County Championship Transfers...

First topic message reminder :

Jos Buttler looks like he is joining Lancashire, interesting one that! Matt Coles has signed for Hampshire after impressing in a loan spell. Hampshire also look set to sign Will Smith, who has been recently released from Durham.

Jimbo - I can understand Surrey wanting some experienced cover for their injury prone seam attack. However, it does indeed seem strange and remarkably generous to give him a two year deal when Hants were apparently only prepared to offer him one year due to his own fitness issues.

That said, I don't think he's a bad bowler. I posted back in April on the "Surrey News / Articles" thread that I was impressed by him when he took a fourfer against a decent Surrey second team at Guildford. Perhaps with that performance partly in mind, Stewart has commented today about him having done well against us in first and second eleven cricket.

I do hope Bates gets fixed up elsewhere. It'll be a terrible shame not only for him but also the county game if he doesn't.

I also see that Ruel Braithwaite has been released by Hants. Still sad but not a major surprise I would guess.

Essex have released Tom Craddock :'(       Tymal Mills apparently moving counties as well :'(

As Guildford says Balcombe is a strange one but I can see the thought process. A part of me would have preferred to keep Edwards on the books and back him to produce when needed given I always liked the look of his bowling. Ah well...

I can only echo the thoughts of others about Bates. If he doesn't get picked up by another county it will be such a sorry indictment of how under appreciated a good gloveman is in the modern game. I accept the need for all players to offer a skill set in several areas these days. However I still maintain a brilliant keeper who offers a few runs will give you so much more than a good batsmen who spills vital chances.

Tim Phillips to retire  

however it does make the releasing of Tom Craddock even more crazy, when you consider that our sole spinner now is Monty P..

Matt Maynard appointed Somerset's new Director of Cricket. I know he won a bit when he was out coaching in SA, so here's hoping he'll do a good job!

Andrea Agathangelou announced on his twitter that he is leaving Lancs, shame to see him go as he had a lot of potential and has performed better than some of our more experienced batsmen. Strange that the club have made no official announcement yet though.

freemo wrote:Tim Phillips to retire  

however it does make the releasing of Tom Craddock even more crazy, when you consider that our sole spinner now is Monty P..

Don't think I've ever seen Craddock but he did appear to be a young one on the up until this last season. That said, I see from cricinfo that he's actually 25 now - thought he would be younger than that. Maybe some of the thinking is that if he ain't made it by now, he's not going to. Still though seems odd to coincide with Phillips retiring.

Btw, freemo - are you CF by another name? Welcome back if so.

JDizzle wrote:Matt Maynard appointed Somerset's new Director of Cricket. I know he won a bit when he was out coaching in SA, so here's hoping he'll do a good job!

Good luck to the guy after what he's been through. Do hope he's got a strong team around him, feel that will be needed.

hampo171 wrote:Andrea Agathangelou announced on his twitter that he is leaving Lancs, shame to see him go as he had a lot of potential and has performed better than some of our more experienced batsmen. Strange that the club have made no official announcement yet though.

Hampo - as regards the lack of any official announcement - whilst this may be due to the Club being slack, it should be noted that sometimes (younger) players jump the gun in posting online before all the legal niceties have been tied up.

guildfordbat wrote:

freemo wrote:Tim Phillips to retire  

however it does make the releasing of Tom Craddock even more crazy, when you consider that our sole spinner now is Monty P..

Don't think I've ever seen Craddock but he did appear to be a young one on the up until this last season. That said, I see from cricinfo that he's actually 25 now - thought he would be younger than that. Maybe some of the thinking is that if he ain't made it by now, he's not going to. Still though seems odd to coincide with Phillips retiring.

Btw, freemo - are you CF by another name? Welcome back if so.  

Craddock is good enough but wasn't given enough chances, i hope he finds another county

in another news Tymal Mills has been released as well :'(

guildfordbat wrote:

freemo wrote:Tim Phillips to retire  

Btw, freemo - are you CF by another name? Welcome back if so.  

