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Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 12:44 pm
by Making_Splinters
Ashley Giles certainly landed at Old Trafford with a bang in 2015 following the departures of Moores and Watkinson. The primary objective was to repair the damage of a humbling 2014 season by getting back to Division 1 and while we fell off towards the end of the season this was ticked off. The T20 Blast trophy, after 16 years of waiting for a bit of limited overs silverware, was the cherry on the cake.

That said, all is not quite as rosy as it could be. 2015 also saw: The retirement of Prince who has been the rock in our line-up for the last few seasons; The departure of Horton, who has fallen off a bit but there is not proven replacement in the squad; The season ending injury of Tom Smith and who knows how much he will play this season; The retirement of Hogg who has been a fantastic performer; The promotion of Buttler to Test keeper meaning he barely played and will likely be the same this year now he has an IPL contract; Another year on the clock for Chapple, at 41 can he play a meaningful part in this season; Another string of failures for Reece.

There were some bright sparks however; The promotion of Hameed to the first team with some success; The emergence of Arron Lilley; Strong seasons with the bat for Brown and Croft; Davies starting to look the real deal; Javis making good on his promise; Kerrigan getting back to winning ways.

There are several areas of concern for us this season which Giles seems to have done little to solve. While the signing of Wagner adds some class to our bowlng, you can’t help but feel that we are still too reliant on Javis and our spinners. The batting continues to look flaky with a lack of proven performers in it, and if Smith can’t make it through a season then this will be a real issue. There is far too much dead weight in the squad.

Staying in Division 1 will be the goal for the year, though that looks tough with their being a distinct lack of weak sides in the top flight this year.

Re: Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 1:04 pm
by westoelad
Certainly looks as if it'll be a tight division but still 2 to be relegated iirc. Early season games on result pitches could be crucial with most Englans players available for a few games. Butler could be available for quite a number of games but whether that’s an asset will depend on how well he adapts to the 4 day game

Re: Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 2:12 pm
by Making_Splinters
westoelad wrote:Certainly looks as if it'll be a tight division but still 2 to be relegated iirc. Early season games on result pitches could be crucial with most Englans players available for a few games. Butler could be available for quite a number of games but whether that’s an asset will depend on how well he adapts to the 4 day game


Unlikely given he'll be at the IPL until towards the end of May, then there is the ODI series against Sti Lank in June / July and Pakistan in August. We'll be lucky to see anything of him this year. Good job Davies is really coming on!

Re: Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 2:25 pm
by westoelad
Making_Splinters wrote:
westoelad wrote:Certainly looks as if it'll be a tight division but still 2 to be relegated iirc. Early season games on result pitches could be crucial with most Englans players available for a few games. Butler could be available for quite a number of games but whether that’s an asset will depend on how well he adapts to the 4 day game


Unlikely given he'll be at the IPL until towards the end of May, then there is the ODI series against Sti Lank in June / July and Pakistan in August. We'll be lucky to see anything of him this year. Good job Davies is really coming on!

Yeh, forgot he was a Mumbai Indian. You’re welcome to Colonel Mustard if need be :horse

Re: Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 2:28 pm
by Making_Splinters
westoelad wrote:
Making_Splinters wrote:
westoelad wrote:Certainly looks as if it'll be a tight division but still 2 to be relegated iirc. Early season games on result pitches could be crucial with most Englans players available for a few games. Butler could be available for quite a number of games but whether that’s an asset will depend on how well he adapts to the 4 day game


Unlikely given he'll be at the IPL until towards the end of May, then there is the ODI series against Sti Lank in June / July and Pakistan in August. We'll be lucky to see anything of him this year. Good job Davies is really coming on!

Yeh, forgot he was a Mumbai Indian. You’re welcome to Colonel Mustard if need be :horse


I'd welcome Mustard back this season as both back up to Davies and Hameed. We could also do with a bit of added fire power in the limited overs stuff as we've yet to get a replacement for the Faulk in.

Re: Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 2:52 pm
by captaincolly
There must be a good chance Mustard will go on loan at some stage this season but almost certainly to a division 2 side. Don't think counties will loan players to teams in the same division although with the Durham management anything is possible.

Re: Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 4:07 pm
by westoelad
captaincolly wrote:There must be a good chance Mustard will go on loan at some stage this season but almost certainly to a division 2 side. Don't think counties will loan players to teams in the same division although with the Durham management anything is possible.

Forgeting, of course, it's his benefit season. Hardly the done thing in those circumstances surely?

Re: Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 4:22 pm
by captaincolly
westoelad wrote:
captaincolly wrote:There must be a good chance Mustard will go on loan at some stage this season but almost certainly to a division 2 side. Don't think counties will loan players to teams in the same division although with the Durham management anything is possible.

Forgeting, of course, it's his benefit season. Hardly the done thing in those circumstances surely?

Yes, I'd forgotten about the benefit year :facepalm He almost certainly won't go out on loan

Re: Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 6:54 pm
by Durhamfootman
Good luck this season, MS, in most of your matches at least.

there should never be a time when Lancs are not in div 1

Re: Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 1:27 am
by Arthur Crabtree
I suppose the Tests are played in high summer, when the counties play limited overs, so maybe JB can play those, but it's a shame he won't get the four day cricket he needs.

Re: Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 3:38 pm
by Making_Splinters
Arthur Crabtree wrote:I suppose the Tests are played in high summer, when the counties play limited overs, so maybe JB can play those, but it's a shame he won't get the four day cricket he needs.


It was his choice at the end of the day.

Re: Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 11:16 am
by Making_Splinters
Giles has signed a new two year deal which is good news.

Re: Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2016 6:32 pm
by Making_Splinters
Fantastic first three days from the boys, just 86 needed on the morrow to take victory in the first game of the season.

Hope for good weather and some sensible batting.

Re: Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2016 6:45 pm
by captaincolly
Making_Splinters wrote:Fantastic first three days from the boys, just 86 needed on the morrow to take victory in the first game of the season.

Hope for good weather and some sensible batting.

A superb performance by Lancs.

Re: Bloomin' Heck: The Red Rose 2016

PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2016 9:03 pm
by Arthur Crabtree
11 in the match for Wagner. Some debut.