Any speculation on who will be in the side? This will be one of the most difficult and most important sides Moxon/McGrath will have chosen in some time.

Lyth, Bairstow and Patterson look like obvious candidates, but who will the spinner be? Should Chris Taylor be brought in to open with Sayers? Will Rudolph drop down to 4? Will Ballance or Root be given a try?

Some many questions, so many answers!

Batting Vaughan at eight and using him as a spinner might not be the worst move as things stand.

I just can't imagine who we're going to use as bowlers. I guess we've got Hoggy, Kruis, Ajmal and then probably Patterson - but where do we find a spinner? Is it worth playing that young lad who took some wickets in the seconds last week?
And of course, we would be playing on the batsman's paradise of Taunton. I just hope Mags win the toss for once...

Gurman Randhawa to give the lad his name..

Are we sure Rana and Wainers are definitely out? Whatever it's time for Rudi to go back in to the middle order.

Sayers
Gale
McGrath ©
Rudolph
Lyth
Bairstow (w)
Shahzad
Wainwright / Finch / Randhawa
Naved / Patterson
Hoggard
Kruis

Not convinced we could get 20 wickets with our 1st choice attack let alone this, would take a 10/11 point draw right now if offered.

Agree we will not get 20 wickets at Taunton with our strongest bowling attack, never mind with who we have available. So why not pick 6 batsmen, Bairstow as keeper and pick the only 4 fit or available bowlers we have in Patterson, Hoggard, Shazad and Kruis. It may be negative but lets set our stall out, play for the draw and get 12 points.

Sayers, Taylor, Gale, Mags, Rudolph, Lyth, Bairstow, Shazad, Kruis, Hoggard, Patterson.

Frankly I don't really care who we pick for this game as options are so limited there should be less speculation and debate. Just as long as they all turn up, do their best, look interested and play like a team going out to try and win a game collectively.

But having said that heres my 2 pennorth

I do think we need a spinner of some sort or another and wonder if Wainwright may be pressured into playing a bit sooner than he wants to return.

i see no reason in pressuring Rana to play if hes not fit as we have enough other seamers to go with.

A team lacking Vaughan, Bres, Brophy, Rana, Rafiq and Rashid suddenly looks very weak on paper especially as Lyth and Taylor have not done anything for the first team yet this season.

This is where you look to your leaders to lead by example....

As someone who has followed Yorkshire Cricket for over 30 years, isn't this just the very occasion when we might turn up and win the bloody game.....
I can see a big performance from the Hogster.

I wish I could agree with Steve and a part of me does however a bigger part sees a complete and utter disaster occuring.

Agree with Stu about making a pragamtic selection which means selecting 6 batter, 4 bowlers and a batting keeper.

I'd go with Sayers, Ballance, Mags, Rudi, Gale, Lyth, Bairstow, Shazhad, Hoggy, Kruis and a spinner.

Fingers crossed we win the toss and bat first. I'd take a draw right now.

Still no squad news on the official website. I suppose they're having a trawl through the sick bay and local youth clubs to find 11 fit players willing to turn out...
Presumably they should have set off by now. It's a useful drive to Taunton..

its a bit tricky to announce the squad without giving away what the 'shock' announcement at the press conference in Edgbaston tomorrow is all about.

As Vaughan has not yet officially announced his retirement, Moxon and Mags could pick him in the squad for tomorrows game (and as a parting shot ask him to open!) but as Vaughan seems to be attending a press conference over 100 miles away then its tricky to pick him.

But if we announce a squad and leave him out then we could be accused of spoiling his press conference by 'leaking' his decision and not picking him.

Why it takes an official press conference and 3 days to arrange is beyond me. All he has to do is say he is retiring and moving on to whatever he is going to do rather than building up a big song and dance over an announcement.

Sadly, whilst he may have reached the right decision, i am not sure he is handling it the best way. Poorly advised??

Andrew Caddick is in line to make his first Somerset appearance of the season after being included in a 13-man squad.

The BBC reports that Gerard Brophy (finger) is fit to play for Yorkshire, while the Telegraph and Argus says he has a dislocated finger and will not play. Go figure!