As I recall CF was a massive fan of Tim Phillips....

Greg Smith leaving Leics for Notts.  Could be a risk of implosion if the exodus continues! On the other hand, I wonder whether they will be able to hoover up a few players that are on the fringes of other clubs' first XIs.

Saw it mentioned by George Dobell that Worcs were one of the sides in for Mills. Can't imagine he'll be pitching up at New Road personally, I'd have thought counties with bigger budgets would be in for him.

Also saw a few of the surrey guys on here talking about Davies coming back, would love that! Even if he isn't keeping, which may well be better for us as it means we can allow Cox and Clarke to keep developing as keepers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/30283508

That's some pretty good news! Not sure what Pakistan's schedule is like, but with Moeen likely to be absent for the majority of the summer, any amount of time with Ajmal at the county will be a big bonus.

Not sure where to put this really, but some unfortunate news out of Taunton this afternoon. Somerset announced that it is looking very likely that Craig Kieswetter will miss the whole of thr 2015 season as he attempts to regain full vision after a ball crept through his helmet grill last year. Get well soon Craig.

A real shame to hear that. He's such a clean striker of the ball, always enjoyable to watch. His one day partnership with Trescothick was always fantastic to see in action, though preferably not against Surrey!

Opens the door for a huge season for Alex Barrow however and also likely a new keeper needed at Taunton. Time for Michael Bates to get a massively overdue county contract for next season?

JDizzle wrote:Not sure where to put this really, but some unfortunate news out of Taunton this afternoon. Somerset announced that it is looking very likely that Craig Kieswetter will miss the whole of thr 2015 season as he attempts to regain full vision after a ball crept through his helmet grill last year. Get well soon Craig.

Worrying that the problem persists some months down the line and the 2015 season appears close to being already written off. Best wishes to him for a full recovery.

Carlos' suggestion about Bates is an excellent one.

Somerset sign Tom Cooper as their overseas player for the 2015 season

freemo wrote:Somerset sign Tom Cooper as their overseas player for the 2015 season

... and county spectators everywhere prepare for the never ending ''Just like that'' impressions!

Just a slight correction to CF's initial report, Cooper is not an overseas player. Abdur Rehman fills that requirement. I presume Cooper's Dutch passport came in handy here!

Worcestershire have today announced that Colin Munro will return as the second overseas for T20 cricket. He did well in 2014, finishing second highest scorer for Worcester and was handy in the middle overs with his medium pace. By all accounts an excellent influence around the 2nd XI too.

Essex have signed Shaun Tait as t20 overseas for 2015 :'(

Whilst inconsistent in longer formats and injury prone I thought that Tait was still a very potent force in t20 freemo?

Fully admit I haven't followed anything from his career recently so every chance he has suffered a sudden slump in ability but his most recent figures from the Big Bash looked pretty reasonable in a high scoring tournament.

On a different note. I accept I've banged on about this but I really am upset that Michael Bates hasn't demanded a contract with a county for the coming season. If a gloveman that good is left to minor counties or driven to give up the game completely it will be so disappointing.

You can add Azeem Rafiq to a list of people deserving a deal. Last I heard he was still looking? Understand he's a bit of a Winkle, but he's captained Yorkshire and is a very talented limited overs player. Deserves another shot.

Ajmal coming back to New Road from July, maybe before depending on if Pakistan's tour to Bangladesh goes ahead/if he gets selected. Either way, excellent news!

Rory Hamilton-Brown forced to retire due to a wrist injury at the age of 27

freemo wrote:Rory Hamilton-Brown forced to retire due to a wrist injury at the age of 27

Thanks for drawing our attention to this.  I've posted a few thoughts - nothing original - on the Surrey thread.

Shame to hear about Hailton Brown. Always thought he was a talent.

Matt Coles leaves Hampshire. Strange situation given he was very good last season. Apparently he has a few attitude problems. Most likely to return to Kent. Leaves us very short with bowling options

Not sure where to ask this so doing it here!

