Sellsy's Monday Supplement

Again the ECB has come up trumps with the 2014 County fixtures - a home game for Somerset on my birthday! In fact day three off a County Championship fixture against Nottinghamshire. I can already envisage a hot day, with a birthday cider slipping down my throat as I’m sat on Gimblett Hill, with Somerset chasing a mediocre score to win – role on May.
 

Somerset have a tough start to the 2014 County Championship campaign, opening up with fixtures against last year’s runners-up and champions, namely Yorkshire and Durham.  Ok, games in Division One are difficult whoever the opposition, so if the mighty Set have any aspirations for 2014, then there is nowhere better to begin than the top two from the previous season. Need to walk the walk, not let us go through hell and the prospect of relegation.

On reflection, it seems that I’ll be watching a lot more cricket during 2014. A lot of County Championship games start on a Sunday, so days two and three will be on days that I finish early at work! T20 cricket mainly falls on a Friday; again that falls in nicely with my work pattern. The only concern is the 50 over competition, it looks as if I will miss one home game, due to work commitments, but hey I can take a days’ holiday.

Has anyone any idea what the batting line-up will be for England for the second Ashes Test which starts on Thursday (midnight on Wednesday)? The only certainty is that Alastair Cook and Michael Carberry will open the innings and Kevin Pietersen will bat at four. So who at three, five and six? Ian Bell and Joe Root will take up two of those positions, probably three and five, which will leave one more space, the number six slot. So who will it be out off Gary Ballance, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow?

To be fair, the England batting order needs a good shake up, so it may not be a bad thing having to make changes in the top six. This Test will surely show the character of the tourists, especially suffering a heavy defeat in the first Ashes Test; then losing such an important player in Jonathan Trott. In contrast the Aussies are buoyant and by judging from the press down under, oozing confidence.

With all the talk about batting, England still need to get the bowling attack right - an attack which needs to take 20 wickets. It looks as if Tim Bresnan will feature in Adelaide; so I assume he will take the place off Chris Tremlett. No room for Monty? Somehow I think he may be needed.

If Monty does play, I just hope we don’t have the same stadium announcer as the one England had in their tour match in Alice Springs. For those of you who don’t know, Monty was introduced to the crowd by the announcer in a mock Indian accent, in which he was then subsequently suspended. I believe the row is still ongoing.

Ok, 5.27, no skittles, so no Thatchers. But a trip to Portishead instead for a 21^st birthday party (on a Monday!), now I wonder if they have Thatchers there?