Somerset (from): Trescothick, Suppiah, Langer, Hildreth, de Bruyn, Kieswetter, Trego, Thomas, Stiff, Philips, Willoughby, Caddick.

At least Munday's not in the squad so we won't be tempted by his rank full-tosses.

McGrath lays down the law. Unless we win this week, it is a club record of 18 matches without a win. The article also says that Brophy is still injured, and Lee will play instead of Kruis.

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/McGrath-threatens-changes-to-underperforming.5411735.jp

Still no official announcement of team apart from the YP stating who is injured and who is not playing. So do we assume Sayers, Rudolph, Mags, Gale, Lyth, Bairstow, Shazad, Patterson, Hoggard, Lee, and A N Other.

A. Trialist often scores valuable goals in scottish football, wonder if he's available for a game of cricket?

How about A. Rafiq. He's available isn't he?

Somerset team
AR Caddick, Z de Bruyn, JC Hildreth, C Kieswetter, JL Langer, DA Stiff, AV Suppiah, AC Thomas, PD Trego, ME Trescothick, CM Willoughby
Yorkshire team
Azeem Rafiq, JM Bairstow, AW Gale, MJ Hoggard, JE Lee, A Lyth, A McGrath, SA Patterson, JA Rudolph, JJ Sayers, A Shahzad

BAT, bat all day and the best part of tomorrow 500+ on the board and we "shouldn't" lose

For those who haven't heard Rafiq isn't available as he's playing for the England Under 19 team

But he's in the team DP

But Rafiq is in the team after all. Very good news. What's happened to the club's usual communication skills - is Deon injured or just not selected? I saw mags having a very long and detailed conversation with Deon at Worcs - I wonder if it's been decided that he's not playing in any more four day games. Good luck to James Lee - we've won the toss and that's as good a start as we could possibly make.....

Apologies to Loiner ... I was sure we were told that Rafiq would be unavailable for this match due to the U19's. This just proves I AM cracking up.

Glad we've at least won the toss & are batting. Agree its odd about Kruis btw

But how heartbreaking to play all your cricket on that sort of pitch. The game looks like a draw already - this is the sort of surface that is doing more damage to four day cricket than anything other single thing....
(And I realise that I'm probably speaking too soon...)

We've got our balanced team with 5 batters, 5 bowlers and a keeper which is something I've been banging on about. Must admit this is the one game I'd have stacked the team with batting and played for a draw, especially so with the weather likely to break later in the game.

Ballance for Patterson would have been my only change. I'm assuming Brophy and Kruis are unfit.

Perhaps our luck has changed, I dread to think where our 96 overs would have come from if Somerset had won the toss and batted, especially so if Tres or Langer had got in. Hoggy hopefully will be first in the bar tonight and buying for Mags.

Just had a text from a friend who knows I usually can't access 'sport sites' on the work PC and I know he gets his day time cricket progress from teletext, 'Sayers gone early, Mags in with Rudi, just the bowlers to come'. He'll be amazed at the composition of the side.

104/1 at lunch .... so far so good ... but am I the only one wondering when 'the collapse' is going to happen

If McGrath and Rudolph can get Yorkshire to 150 or so, we should be in the clear.

This must be one of the youngest ever Yorkshire sides.

Good start but of course this is Taunton. What a miserable place to watch cricket.

Shame Sayers went early this could be the perfect surface for him to get a big score.

When did we last score 100 before lunch on the first day?

This is THE key partnership of the innings. With the exception of Gale, the rest of the side are either unproven or aren't specialist batsmen. One of Rudolph, Lyth or Gale will need a century and get Yorkshire to something in the range of 250 for 4 or 5 wickets. I can see Somerset's powerful batting lineup scoring heavily on this wicket, especially with our makeshift attack and with Bresnan and Rashid otherwise engaged.

I think its a bit early to name 'THE' vital partnership. So far it is, of course, but if Lyth and Rudi get out and Patto and Rafiq put on 200 then that will have been.

Also, just because we have unproven players doesn't mean they are a waicket waiting to happen.

