Sellsy's Monday Supplement

Now I am not great fan of Adil Rashid, but every run he made on Sunday and Monday for Yorkshire against Somerset made my teeth grind and my stomach churn. He seems to do it all the time against Somerset and will now say that he should be in contention for an England call-up.

Well only he says that. The last time he held a bat and bowled a ball for his country he was absolutely rubbish, a bit like Ravi Bopara, and was carrying a bit of weight. No wonder he was dropped.

So the 2014 County Championship season is now truly up and running, with Sussex showing some good form early on. They hammered Middlesex by and innings, and have recently skittled out Warwickshire for 87, ok they were 229 all out themselves and 20 wickets fell on a day, but hey they are in a commanding position.

Nottinghamshire have also made a winning start, beating newly promoted Lancashire in their first game and now scoring heavily against Middlesex in their current match. Saying that, Steve Finn and James Harris have taken four wickets a piece for Middlesex, giving the England selectors a nudge. Just glad to see Samit Patel failing for the second innings in a row for Notts – no you are not good enough for England, let alone batting as high as five for Notts.

You’d have to look in to Division Two for the best result of the opening round of matches, our friends from Glamorgan thumping money bags Surrey by 10 wickets. Great result and welcome to the real world Surrey, ha bloody ha!

Now, Gloucestershire, a county which rarely gets any column inches from me, but did you see a player called Tavare scoring a ton. Now, when I see the name Tavare my minds go back to Chris, the former Somerset captain, who will score slower than Boycott, but apparently the Gloucester youngster is his nephew, Will, and it’s his debut.  Looking at some pictures I see he has the Tavare trade mark moustache!

Back to Somerset, looks like taking wickets could be the problem, or have the ground curators produced an absolute belter for a change, well the next few days we’ll find out. But can anyone tell me why Peter Trego is not playing, just hope he is injured not dropped.

Ok, that’s enough from me, not much to say you’ll be relieved to read, cricket to watch, cider to drink!!!!!!

Sellsy's Monday Supplement

Before I start this week my thoughts go to the family off Derbyshire’s Tom Poynton who was involved in a fatal car crash on Friday where his father killed. Such a tragedy on the eve of the County Championship season just puts things into perspective.

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The wait is almost over, Somerset start their County Championship campaign on Sunday when they host Yorkshire, so do we wish to believe that this will be Somerset’s year? Let’s blooming well hope so.

Well for all those who have parted with some well earned cash for my annual bet, thank you. Those who didn’t well, we will see if you are right to keep the monies in your pocket or not. I must admit I nearly put it all on for Somerset to win everything, but each-way will suffice, how difficult can it be to just to get to a final or two and then we’ll be quid’s in.

So who will be in Somerset’s line-up on Sunday? Well the University game which started today will hopefully give us some indication on the starting line-up, but who’s available, who’s fit, can we take 20 wickets?

So my punt is the following: Trescothick, Jones, Compton, Hildreth, Kieswetter, Trego, Meschede, Thomas, Overton, Overton and Dockrell. But what do I know? Lewis Gregory has shown a lot of promise pre-season, Jack Leach seems to improving leaps and bounds, Johnann Myburgh is a season campaigner, and don’t forget Alviro Petersen has to come in to the equation once he arrives.

And then how can we forget the whole-hearted Steve Kirby, who I believe is on the treatment table at the moment, plus he is preparing for the quiz night in aid of the recent flood victims. Then there are the likes of Alex Barrow, Adam Dibble, James Regan and Max Waller, all will be looking to push for a starting place in the first XI.

However, there is one player who I will keep a close eye on this season, and he is yet to make any sort of 1^st team appearances. This youngster scored in excess of 1,000 runs for the 2^nd XI last year, and surely a good start for the second string will not be ignored by the Somerset hierarchy. Tom Abell had a fantastic second half to the 2013 season. Jason Kerr, who was last season Academy Director and now 1^st XI bowling coach, knows all about Tom and his ability. Let’s see what happens eh?

Anyway, time for a cider me thinks, see you at the County Ground later in the week.