Sellsy's Sunday Supplement

Who saw Jos Buttler’s England debut on Wednesday? How many times did he touch the ball? How long was he padded up for? How nervous did he look? It was a shame he didn’t feature as it was an exciting 20/20 match, the only thing he done was to receive his England cap! Unfortunately it was England’s two worse players in Ravi Bopara and Samit Patel to see England home.

Harsh you may think calling Bopara and Patel rubbish, but they are. I have no doubt that Bopara has a lot of talent, his first-class career statistics prove this; however his international figures don’t come up to the mark. He looked like a rabbit in the headlights as he watched Eoin Morgan, from the non-strikers end, who was taking the Indian attack apart for fun, poor old Ravi couldn’t even get the ball of the square (must have had a bat manufactured by Mark Sortwell!).

As for Patel, well he hasn’t even taken a wicket in a 20/20 international, and his economy rate is over ten, as for the batting, the only thing he did was to edge England to victory!

It was a good job the rain fell at Chester-le-Street on Saturday, as England had a bit of a mountain to climb if they were going to beat India in the first ODI. It does look like the selectors have come to their senses in leaving out Bopara, however Patel still played and went for just over four an over in his ten that he bowled – is he starting to prove me wrong?

I do expect Jos benefited from the experience for being with England, the whole set-up etc. I’m also sure that he is in the future plans of the England hierarchy and Somerset better start to make plans without him; however they will get rewarded financially.

As well as losing both Buttler (20/20 only) and Craig Kieswetter to England, an even bigger worry for Somerset is that of the loss of Marcus Trescothick for perhaps the rest of the season. Tres turned his ankle against Essex on Monday and after the loss in the T20 final on Saturday, that was the last thing the Somerset faithful wanted to see.

Even though Somerset went on to win and secure a home semi-final against Durham today (Sunday), you could sense a muted atmosphere at the County Ground, with the word ‘Trescothick’ being uttered in every other sentence.

Do I sound gloomy? Well the defeat against the bottom side of the County Championship, Hampshire, showed how much we miss these guys and we can throw Nick Compton’s name in as well. He is one of the leading scorers in first-class cricket this season, and he is also out with an injury. With Somerset still in the remaining two competitions of the cricket season, the big game players are desperately needed, somehow I don’t think we can rely on the youngsters, even though they show a great deal of promise. 

The title was blown wide open with Lancashire losing by ten wickets against Worcestershire; the only team to take advantage of this was Durham (who now go top having played a game more) who beat Sussex as Warwickshire could only draw. With two games remaining Somerset must conjure up two victories somehow to have any realistic chance in winning the County Championship for the first time, as they are now dependant on other results going their way.

By reaching the final of our domestic T20 competition Somerset’s season has been extended by a minimum of two games; they now have to play two qualifying Champions League matches (wonder if that is on TV?), with no Buttler, Kieswetter and of course Trescothick, things look a bit daunting. However, Somerset have three players with IPL experience in their squad: Murali Kartik and Alfonso Thomas, who play for Pune Warriors, and Roelof van der Merwe, who was part of the Delhi Daredevils squad in the last edition.

If they win those games the will play in the Champions League proper, then Jos and Craig will be allowed to join the team.

These two qualifying games come straight after a potential Lord’s final, oh well, let’s see what happens today against Durham, if we do get to Lord’s I’m sure I can find a bridesmaid dress to wear!

After a very draining tour to South Devon, Over Stowey was back in action at the weekend.

The 2^nd XI was without a game, so the 1^st team had a full squad of players to choose from as they entertained champions elect Timberscombe. They gave them a bit of a run for their money. Stowey batted first and scored a competitive 162, with Jack Rich making 53 and Phil Sims chipping in with 40. In reply Stowey had Timberscombe in all sorts of trouble reducing them to 30-3, however that’s as good as it got, as the visitors knocked off the runs without losing any further wickets.

A good effort by the 1^st XI, with one game left, they have secured Division Two cricket for the 2012 season and hopefully use this season as a springboard for next year.

Well it 10.57, time for a quick pint (or two) and then off to the County Ground I must go, come on the Set, my wallet is depending on you!