Every great player was unproven at one point. Rafiq was seen as nothing more than a tail ender before his century the other day.

Now, we'll see if we crash out, with Gale the last proven batsmen. I agree with the modo, the batting is thin, inexperienced or non-existent after Gale.

We'll need another century partnership to stay on top. Over to you Rudolph and Gale.

Gale gone for 17 ... 267-4 ... this could get 'difficult'

I love Gale, but how often does he get out a critical times, makes a rash shot or goes just before an interval break? At this rate we would be pleased with 350 - which isn't going to be enough against the Wurzels.

We're down to our best batsmen now.
Bairstow and Rafiq - show 'em how it's done!

Thank god for Jacques Rudolph! Where would we be without this class cricketer?

So,Jaques Rudolph.the man who should not be opening the batting score 191 today
Which just goes to show that someone of his class will get runs for you anywhere.
I know it's Taunton,but where would we be without him.
Well played again Jaques,and with Michael now hitory,let's hear no more nonsense about moving him down the order.
10 innings in Championship and 688 runs will do for me,if only some of the others were half as prolific.

A decent day but the late wickets probably swung it Somersets way. With our weakened bowling attack, the Taunton wicket and their strong batting line up they have an advantage. We need, if poss, another 100 runs at least tomorrow morning to be back in the game.

Well played JR, 191 is a great individual score on any type of wicket.....let's face it, if somebody had told us we would be on that score at the end of the first day's play, we would have snapped their hand off !

Let's hope we have a good day in the field, one similar to Somerset's first innings at Headingley would fit the bill nicely !

Unfortunately only been able to follow on cricinfo today. Even allowing for the Taunton pitch it does seem a good effort today especially given out inexperienced batting line up and what looks to be a long tail.

The most pleasing aspect for me was the ability to put some partnerships together and not see the usual cluster of wickets.

Still think Rudolph should be at 4 but we do seem to have solved out opening partnership woes of last year, so maybe sacrificing some of Rudolphs runs lower down the order might be a fair trade off.

Lets hope the tail wags a bit tomorrow and takes us comfortably passed the 400 mark, then see if we can take 20 wickets.

Well played lads - and don't forget Hoggy scored a very stylish fifty last week. I think 400+ would be a very good effort.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Rafiq can do - I just wish we'd had another spinner to bowl with him. Nobody's fault - everyone's injured or called up - but i think four seamers is possibly one too many.

Not one to put a damper on things but I think today was par for the course at best and still looking at a defeat if we are not careful.
Still think Rudolph is batting two places too high but good batsmen will score runs on good pitches wherever they bat in the order. The worry is nobody else could score big runs but managed to score some runs. A sure sign of poor batting on a good pitch.
Without the tail wagging tomorrow I'd expect us to be well behind on first innings and batting to save a draw, not sure we have the skill to do that in the current circumstance.

Well done today ... but is around 400 really enough omn that pitch. We will see over the next fewdays.

As for Rudolph ... this is the groundwhere it doesn't mmatter ... yes he;s got 600+ runs .. but on less batsman friendly pitches he can & does get out cheaply. Take out 2 150+ scored & Rudolph's average is rather poor

400 should be par on this pitch. Another sign of how easy runs have been to get is that we were motoring along at over 4 an over almost all day. For Yorkshire that's pretty quick.

nice to see after the T20 shambles, the Vaughan retirement, the England call ups and the injuries that the team finally selected went out and played with some pride and passion.

I don't care if its a batting paradise at Taunton - you still have to get the runs and with how we have performed recently it was a pleasing day all round especially in view of our relatively young team.

Glad someone saw sense over Rafiq as well. I thought he had been made unavalable originally (by who as he is not ECB contracted?) or did someone perhaps confuse Rashid and Rafiq when making the statement?

Last season when Rudy was 4 he may as well have been opening in view of how quickly the openers were dismissed. I am happy to admit that whilst I prefer him at 4 in the order, i think he has made a decent fist of opening but just felt that we had other opening options that meant Rudy could have stayed where he is best suited. Now Vaughan has gone then one of the alternative options has also been removed.

