2010/11 Championship

[Daniel Young]

I played in the Warwickshire / Surrey open match. I left before the end and we (Warwickshire) were getting totally stuffed. I think Surrey were about 199ish on about board 10 and about 185 on bottom board!

Yes, our new Open captain is quite enthusiastic. I heard the average grade of the team was about 202...

[Nick Thomas]

I made the comment to our team before the match that we would have about a 50/50 chance against your B team!

[David Sedgwick]

I played in the Warwickshire / Surrey open match. I left before the end and we (Warwickshire) were getting totally stuffed. I think Surrey were about 199ish on about board 10 and about 185 on bottom board!

Yes, our new Open captain is quite enthusiastic. I heard the average grade of the team was about 202...

Until 2006 I despaired of Surrey ever being more than a Minor County. Then Graeme Buckley took over.

He has just retired after five excellent seasons, culminating in Surrey winning the SCCU Open Division for the first time for 47 years.

His successor, Owen Phillips, has indeed made a splendid start. I (grade 169) was pleased but amazed that I wasn't even asked to stand by as a reserve.

However, David Anderton's Staffordshire, star player Loz Cooper, lie in wait in the Semi Final.

[Mick Norris]

Herts 8 - 8 Leics

Herts win 50 - 51 on board count.

Unlucky

[David Sedgwick]

I made the comment to our team before the match that we would have about a 50/50 chance against your B team!

I don't know about that. Surrey U180 only finished fourth in the SCCU U180 Division. The three teams that qualified ahead of us, Essex, Kent and Middlesex, have all perished before the Semi Finals (assuming the reports up thread about Kent are correct).

[Nick Thomas]

I can't see anyone beating them if they field this team in the next 2 matches. Yang Fan Zhou, Franklin, Buckley, Granat, S Berry, Povah etc etc etc

[LozCooper]

However, David Anderton's Staffordshire, star player Loz Cooper, lie in wait in the Semi Final.

I'm sure they'll be shaking in their boots

[Mick Norris]

I don't know about that. Surrey U180 only finished fourth in the SCCU U180 Division. The three teams that qualified ahead of us, Essex, Kent and Middlesex, have all perished before the Semi Finals (assuming the reports up thread about Kent are correct).

Middlesex spread themselves too thin in the Preliminary round - they beat us (G Man) in the Open, but lost in the U180 and defaulted the U160 (possibly disproving the theory that the SCCU counties have enough players to fill every one of the teams available)

[Nick Thomas]

However, David Anderton's Staffordshire, star player Loz Cooper, lie in wait in the Semi Final.

I'm sure they'll be shaking in their boots

Yang Fan did say that he might be busy sorting out his sock draw during the semis

[Nick Thomas]

Bottle of wine hence draw instead of drawer

[LozCooper]

However, David Anderton's Staffordshire, star player Loz Cooper, lie in wait in the Semi Final.

I'm sure they'll be shaking in their boots

Yang Fan did say that he might be busy sorting out his sock draw during the semis

Well they do say there's no such thing as safe socks

[Rob Thompson]

Herts 8 - 8 Leics

Herts win 50 - 51 on board count.

Unlucky

The Devon - Warwickshire U180 match was almost closer. Devon had lost on board count in the Semi-final against Warwickshire the previous year. This year, Warwickshire were 7 - 5 up with four left playing. With 1 match still playing it was 7.5 all. Had it been drawn, board count would have been totally equal. I believe Devon would have won on elimination in this circumstance, as the lowest decisive result would have been a Warwickshire victory on board 13. The Devon player won the game, and players from both teams spontaneously broke out in applause.

[Nick Thomas]

Half of our (U180) players were playing against Surrey in the Open Q final (edit: Except the U180 match was a week ago)....but it doesn't change the fact that half of our players were U180 players. (now nearly 2 bottles of wine)

[Neil Graham]

Very, very preliminary news from Milton Keynes (I left while most games were still going on):

Minor Counties: Bedfordshire heavily outgraded Gloucestershire and were 3-0 up and looking good.

U180: Notts 5-2 up against Kent (12 board match), with two clear wins waiting to be chalked up - it would be astonishing if Notts were to lose from that position.

U160: Failed to take in anything about the score between Essex and Warwickshire.

U140: More or less the reverse of the U180 match. Kent three points up against Notts and apparently cruising.

Notts U-180 9.5 Kent U-180 2.5
Notts U-140 4.5 Kent U-140 11.5

Beds beat Glouestershire by a substantial margin

Meanwhile in a Village Hall somewhere in the East of England ...................

Suffolk U-160 5.5 Notts U-160 9.5

[Neil Graham]

Hampshire U-140 beat Surrey U-140 9.5-6.5

That was one I didn't see coming. Worcestershire v Hampshire it is in the Semi Final!

Hampshire were very solid last year when Notts played them in the U-140 Final. Although the result was 8-8, Hants had already won on board count when Notts pulled up from 8-5 to halve the match with the three last games to finish.