Surrey Specsavers D1 Loss

Day 3

ASHWIN SHOWS PERSONAL PRIDE 

but the rest form a procession as Notts fall to another heavy defeat.

Ravi Ashwin in partnerships with Stuart Broad and Zak Chappell prove what could have been possible had it not been for the inadequacies of other colleagues


Notts or should that be Ashwinshire crashed to another heavy defeat at sunny Trent Bridge this afternoon. This time the margin of defeat was 167 runs, a close game by 2019 Notts standards. Zak Chappell was the last man to fall at 1548. Amar Virdi the young 20 year old off spinner finished with a 14 wicket haul in his first championship outing of the season, completely bamboozling the Notts top order who did not have even the basic techniques to cope with the turning ball. Standing alone on the burning deck was Ravi Ashwin who narrowly failed to reach the match double taking 12 for 144 and scoring 93 runs for once out during the game. His professionalism has shone through like a beacon in the last three games; sadly this has not transmitted to the majority of the rest of team which remain sadly short of confidence and lacking the backbone for a fight. It is currently a very sad state of affairs.

Poor match for the keeper

Jordan Clark was dropped behind the wicket on 53 by Moores off Ashwin. The wicket keeper having another poor match. But Ashwin got his man in his next over leg before attempting a reverse sweep for 54, 207 for eight. Batty (29) fell in Ashwin's following over skying the ball to Libby at mid wicket, 216 for nine. Chappell was hit for successive fours of the opening two balls by Morkel and then came the declaration came mid over at 224 for nine declared. 

Best since Shreck

Ashwin 6 for 75 in the innings and 12 for 144 in the contest. His match figures were the best recorded in a Notts fixture since Charlie Shreck took 12 for 129 against Middlesex at Trent Bridge in 2006.
A brisk leg side delivery from Morkel (Pavilion End) saw Slater fend the ball to keeper Smith who took the catch diving to his right, 21 for one. Ben Slater out for a duck. In the eighth over Moores caught in the crease was leg before to Virdi for 6, 30 for two. Ten minutes before lunch Libby (21) was leg before to Virdi, 47 for three. Notts added a further 11 runs before lunch with Clarke on 16 and Mullaney on 1.

Strike-up the band, the procession has started

Five minutes after lunch Joe Clarke (19) lost his off stump to Virdi, 61 for four. Patel (3) lasted nine balls before falling plumb leg before to Virdi, 71 for five. Next over Mullaney (3) was caught at short leg off Batty, 71 for six. Patterson-White lasted 14 balls before being caught at silly point by Burns off Batty for a duck, 73 for seven. Wood (5) was caught at first slip by Rikki Clarke off Virdi, Notts 92 for eight in the 22nd over and looking like they may not make three figures. But the last two wickets almost doubled the score. Firstly Ashwin and Broad added 56 in 12 overs for the ninth wicket, Broad was then stumped by Smith off Virdi for 30, an innings containing five boundaries. Chappell (8) then added 33 with Ashwin before being caught at short leg to become Batty's third victim. Notts 181 all out off 48.3 overs. Ashwin 66 not out off 79 balls with eight fours and one six, a fantastic innings given the quality of the batting surface. Virdi 6 for 78 in the innings and 14 for 139 in the match. 

Gambled and lost

Notts gambled on winning the toss and batting first, but the coin did not land in their favour, they now have three days rest before commencing their Blast campaign, the infusion of Hales, Christian and Gurney into the beleaguered and bedraggled line up should lift team spirit. All three however will have to firstly dust off the cobwebs, life is not easy when you have not won a game for 10 weeks (6th May) and Notts will find it hard to get that winning mentality back, particularly as their lack of mobility in the field will seriously hinder them in the 20-over format. They will be hoping that Coughlin will be fit soon which will improve that side of the game, but the current state of Notts cricket can be summarised in two words. 

TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. 

We are all hoping that the state affairs will change in the next few weeks.MAG

In a T20 match Notts seconds lost today at Welbeck to Derbyshire seconds by 103 runs, bowled out for just 84, Alex Hales made 12

Hamstrung from the beginning of the game by the odd decision to play the overdue Zak Chappell on a pitch that wouldn't favour his bowling and with him having to play second fiddle to Stu Broad too, Captain Mullaney marshaled his trio of spinners manfully but appeared to lose his way in yesterday's final session.

