It was back in the days when the tourists still played all the counties and Pakistan were promised some substantial bonus if they achieved so many victories and in the 2nd inns the two of them really cranked it up. The sight of Waqar hurtling in from the Col. Turnbull End bowling those inswinging yorkers was sensational. It made Jones' two centuries all the more impressive
Look at the league table. I get frustrated with his batting as I feel he can do better but his captaincy this year has been very good which I've mentioned numerous times on here. His captaincy this morning was excellent, mixed it up well and kept encouraging the team and we got our well deserved rewards. The whole team morale is massively different this year. The players and captain aren't frightened to express themselves and make mistakes and the proof of that is "look at the league table". I've got no complaints of Borthwick's captaincy this year and the players are responding to the new process brought in by Campbell. I spoke to one of our coaches on Sunday and he was full of praise for Campbell and his attitude which is allowing the players to express themselves and go out and enjoy their cricket and not to worry about making a mistake. Trust this process as this team won't be boring. We performed superbly today way above what I expected today, says a lot about the team that and how the coach is allowing them freedom. It's an absolute pleasure to watch Durham this year. Body language is a huge thing, the body language is unbelievable at the moment, the warm ups I've sat and watched this week at Leicester is one of a very happy and together camp and the captain has to receive some praise for that, he's got the lads buzzing on the field.
Thanks - really must catch-up now I'm back in the country!
Because the team is playing well and man for man better than every other team, then the captaincy is good?
To be fair days like today the bowlers deserve huge credit. We were excellent with the ball this morning. Only two teams have more bowling points than us going into this game, and we've came out with maximum points with bowling today
Yup as I've said he's been allowed to be a captain this year. I went on record saying I'd have given Raine the captaincy this year as I felt last year really did bother Borthwick a lot but credit to him he's been excellent this year. It all goes back to Campbell allowing the players freedom and allowing them to make mistakes. Borthwick along with a good few others are totally different people this year in terms of body language, Clark is another one. Confidence is a huge thing in sport and the philosophy set by the coach feeds down onto the field and the captain sets the tone and he's been excellent with that. A quick example was bringing Trev on yesterday... Bang wicket.
Not a long list..... I thought it might have been more, so congratulations to Alex Lees. Exclusive club
With Potts back gives us an outside shout but the runs scored to wickets taken in the match suggest its a tall order the skittle them in one day. Thats why I am worried about too easy a run chase as it would be a crying shame to lose this match the way its gone.
We bowled very very well today. Wicket played a lot different to first two days. I think with this cloud cover I fancy our chances. Just hope the umpires fancy itWith Potts back gives us an outside shout but the runs scored to wickets taken in the match suggest its a tall order the skittle them in one day. Thats why I am worried about too easy a run chase as it would be a crying shame to lose this match the way its gone.
Runs per wicket in this match so far are 68.61 which is mad. If we take that as an average then we need to set them 687
Obviously overs are now limited though and somewhere near 400 is probably the pivot point and I just think we might need a few more yet to put the defeat away. I also realise it needs to be tempting enough for them if we are the get all 10, but at the end of the day we could set them the current lead and take two early wickets and they shut up shop anyway.
Don't want to be praying for rain or bad light at tea tomorrow to save a game we have controlled.
Fair enough if the pitch has changed but our lads seemed to have very little problem with it today. 296-2 in 57 overs does not suggest a raging turner with variable bounce.
We bowled well, they didn't. I posted during the morning session that the wicket was offering something. I sincerely hope conditions are similar tomorrow as I believe we'll give it a good go. Things change with pitch condition but felt Durham bowled above expectations today, we were excellent. See how we go tomorrow I guess.
Runs per wicket in this match so far are 68.61 which is mad. If we take that as an average then we need to set them 687
I know you well enough from here to know that's not a dig mate.Why do you keep referring to that formula?
This isn’t a dig by the way, I just find it really odd.
If you look at it alternatively, Leicestershire’s RPW is 42.2, compared to ours which is 101.63 - because let’s remember the important fact that all things aren’t equal. Their batsmen don’t face their bowlers, ours do. In 169.5 overs, their attack has only taken 8 wickets. Our bowlers took 10 in 109.4.
That highlights the next fact to consider, that Leicestershire’s RPW versus our attack including Potts (is 14.5), as opposed to their RPW versus our attack excluding Potts (which is 83.75) and you’ll see there are quite vast and significant differences.
It was sunny yesterday, whereas it was cloudy today - another pretty important consideration given the behaviour of a cricket ball.
There are far too many variables at play, but ultimately Leicestershire are going to need to score ATLEAST 392 tomorrow in a maximum of 96 overs at a rate of 4.08 or better to beat us. I’m comfortable with an overnight declaration. If it doesn’t rain, they’ve still got to overcome Potts, Raine and Toole with a new ball on a wearing pitch that is already showing signs of uneven bounce, if that doesn’t stop them, they’ll have to also overcome Parkinson, Trevaskis and maybe even Borthwick on a Day 4 pitch that has been turning more and more since Day 1.
Who’s position would you rather be in?
I’ve always been a bit of a pessimist when it comes to my sports teams, which leads me to always exercise caution, but I can’t see us batting further and that feels like the right decision. I get that we don’t NEED to win and I also get that a defeat would mean Leicestershire close right behind us (whilst also giving Sussex or Glamorgan the chance to close in) but the saying goes that fortune favours the brave and it would be a crying shame if after three days of controlling this fixture we settle for a draw.
As Ryan Campbell said, draws don’t win you titles. More to the point, it feels like one more win will pretty much secure promotion and given our injury problems it wouldn’t half be nice to not have to be scrapping for points with a depleted side come September.
AND after all of that, I still expect that a rain ruined final day will mean a 13 point draw in any case