I've only been following the MCC v Yorks game via an occasional peek at the scorecard but noticed that Graham Onions only bowled 3.5 overs in Yorks 1st innings. Does anyone have any further information on why?

I desperately hope it isn't a recurrence of his back injuries but fear it's the most likely answer. Would be such a cruel blow if it was, he's a fantastic bowler and would have had many more test caps and wickets if it weren't for injury.

Hi Carlos - I've read that Onions suffered a groin injury whilst bowling for the MCC against Yorks. Hopefully not so serious as his previous injuries.

The potential issue though is that a back injury, particularly for a fast bowler, can put pressure on and weaken other body parts causing a succession of niggling injuries. I would emphasise I'm speaking with zero medical knowledge other than what I remember being said about Chris Tremlett at a Surrey forum meeting a couple of years back.

Cheers guildford.

As you say hopefully it isn't too serious. It would be such a shame if he missed anymore CC cricket due to injury. His record when he can string some games together is outstanding.

On the issue of back injuries leading to other niggles I expect you're right. I know well from rugby that failure to look after or properly warm up your glutes regularly leads to back injuries as they offer a lot of support to the lower back in many positions. I can therefore fully believe the opposite being the case.

If it is a case of the back injuries causing more niggles it could be similarly detrimental to Onions effectiveness though given how often Durham utilise him for very long spells when conditions suit.

Hampshire to announce signing at 2pm. Has to be a fast bowler. Leaving it a little late though!!

jimbohammers wrote:Hampshire to announce signing at 2pm. Has to be a fast bowler. Leaving it a little late though!!

Jimbo - you were right about him being a fast bowler. 33 year old Fidel Edwards, once of the West Indies and now a Kolpak, has signed to play in all formats from late July to the end of the season.

His Test stats over almost a decade from 2003 to 2012 are something of a mixture. 165 wickets puts him in tenth place of all West Indies Test wicket takers. The nine West Indies bowlers above him are (or are near to being) all-time world greats. However, his Test average of almost 38 is amongst the worst of those who have taken upwards of 50 wickets.

At least he's certainly got experience and you can do with some of that with the ball. Probably unrealistic to expect a better signing - that's not a dig at all at Hants, just a reflection on how difficult it is these days to sign an overseas player who is both eligible and available. Long gone are the days from my youth when Hants had true overseas stars of the calibre of B Richards, Greenidge and Roberts on their books. Wrong in my opinion that counties are no longer allowed to take a punt on someone with no experience like Roberts and blood him.

Slightly underwhelmed by the signing, Guildford. Although he did take 8 wickets against Notts the other day!

He's what I'd define as a boom or bust bowler. Can tear through a side on his day, but more often than not will be erratic and go for a few

Worcs have signed Sri Lanka spinner Sachithra Senanayake, subject to all the usual stuff being approved, for the start of the season as Ajmal is unavailable after being called up by Pakistan for a tour of Bangladesh.

Has a good record and considering Moeen probably won't be around at the start of the season, we did need to bring in a spinner really. Rhodes loves a spinner with a remodelled action!

Mat wrote:Worcs have signed Sri Lanka spinner Sachithra Senanayake, subject to all the usual stuff being approved, for the start of the season as Ajmal is unavailable after being called up by Pakistan for a tour of Bangladesh.

Has a good record and considering Moeen probably won't be around at the start of the season, we did need to bring in a spinner really. Rhodes loves a spinner with a remodelled action!

It will be interesting to see how Senanayake goes. Strikes me as a talented cricketer, with a good temperament whilst bowling, from what i have seen of him in ODI cricket. On the other hand, not a big spinner of the ball and on early season wickets might struggle to be a big wicket taking threat.

Although looking at Jack Shantry's figures from the game against Oxford MCCU, do we really need another spearhead? 5/18 in the 1st inns followed up with 5/8 today. Match figures of 31.3 - 19 - 26 - 10.