Defeat looks a certainty today, ahead of the unscheduled Notts Committee meeting which has been called to address, it has to be assumed, the increasing concerns of the Membership - those folk that they represent.

Any Committee inaction is likely to to inflame the Membership further but what could the they decide to do?

Obviously all status quo eggs are stacked in the T20 Blast basket, so the default setting for any committee member not wanting to rock the boat is likely to hide behind the "wait and see how we do in that competition" inaction.

Because there is the block of T20 starting at the end of the week, which sees Dan Christian returning to orchestrate proceedings there are a couple of actions that the committee could take:

• Being unhappy with the lack of discipline within the squad, on field and off field (particularly on away days with adolescent behaviour coming to light and now being common knowledge with the Members), the Committee could scoot to the decision to relieve Steven of of the Captaincy.
• They might go a step further and ask Peter Moores to hop on his own scooter and ride off to do a spot of gardening leave until his contract expires at the end of September (?) - though a little harsh as PM is likely to be hamstrung in his decision making by the omnipresence of the the Dictator of Cricket. (oh dear predictive text has come up with a better word).

Any Committee member reading this should take a look at Philip's comments on various postings on this blog recently and my advice to them would also be that they might need to "grow a pair" as a real decision will have to be made sooner or later and that could rock the boat!

No one can deny that something needs to change ASAP

Choose your own nautical metaphor...

We are a ship adrift

We're a ship without rudder

We're drifting in the Doldrums 

Dead in the water

Left high and dry

We've run aground 

We've reached our bitter end

But ultimately the buck stops with the guy at the top who has taken Notts to each and every of our relegations, who has navigated us to our current port of call...

When will he be asked to

Walk the plank ?

Just my opinions - DDG

Day 2

VIRDI BEST SPINS NOTTS TOWARDS ANOTHER TRAGIC OPERA

 Surrey heading for an Easy Win

On a momentous day for English cricket, Notts’ dreadful championship season carried on relentlessly today as Surrey closed with a lead of 308 with three second innings wickets still standing. This after Notts could only muster 116 in their first innings collapsing from 35 for 1 to 66 for 7 in 12 overs. We are still waiting for that elusive innings without a collapse! Amar Virdi getting considerable turn from the Radcliffe Road finished with career best figures 25.5-6-61-8 as he took advantage of a batting line up desperately short of confidence. As was the case at Taunton, Ravi Ashwin faced the most balls in the innings (75), having the technique to get a stride in against the turning ball. Surrey 19 for 3 at one stage recovered to finish on 184 for seven off 65 overs. Leading the way was 19 year old wicket keeper Jamie Smith with 57.

Libby and Moores made slow progress in the morning sunshine adding 15 in 11 overs, all the runs scored by Libby. With the first ball of the 12th over of the morning, off spinner Virdi had Libby leg before for 23, 35 for two. Clarke lasted four balls when charging down the pitch he edged a Batty delivery to be caught at short leg by Jacks, 40 for three. It was three wickets in three overs as Moores was bowled by Virdi for a 64 ball 12, 40 for four. Mullaney departed first ball plumb leg before, 41 for five. Patel and Ashwin added 25 before Patel (12) was caught at short fine leg by Jacks, 66 for six. Patterson-White (0) lasted five balls before being caught at silly point as Virdi picked up his fifth wicket, 66 for seven. 

Follow-on saved

Wood joined Ashwin and there were huge cheers as four byes off Virdi ensured Notts avoided the follow on they had added 38 as lunch was taken with Notts 104 for seven off 45 overs with Ashwin 23 and Wood 20.

Fifteen minutes after lunch Ashwin (27) was leg before to Virdi, 109 for eight, a partnership of 43 for the eighth wicket. Wood did not add to his lunchtime score being leg before to a well pitched up ball from Virdi, 116 for nine. The hapless Chappell (0) lasted three balls bowled attempting a drive, Notts 116 all out. Virdi 8 for 61. Notts batting had been poor once more with too many batsmen caught in their crease. Surrey led by 124 runs, a massive lead given the state of the pitch.

