to see how he would go, because Benny Howell had been rather expensive.

Howell made it up with the bat though, holding the top of the innings together with a knock of 47.
However, conditions had deteriorated as expected and before long we were struggling at 112/5.
A decent contricution from Anthony Hunt and a captain's half century from Gareth Roderick took us through to 210/6, at which point we were probably favourites to win.
But with Mark Watt playing instead of Ryan Higgins, we have a slightly longer tail than usual, and they were unfortunately unable to see us to victory.
Chris Wood (3/48) and Liam Dawson (3/32) were the bowlers to do the damage.


Hampshire - 259/8 (R.Roussow-59, S.Patel-41, M.Hammond-3/41)

Gloucestershire - 230 (G.Roderick-59, B.Howell-47, L.Dawson-3/32, C.Wood-3/38)

Win to Hampshire by 29 runs.

[GrahamB]

OD QUARTER-FINAL

Worcestershire won the toss and put us in to bat.
Although conditions didn't promise a high-scoring game, we were still a little disappointed to be dismissed for 243.
Whilst there were good contributions from Miles Hammond, Ian Cockbain, Tom Hellawell and Ferisco Adams, none of them could reach 50.
Ed Barnard and Joe Leach were the pick of the visiting bowlers, picking up three wickets each.

The Worcestershire batsmen didn't fare any better, with Brett D'Oliveira and Ross Whiteley doing best.
The key difference was that we'd risked going in with a spinner, Mark Watts, and that proved to be a masterstroke.
Stu Whittingham and Watt were able to claim four victims each, as the Worcestershire challenge petered out.


Gloucestershire - 243 (T.Hellawell-47, F.Adams-46, J.Leach-3/40, E.Barnard-3/47)

Worcestershire - 187 (B.D'Oliveira-47, S.Whittingham-4/35, M.Watts-4/45)

Win to Gloucestershire by 59 runs.

[GrahamB]

OD Match 8

We put Essex in to bat, and despite half centuries from Tom Westley and Adam Wheatley, managed to restrict them to 231 all out.
Phil Bramble took 4/31 and Ferisco Adams 3/49.

In reply, we paced ourselves rather than going too aggressively.
Miles Hammond and Benny Howell put on another big opening stand, this time 166.
Hammond was out for 99 in the previous match, but this time he made no mistake, completing his third OD century in 25 matches.
Howell was dismissed nearer to the winning score for a sedate 75 by his standards, but Ian Cockbain came in and finished the job.


Essex - 231 (T.Westley-74, A.Wheater-69, P.Bramble-4/31, F.Adams-3/49)

Gloucestershire - 236/3 (M.Hammond-102, B.Howell-75, I.Cockbain-44*)

Win to Gloucestershire by 7 wickets.




Into the playoffs for the first time. Woohoo!

[GrahamB]

OD Match 7

Sussex chose to bat first, but tight bowling from all of our bowlers (except Benny Howell) kept the final total to a reasonable one for us.
Stiian van Zyl and Sam Bishop were the main contributors for Sussex, but others also chipped in with a few.
Ferisco Adams finished with figures of 10-1-35-2.

Benny Howell and Miles Hammond were overdue to make decent scores, but an opening partnership of 182 was better than we could have imagined.
Both batsmen were cruelly dismissed in their 90's, but the damage had been done and victory soon followed.


Sussex - 249/8 (S.van Zyl-56, S.Bishop-45)

Gloucestershire - 252/2 (M.Hammond-99, B.Howell-90)

Win to Gloucestershire by 8 wickets.


Even with a 5 win 2 loss record, failure to win our final game could see us miss out on the playoffs.