Driving home last night we got a rare cricket report of radion Five Live (must have been a gap in the bloody tennis..). The reporter said it had been an excellent day at Taunton with a wonderful innings from the South African Batsman Jacques KALLIS....

Well,I never thought I'd read it on here but Dpressed has come out with a classic.
''Take out Rudolph's couple of 150s and his average is poor''.
Well you can't argue with that,except to say ''take out all his other scores apart from those,and his average leaps to 190 plus''
It may have escaped Dpreesed's illogical reasoning ,but the fact is that how you manage to average nearly 70 is prescisely by scoring big hundreds.
I don't mind debating his form or lack of it according to you DP,but do stop being silly.
He's opening becsause he's the best available for the job at present,and although he'd score runs at four as well,he'll score even more from number one.

sorry dpressed but Cleasby is right here - averages are called averages for the very reason that they allow for the good and the bad in the calculation.

Take out a couple of his ducks and his average would be over 200.

Its a bit like saying we have had a cordial relationship with Germany if you take out the 2 world wars.

This season Rudolph has scaored 2 centuries .... in the Worcs game at Headingley & in the current match at Taunton. Both have been a very flat pitches against 'friendly' attacks. Yes he still had to get the runs but I'm sure Jacques would have made just as many at no 4.

All the pitches I've seen this season have been flat,and most of the attacks pretty friendly DP.
It's just some are flatter than others,and some attacks more friendly than others.
The fact remains Rudolph has taken more advantage of conditions than others,and coming in at number 3 or 4 rather than number 1 does mean your chances of scoring loads of runs are a bit diminished,whoever you are.
Just ask Michaael Vaughan!

>>>coming in at number 3 or 4 rather than number 1 does mean your chances of scoring loads of runs are a bit diminished,whoever you are.

Going by last seasons show I'd say number three's chances of scoring loads of runs was diminished by about an over and number fours by not much more.

And that's when Jaques wasn't opening the batting presumably Kenny?

>>And that's when Jaques wasn't opening the batting presumably Kenny?

It was, but two wrongs don't make it right. Rudolph shouldn't be opening and we should have found a quality opener during the winter or at least played Vaughan there from the start of the season.
Not sure what Rudolph's average is for the season but I know his overall worth would be bigger had he batted at four behind a proper opening partnership.

The best batsmen make runs when it matters most, on difficult pitches against good attacks.

It may have escaped the notice of some,but the fact is we do not have a proper opening partnership,and why Jaques is batting in that position.
Sayers,Gale, Lyth,Taylor are all who aspire to opening but any two of those or any others you care to mention would make far from an ideal pair at present.

think you will find that both Gale and Lyth have stated they would actually prefer not to open so think their aspirations are not as you intimate.

Sayers is an out and out opener (although this season the out bit has tended to be after he has got a few runs whereas last year he was an in and out (very quickly) opener.

Taylor would just welcome an 'opening' to get any game in the team presumably

Thankyou for the clarification TC.
So Gale and Lyth won't open,Taylor's no where near being selected anyway.
Sayers,the man plenty wanted out of the team last week because he wasn't scoring quick enough anyway IS now our best opening bat.
But desdpite all of this Rudolph, who is quite happy to open and has scored piles of runs opening,shouldn't be according to many on here.
I think I'll give up on this one,before I become even further confused,but maybe someone could actually tell me WHO should be opening instead of Rudy,and then all will become much clearer.

we had a poll on this some time ago and perhaps before you joined the WRF. I think the fans wanted Sayers and Vaughan to open but most of us knew deep down that Vaughan was always going to be at 3 in the order (Englands orders).

i am not sure Rudy has actually stated that he wants to open either but as the senior player he has probably accepted responsibility and just got on with it. As he sits in the taunton dressing room this afternoon out second ball in the second innings I suspect his thoughts may differ from 24 hours ago!

The opening partnership poll: Link

Why would getting out for a duck,make Rudy think he too should refuse to open the batting ?
It should have been obvious to all that Vaughan would always be number three for Yorkshire this season.
Who on earth would imagine he'd be opening the batting,rather a wasted vote I think,or was it just an opinion poll?