Alas, Sussex are off to a pretty good start against bottom-dwellers Worcestershire, who are 53-2. Given that it's quite likely Sussex will beat Worcestershire, Yorkshire more or less has to beat Hampshire to stay in in race to avoid the drop. Falling 15 or more points behind Sussex would be very difficult to come back from considering the wonky points system, whereby teams are virtually gifted batting and bowling points.
As the old adage sort of said: "Once to every player and county, comes the moment to decide." This is Yorkshire's moment. We can't wait any longer to win a match.
I hope Lancashire bring the same side as they are playing today to Headingley next week. They are missing Croft, Chappell, Anderson, Flintoff, Smith and Mahmood. Knowing our luck they will be back at almost full strength next week against us, with just Anderson and Flintoff missing, who will be playing for England.
A good observation. It is difficult to move up the table unless you actually win a match and take the extra 14 points on offer. Draws do little to enhance a team's position, since most teams earn about the same number of bonus points, especially the bowling points where virtually every team gets all three match after match.
In my books if the Tykes don't win this match and Sussex beats Worcs, we can book our hotel reservations next season for exotic locations in Glamorgan and Middlesex.
Unfortunately, Sussex have rallied, and now look set to take at least one batting bonus point - and perhaps even overhaul Worcester`s first innings total of 256.
Cook 4, Bopara 1, Bell 1, Onions no wickets - what will selectors make of that!?
However, Ryan Sidebottom is amongst the wickets again, which helps his chances. He should have played at Headingley to pitch ball up and give greater variation in seam attack. If Flintoff plays, then surely Harmison must drop out thereby increasing Ryan's chances (probably at Onions expense, as Oval will not favour him?) I would drop Bopara for last test and play Trescothick or Ramprakash!
Worcestershire lose an early second innings wicket against Sussex. It's looking more and more like Sussex will pull this one out. The pressure is really on the Tykes now. If Sussex win and Yorkshire don't, its all over but the screaming and gnashing of teeth. The Tykes will be on their way to Divi 2.
Worcestershire is in the midst of a second innings collapse, and Sussex could well win the match and 19 points inside three days. This puts even more pressure on the Tykes to win against Hants. I don't fancy our overhauling Sussex if we draw or lose. We could be as much as 20+ in arrears.
Like somebody (Steve?) said: "There comes to every county and player, the moment to decide."
Another defeat looming for them. It shows how bad we are that we have lost to them in the Pro-40, had the worst of a draw at Headingley and only got 3 wickets, and drew against them at Worcester. The worse side in the Division and we can not beat them yet against Durham, who are the best side in the Division we have an excellent record in all matches this season of playing 7, winning 4, drawing 2 and only losing 1. Very strange!!
This message has been edited by stu789 on Aug 13, 2009 12:22 PM
Hapless Worcester have set Sussex only 211 to win. If Sussex push on for the win they'd earn 19 points. If the Tykes win, we get 21 and would be only 5 points adrift of 7th. If we we draw, we'd lose ground and be a full 15 points behind i.e more than the 14 points you get for a win. That would probably mean we'd need at least two more wins to stay up, assuming Sussex doesn't win again this season.
Of course if the Tykes win (21) and Sussex (5) lose against Worcs, the White Rose would race into 6th and ahead of Sussex by 9 points and Hampshire by 2 points. The next five sessions will be our most important of the season.
Sussex have to lose and we have to win. Any other results would see us needing 2 wins from our last 5 matches by a team who have not won a CC for over a year. We would need a miracle to avoid the drop.
If Sussex win, as it appears now certain, it looks like a straight fight between Hants and Yorks for the other relegation slot. Unfortunately for us Hants still have a 22 point banker to come against Worcestershire. The fact that we failed to beat Worcestershire in either of our two CC matches will come back to kick us in the teeth. Warwickshire will get at least a draw as well, if not a win, and they also have Worcestershire to play.