Burns took a single off the second ball of the Surrey second innings but then Ryan Patel was leg before for a golden duck, the seventh wicket of the match to Ashwin, 1 for one. Burns was leg before for five in Patterson-White's second over, 13 for two. In the seventh over Elgar (13) was caught behind by Moores off Ashwin, 19 for three. On the stroke of tea, Scott Borthwick (18) going for a cut shot was bowled by Ashwin who had switched ends, 78 for 4 off 25.2 overs. Jamie Smith 41 not out. The fourth wicket had added 59 runs in 19 overs.

Stand-out prospect Smith
Nineteen year old Jamie Smith proved you could bat on the turning surface getting an excellent 57 before being bowled by Samit Patel bowling from the Radcliffe Road End. The fifth wicket had added 34 runs. In the next over Will Jacks was caught at backward point by Clarke off Patterson-White for 19, 114 for six. 

10 wickets in the match

Rikki Clarke (10) fell to an excellent catch at leg slip by Joe Clarke off Ashwin, his tenth wicket of the match, 130 for seven. Batty (18) joined Jordan Clark (43) and they added an unbroken 54 in the remaining 16 overs. Notts finally reverted to pace but three overs from Chappell went for 18 as he concentrated on short balls, Jordan Clark pulling him for six. Ashwin currently has 4 for 64 and match figures of 10 for 133 and has been outstanding signing in every respect. Unfortunately despite his efforts, Notts are seemingly heading for the seventh championship defeat of the season. MAG
Day 1

SURREY SPUN OUT FOR 240 AT TRENT BRIDGABAD

An eventful day at the newly named Trent Bridgabad saw Notts dismiss Surrey for 240 and close the day on 20 for one. The dry used wicket is already taking a lot of turn, but Notts went down the correct path to put out a bunsen burner. Surrey won the crucial toss and Ashwin was bowling 30 minutes into the opening session. He was excellent once more with figures of 33.2-9-69-6; the ball to remove Elgar was a crackerjack turning sharply and removing his off bail. Patterson-White after a nervous first spell also bowled well picking up three wickets with Morkel also falling to another sharply turning delivery. What a debut week for the slow left armer! Samit Patel took the remaining wicket as for the second innings in succession all 10 wickets fell to spin. 

All in all, Notts had a good day, all chances were held and the bowling was excellent.

Surrey won the toss and elected to bat. In came Clarke, Patel, Chappell and Broad and out went Nash, Duckett, Fletcher and Ball. Broad (Pavilion End) and Wood (Radcliffe Road End) opened the bowling. Ashwin came on at 1130 from the Radcliffe Road for the eighth over of the innings and with his fourth ball had Patel leg before for one, 8 for one. Patterson-White was introduced in the 17th over and with heavy cloud cover the lights was switched on. In the 20th over Rory Burns (22) attempting to sweep Ashwin was leg before, 45 for two. Patterson-White conceded 24 in four overs and Mullaney tried to replace him with Chappell, but with the light poor after consulting umpires Millns and Robinson he elected to bowl Patel. Patel conceded 17 off his four overs and with the light now improved, Chappell came on five minutes before lunch and bowled his solitary over of the innings which went for 6. Surrey got lunch 104 for two off 34 overs with Dean Elgar on 47 and Jamie Smith on 29.

Elgar played the best innings of today and cut Broad to the ropes to reach his 50 off 82 balls. Twenty five minutes after lunch Ashwin removed Elgar's off bail with the ball of the day, 126 for three. The third wicket had added 81 in 22 overs, the biggest stand of the day. The left hander out for 59 off 98 balls (7 x 4). An excellent catch at short leg by Slater resulted in Ashwin picking up his fourth wicket as keeper Smith departed for 42, 141 for four. After a 23 over spell having taken 4 for 42, Ashwin was taken off and was replaced by Luke Wood. Jacks became the fifth wicket to fall, caught and bowled by Patterson-White for 14, 158 for 5. On the stroke of tea, Samit Patel had Borthwick leg before for 29, 193 for six after 68.5 overs with Clarke unbeaten on 10.

