*Official* English Domestic Season 2006

[Jungle Jumbo]

Bit of bias here but I can see Lancashire mounting a title bid. They've got the backup if injuries take their toll, and their batting lineup should be too dominant for some of the other counties. They should be favourites for the Twenty20 though, without a doubt.

 

[Autobahn]

Couldn't have put it better myself.

Kent never win it. Notts will be close again as they still have no Internationals, ditto Hants with Warney all summer. Warwicks will suffer from lacking Bell, and Lancs are too inconsistent to run things close.

Notts were pretty lucky last season as all the main bowlers stayed fit and on form, but looking at the ages of the 4 main seam bowlers (36, 27, 32, 34) we need to Franks to return to form and Footlit to step up to the challenge.

Kent - Might be able to keep Kemp and Hall at least until the last month, but really need a strike bowler to replace saggers, batting looks good with Key not really in the frame for internationals.

Middlesex - Need Ali and Louw to take wickets and on a regular basis but might have found themselves a good leggie in Golwalkar, batting strong as usual.

Lancashire - Need to find some consistency and will be hurt bad by internationals commitments especially in the bowling department, will miss murali badly, need to start giving the youngsters some time in the first team. Batting looks solid enough.

Hampshire - Will benefit massively from having warne around as well as a possibly good seam attack, batting looks good but will need tremlett in particular to pull the finger out since Mullally has gone now, should consider dropping katich for watson, lot of good youth players coming through.

Warwickshire - Will suffer with Bell and Giles going with England, but with vettori and streak being around for basically the whole season and a good batting line-up could be good. Look a very stong one day unit.

Sussex - Could be darkhorses but will miss Ward and most likely Kirtley, and yet again with Rana Naved looking settled in the Pak team, Mushy will have to carry the attack by himself really.

Durham - Will be encountering a lot of draws with plunkett, collingwood and harmison all going with england, batting still relies too heavily on Hussey, if they lose him for too long i can see them going back down.

Yorkshire- Will suffer greatly if Kruis and Jason Gillespie aren't in form, england internationals won't be around for long, batting will probably have to carry them. But with a full-strength bowling attack (will White try bowling again?) they could finish high up.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Kent - Might be able to keep Kemp and Hall at least until the last month, but really need a strike bowler to replace saggers, batting looks good with Key not really in the frame for internationals.

Amjad Khan. Just ask the Danish newspapers.

 

[Autobahn]

Amjad Khan. Just ask the Danish newspapers.

You could just see the headline:

"Durham done in by a dane"

 

[Scaly piscine]

Durham - Will be encountering a lot of draws with plunkett, collingwood and harmison all going with england, batting still relies too heavily on Hussey, if they lose him for too long i can see them going back down.

I doubt they'll draw many, especially at home.

 

[Autobahn]

I doubt they'll draw many, especially at home.

Yeah sorry i forgot that they have signed on Mick Lewis and Ottis Gibson, plus they also have Davies of course.

 

[Chubb]

Essex have a realistic chance of promotion. A fantastic top order, as good as any in the country, but we need pace bowlers. If Gough is fit plus Tudor (far less likely) and an overseas pace bowler the attack will be strong too. However it all rests on the quality of that overseas pace bowler. There is no one on the staff who is reliably quick- Cowan is just staying out his benefit, and the kids- Junaid Ahmed, Mervyn Westfield and Maurice Chambers, aren't anywhere near ready yet. I don't think Danish will be around too much so the spin is in the hands of Middlebrook, who is reasonable, and Tim Phillips, who I've heard good things about but is more of an batsman who bowls a bit. There's always Grant Flower.

OD, well, the side is great. Revelation of the 2005 season Ryan ten Doeschate looks to be one of the best finishers in the country, and the rest of the batting is very strong. The attack is less hampered by its lack of pace in OD, especially as we usually get a lot of overs out of Grant, Middlebrook and Danish if there, if not Phillips. The spin attack was one of the main reasons for the great one-day form last year.

So, Essex can easily be promoted, however we need a good overseas pace bowler to make it happen.

The other county I like to see do well, Derbyshire, should have a much better season this year thanks to the smart recruiting of Dave Houghton.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Danish if there.

I read on the Essex board that it's highly unlikely unfortunately. I'm not too disappointed personally, because he was alright in ODs, but I reckon the PCB told him to go easy in the FC matches after he bowled 70 overs in one innings last year, and he was never much use after that.

Our FC batting looks great, but we need bowlers. We've got Gough (who's still an above average bowler at domestic level), Tudor (who's ok when fit, but that's a big if) and not much else. Middlebrook showed he can't bowl in the 4-day games with an average of 50+ last year, Danish was over 30 too. Because of this lack of spin, IMO we need a spinner.

Anyway, Danish or not, we'll do well in the NCL no doubt.

 

[Autobahn]

I seem to remember some rumours that essex where intrested in signing brett lee especially becuase of the light international fixtures.

What happened to that?

 

[Tom Halsey]

I seem to remember some rumours that essex where intrested in signing brett lee especially becuase of the light international fixtures.

What happened to that?

They all went a bit quiet. There's a rumour at the moment that Essex might be about to sign MacGill, not sure what to think myself.

He's been smashed every time he's come to Chelmsford with Notts (EDIT: and Australia!), however he's undoubtedly a very good bowler...

 

[luckyeddie]

I daresay Derbyshire will be eating umble pie with a wooden spoon again.

 

[Retox]

I hope Gloucs do well with Marshall and Bond.

 

[Haddin]

Well, they will be in Division two, so I guess they will do well.

 

[Craig]

Is Ottis Gibson what approaching 40?

 

[Haddin]

Around that, yes.

 

[Autobahn]

Is Ottis Gibson what approaching 40?

Well he's 36 now but he still performs well with both bat and ball.

 

[savill]

Originally posted by Chubb
So, Essex can easily be promoted, however we need a good overseas pace bowler to make it happen.

Hopefully Goughie will be around all of the season as long as he's not with England. It all depends on how much cash the Essex Board is willing to cough up, we don't need another Andre Adams or Dale Sten or I daresay, Scott Brant. If we can get someone like Nel, and Tudor stays fit we'll have a good pace attack with the allrounders like Napier and Middlebrook as support.

I don't think Danish will be back, the PCB wasn't happy with the workload put on him last season. MacGill would be a good signing as the second overseas player, but something tells me Essex will probably end up with someone James Franklin and Arshad Khan!

 

[aussie]

this coming season it will be intersting to see how Naiper goes, i think he could be a good OD player for England in the future.

 

[Haddin]

And Matthew Hayden might join Hampshire.

 

[chooka_nick]

Yeah Aussie, he performed well on an England A tour recently whilst the rest of the team was dropping my stones.
Go Yorks! Although how we're gonna win without Jacques and Harvey I dont know... I wonder who our overseas players will be?