turn and bounce

A powerful middle order batsman and useful bowler at all phases of an innings, Higgins is the perfect t20 player. Economical at the death and with a good strike rate of near 140, putting in more good performances for Gloucestershire could see franchise interest around the world. He'll need to maybe sacrifice that strike rate for more consistency this year, the absence of Michael Klinger meaning that the core of youngsters including himself, Miles Hammond and James Bracey will need to score more runs to help out regulars Ian Cockbain and Jack Taylor. The lack of Andrew Tye will also put more pressure on him at the death, whilst David Payne may need to be saved for two overs at the death meaning he will have to bowl some Powerplay overs too. Seeing how Higgins goes regularly bowling his full quota of overs will be an interesting sub plot in this year's Blast. 

 A nugget opening batsman, Byrom has reinvented himself as a powerful middle order hitter with a multitude of shots both in front of and behind the wicket. Watch out for how he goes against spin in the middle overs, a strike rate of 196 last year being quite remarkable, however a slightly low average. In the absence of Banton and Babar at the top of the order and diminishing returns of James Hildreth, Byrom and Toem Abell will be required to score most of Somerset's runs this year, particularly with their weak seam bowling line up that regularly concedes 10+ an over. 

 Holden is a left handed opener who has already experienced success in the Balst without really cementing his spot in the side. However, with no Paul Stirling or Dawid Malan to contend with at the top of the order this could be the year he "Blasts" off. Capable of scoring at a good tempo and consistently, likely statistics for him would be an average of around 30 at a strike rate of near 135. 

 With the Vitality Blast due to take place soon I thought it might be fun to profile a few players that might have an impact on the tournament. Callum Taylor (Glamorgan)  RHB, OS Hard hitting middle order batsman and wily spinner--as of yet he has made limited impact in first team cricket, however a recent ton in the Bob Willis trophy is proof of his talent. Taylor played a handful of Blast games last year, however had limited opportunity to showcase his skill set which is one that is perfect for T20. 60* in a pre season T20 showed the skill he has with his batting and will be an exciting player to watch this season. 

I've had an interest in cricket, particularly analytics and the Moneyball approach to recruitment and tactics. As of yet, this has only gone as far as an EPQ on draft strategy, but now I have decided it might be interesting to blog a little bit on various aspects of cricket, mainly on T20 and the other short forms. So, let's see how this goes.