Rikki Clarke and Jordan Clark looked relatively comfortable after tea. The new ball was taken by Broad and Ashwin with Surrey 218 for 6 after 80 overs. They were to lose their last 4 wickets for 16 runs in eight overs. Ashwin went nap with his fourth delivery with the second new ball when Jordan Clark (17) drove him to mid off where Patterson-White took a good catch low down to his left, 224 for seven. Broad only bowled three overs with the new ball and Patterson-White returned from the Pavilion End. With his first ball a fine delivery had Clarke leg before right in front of the stumps for 34, 237 for eight. The fourth lbw of the innings. Patterson-White got one to turn prodigiously and Morkel was bowled for three, 240 for nine. Next over, Batty (3) skied to mid wicket where Libby took an easy catch, Surrey 240 all out off 89.2 overs. Ashwin 6 for 69. Patterson-White 3 for 62.

Morkel bowling a yard faster than Broad became the first paceman to pick a wicket as Jacks held a chance at short leg off Morkel, Slater gone for one, 8 for 1 in the fifth over. Moores was once again batting at three and like Libby was 8 not out at the close as Notts stood on 20 for one for 11 overs. Notts have to got to bat outstandingly tomorrow to order to try and obtain a lead on a pitch which is only likely to get worse as the contest develops. MAG



Nottinghamshire Squad

Jake Libby 2
Ben Slater 26
Joe Clarke 33
Steven Mullaney 5
Samit Patel 21
Liam Patterson-White 87
Tom Moores 23
Ravi Ashwin 99
Zak Chappell 32
Luke Fletcher 19
Luke Wood 14
Stuart Broad 8
Matt Carter 20
Jake Ball 28


THINGS ARE ON THE UP AT TRENT BRIDGE

but this isn't necessarily a good thing...

• the margins of defeat are going up
• the leg bye / bye count is going up
• the number of dropped catches are going up

To win every game is unrealistic but to lose every game is certainly achievable, weather permitting, but you'd have to be a side badly out of your depth to manage it. Is that where we are?

But we have all these stellar new players!

Peter Moores and/or whoever the latest interview victim happens to be at the close of each day's play, come out with the what ifs, the maybes and 50/50s that haven't gone our way and this would be fine, except that it is the same list of excuses after every day's play.

No one doubts that the coaching staff are "working their socks off" to correct everything that isn't working out for Notts, but they have been failing. By any measure you choose to use, Notts are failing in First Class Cricket.

Notts CCC have waited too long already for improvements, measurable improvements to be made but nothing has changed; we still score far too few runs, we throw our wickets away, we struggle to bowl sides out on wickets where our opponents have had no difficulty causing us problems and have invariably run right through us, we're not being competitive, the fielding is leaden footed with the catching getting no better (yes there's been the odd great take but they've been countered by the multitude of dropped sitters) and we're losing matches by heavy margins.

Loyalty is an honourable quality but how many months "out of form" does it have to be before the light dawns that this player isn't that good after all or is a player not happy where he is and needs to move elsewhere?

Unhappy players pick up injuries too, or don't want to play through injuries much more quickly and our niggle count is going up too.

In their own defence 

In their own defence, PM and MN have pointed out that everyone enthused about the new signings at the time of their arrival, which is true but many on this forum pointed out is what we then needed, because of the cavalier playing nature of the new signings (from reputation) was to have a steadying influence, a crease occupier, a dependable rock as an opener such as we had briefly last season in Kraigg Brathwaite.

Call for more changes

It was fabulous to see Liam Patterson-White make his debut, fight through the tonsillitis and make an impact with a 5-fer. I hope the anti-biotics have worked their job and he is fighting fit for Saturday. With luck there should be a few more of his second eleven team mates on show against Surrey too.

So what do we ask for?

• Enthusiasm
• Energy
• Fight
• Effort
• Concentration

Any new players coming in might prove to be not good enough, ultimately, but if they show us enthusiasm, energy, effort, fight and concentration I don't think there will be many supporters unhappy with their selection.


Surrey aren't having a great season so far but you'd imagine that they'll have targeted this game for weeks to get themselves back on track.

DDG