Forget Gilchrist Forget Dhoni

Middlesex 446 all out
beat Yorkshire 208 all out
and 174 all out (following on)
by an innings & 64 runs

County Championship Division One

Played at Lord's

Wednesday 21 June 2017

Twitter @ball_sup

An absolute shellacking. Adil & Patto got to 30 runs. No one else.

You can’t panic. Yorkshire are still only 25 points off the Top. In third place. And, we still have to play current leaders Essex twice. But, it’s drip drip drip. The batters have not fired as a unit in ages. Vulnerability & frailties. With constant get out of jail innings from somewhere. Three years of that. The challenge in cricket is different. You can’t go out & build a new team at the beginning of each season. Let alone the middle. Like you can in football. You have to (in the main) work with what you’ve got. We “know” people like Lyth, Lees, Leaning are essentially good players. The trick is to get them back to near their best.

Surely, that is little to do with technique and a lot to do with what is in their heads. You’ve got to start there. Always. Always. Go back to defence. In my opinion. If they can stay there, they’ll see it better, they’ll grow in confidence. Forget Gilchrist. Forget Dhoni. Forget McCullum. Attack can wait. Too much shit talked about attacking cricket. Stay there. Be there at the start of the next session. Look at the oppos. On their arses. They’ve been attacked.

Ballance & Gale & the other tracksuits have to send the players out there with their heads cleared. We want you to do this & only this until you’re back in here still not out - then we’ll talk.

On a more positive note. Overall a fine cask beer performance from Lord’s.

Ringwood, Razor Back 3.8%
Marston's, Pedigree Amber Ale 4.5%
Revisionist, Craft Lager (keg) 4%
on in The Long Room Bar
Brakspear, Oxford Gold 4%
on in The Members’ Bar
Wainwright, Golden Beer 4.1%
on in The Bowlers’ Bar

I was on the cans again. Wild Beer, Invest Wildly Different, Spicy Crowd.

493/1037