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CC :: Durham v Worcestershire

Parkside said:
Ideally you want a pitch which produces an even contest between bat and ball and to be fair to the groundstaff producing such must be problematic early season particularly given the NE climate. There also seems to be a great variation depending on which side of the square the pitch is situated. Certainly not a problem to which there's an easy solution.
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what FTECB want and what county fans want are two very different things. guess who gets to decide?
 

GordonMuchallNo1Fan said:
Well that was diabolical to watch. Not blaming the players, both sides have looked utterly fed up this game. Ground staff clearly have no idea how to prepare a competitive wicket and it needs addressing. It's awful to watch, crowd for this game noticeable lower. 1110 runs for 13 wickets and one of those wickets was a night watchman. Off to work I go tomorrow, it's not worthy of using my annual leave. It's every game this season. Crap
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I thought you spoke to one of the opposition players and they said it was a good wicket? Sure i read that in this thread, I might be wrong mind.
 
KGC83 said:
I thought you spoke to one of the opposition players and they said it was a good wicket? Sure i read that in this thread, I might be wrong mind.
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it's a good wicket when we're batting, it's unacceptably bad when we're bowling.
 
GordonMuchallNo1Fan said:
I'd say peaked at about 500 for this game maybe 50-70 more in members lounge. Sunday and today noticeably well down. Years I've been going I've not noticed a county championship crowd so low. Spoke to a Worcestershire fan who said had it been a home game he wouldn't be bothering tomorrow but isn't booked to go home until tomorrow. Club will most definitely struggle to sell memberships next season.
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Its been a desperate turnout for this game.

The only match I remember in 30 years of watching Durham where there was possibly a worse attendance was that ridiculous idea back in 2018 when they played Warwickshire in the CC and started at 2pm with the result there was 75 in the ground for the final session.
 
KGC83 said:
I thought you spoke to one of the opposition players and they said it was a good wicket? Sure i read that in this thread, I might be wrong mind.
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Correct. Can only say what he said @The Red Telephone can vouch for that. Personally I thought it did a bit on Sunday which I said at the time. Died on its arse after that mind which seems to be a common theme this season. When Raine and Coughlin force the opposition in to having 8 players on the boundary, it's all a bit farcical really
 
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GordonMuchallNo1Fan said:
Correct. Can only say what he said @The Red Telephone can vouch for that. Personally I thought it did a bit on Sunday which I said at the time. Died on its arse after that mind which seems to be a common theme this season. When Raine and Coughlin force the opposition in to having 8 players on the boundary, it's all a bit farcical really
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I certainly can - Charlie Morris said it was a good wicket.
 
Twisted said:
what FTECB want and what county fans want are two very different things. guess who gets to decide?
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I wouldn't know whether FTECB have the power or influence to issue such dictats. I know sod all about pitch preparation but what experience has told me is that there many factors which influence how a pitch behaves which are outside the control of the groundstaff. Climate, overhead conditions, environs of particular ground all can influence pitch and ball behaviour. Just don't think it's possible to prepare a pitch exactly to order
 
Had the England and Durham games on today. At times just stopped bothering looking at Durham to the point where I forgot it was even on. The fact result wickets aren’t being produced at the Riverside is a huge issue. Need about 160 overs to bowl a team at once. If you can’t win games you can’t get promoted.
 
Twisted said:
it's a good wicket when we're batting, it's unacceptably bad when we're bowling.
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It was embarrassing at times when Durham were batting as well.

County cricket and a team have 8 players on the boundary for a considerable amount of time.......... not good viewing that and many in the ground were saying exactly the same thing when Raine/Coughlin were batting.

Sunday was canny, I'll stand by what I thought, the wicket was doing a few things. Yesterday from 2pm and today have been very tedious viewing and the attendances suggest that also.
 
It's not a grest wicket for an even contest between bat and ball but it also highlights how impotent some of these county bowlers are when the ball is not continually zipping off the seam and also you have to have spin bowlers who put some revs on the ball not just a slow bowler.
Notts earlier this season showed how to bowl on a slow dry wicket at the Riverside. But also with Durham we do have our 4 quickest seam bowlers unavailable.
 
