Sellsy's Monday Supplement

Monday 5^th January

Happy New Year to one and all, and what a year we have in prospect.

Internationally England have a packed itinerary for the next 12 months, it goes something like this:

January-February - England in Australia (Triangular Series)
February-March - ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand
April - England in West Indies (3 Tests)
May - Ireland v England (ODI)
May-June - New Zealand in England (2 Tests, 5 ODIs, 1 T20)
June-September - Australia in England (5 Tests, 5 ODIs, 1 T20)
October-November - England in Pakistan (3 Tests, 5 ODIs, 1 T20)
December-February 2016 - England in South Africa (4 Tests, 5 ODIs, 2 T20s)

As you can see the Aussies are coming, that only means one thing, the greatest prize in sport: The Ashes. Are The Ashes really bigger than winning the World Cup? Simple answer, Yes!

With the Ashes in mind, plus the little matter of the World Cup being played in Australia, I have deployed a special correspondent to the “Convict Colony” to gauge the mood amongst the locals. Reports to follow, but have already had some updates from the GABBA; a more in depth feature will follow over the next few weeks or so.

With no Test cricket for England over the months leading up to the World Cup, it is very pleasing to see there is 19 Test matches lined up over the next 12 months, and some very tricky ones indeed. Hopefully Alastair Cook will be well rested, and when he picks up his bat up again he will be raring to go.

With all this international cricket going on it is somewhat difficult to forget that the domestic season is four months away, something I always look forward too.

Somerset’s new Director of Cricket, Matthew Maynard, has a lot to ponder about over the next few months. The need of a quality top order batsman (or two) will be high on his “to do” list.

With Nick Compton leaving for Middlesex, Chris Jones retiring from 1^st Class Cricket, Craig Kieswetter undergoing surgery on his eye and the likes of Arul Suppiah having to give up the game through injury, Somerset have a bit of a problem at the top of the order. Plus Jos Buttler leaving for relegated Lancashire, and Somerset deciding to opt for an overseas spinner rather than keeping Alviro Petersen, a full top order is suddenly missing.

I suppose this does create opportunities for others, but not in all positions. James Allenby will be a good acquisition in the batting line-up, his experience will help, but Somerset sorely needs a world class batsman.

Ok, enough of that worrying, there will be so much cricket going on over the coming months, when it comes to the start of the County season things would of been sorted, surely?

Ok, back to skittles and Thatchers tonight, more doom and gloom there! Happy New Year everyone.