GordonMuchallNo1Fan said:
Can he take Franklin with him?
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Very good interview with Mark Butcher on Sky after the England game about players having confidence running through their veins because they are being backed by the top. I don’t believe that is happening at Durham. Lack of positive support leads to disenchanted players and poor results. The opposite breeds success. The turn around in the England team following changes at the top is a great example of how quickly it can change. Having a leader on the field like Stokes is crucial too. We need a new head coach and captain!
 
bumble2 said:
Very good interview with Mark Butcher on Sky after the England game about players having confidence running through their veins because they are being backed by the top. I don’t believe that is happening at Durham. Lack of positive support leads to disenchanted players and poor results. The opposite breeds success. The turn around in the England team following changes at the top is a great example of how quickly it can change. Having a leader on the field like Stokes is crucial too. We need a new head coach and captain!
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You only have to look at how Durham were under Walker and Gidman for the 50 over competition. A few people have said "aye because we kept our best players" which I've never bought into, as we fielded some younger players like Doneathy and Campbell and they looked cracking as did Dickson who was a different player, arguably the turning point in his Durham career.

Most definitely need a new head coach, this fella we have isn't good enough and isn't committed enough as we saw last season
 
wayne entwhistle no9 said:
It's not a grest wicket for an even contest between bat and ball but it also highlights how impotent some of these county bowlers are when the ball is not continually zipping off the seam and also you have to have spin bowlers who put some revs on the ball not just a slow bowler.
Notts earlier this season showed how to bowl on a slow dry wicket at the Riverside. But also with Durham we do have our 4 quickest seam bowlers unavailable.
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Think this is the closest to an honest appraisal. The pitches/balls have deliberately tried to negate teams who relied heavily on rushy type players. We've understandably built our team around those strengths, never have had to develop spinners and our quicks are either injured or coughlin who just hadn't developed as we hoped.
 
Twisted said:
Think this is the closest to an honest appraisal. The pitches/balls have deliberately tried to negate teams who relied heavily on rushy type players. We've understandably built our team around those strengths, never have had to develop spinners and our quicks are either injured or coughlin who just hadn't developed as we hoped.
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And if the wickets and coaching aren’t enough to contend with, there’s also this. You’ve got to feel for the bowlers. How can they do their job effectively when the tools of their trade have been wrecked:
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Twisted said:
Think this is the closest to an honest appraisal. The pitches/balls have deliberately tried to negate teams who relied heavily on rushy type players. We've understandably built our team around those strengths, never have had to develop spinners and our quicks are either injured or coughlin who just hadn't developed as we hoped.
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Certainly agree. Warney was adamant that the more revs we put on the ball,the more drift you get. Our most effective spin bowler in recent years,Swann,imparted more revs on the ball than any of his contempories. Not so sure the criticism of Rushy type players is justified. The English climate produces seaming wickets so we produce players who exploit that and a master of that craft like Anderson is as enjoyable as watching any top spin or speed merchant. Test results in recent years heavily favour the home team because they exploit their home conditions better than their opponents. So, once again, FTECB.
 
Parkside said:
Certainly agree. Warney was adamant that the more revs we put on the ball,the more drift you get. Our most effective spin bowler in recent years,Swann,imparted more revs on the ball than any of his contempories. Not so sure the criticism of Rushy type players is justified. The English climate produces seaming wickets so we produce players who exploit that and a master of that craft like Anderson is as enjoyable as watching any top spin or speed merchant. Test results in recent years heavily favour the home team because they exploit their home conditions better than their opponents. So, once again, FTECB.
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It's clearly not justified however I'd say it's understandable given the lack of success abroad where alot of cricket is played.... Maybe lack of success is unfair, given its rarely been given a chance but like it or not, ftecb have clearly decided what sort of players that want for internationals and have dictated conditions replicate that

We have to be competitive within those confines and Potts has shown our blueprint looks good. Trev and other spinners will take time to develop but we'll get there. If Potts didn't get a pretty surprising fast track into the test side our results since then would look much better I'm sure
bumble2 said:
And if the wickets and coaching aren’t enough to contend with, there’s also this. You’ve got to feel for the bowlers. How can they do their job effectively when the tools of their trade have been wrecked:
You must be logged on to see external links
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I honestly don't think it's an accident. While they didn't plan the balls to need changing constantly I think they've got what they wanted in terms of less aid, meaning more onus on the bowlers which in time will make for better bowlers - that's the theory
 
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