Quote Originally Posted by Kind of Blue View Post
I caught this as well and thought exactly the same TOBW. After a good start in the championship, that didn’t see us far off qualifying for the top division (mercifully, in this nick), the performances in this final quarter’s worth of games have been truly woeful. They are doing their best to take the shine off the one day cup victory and what was a very decent 4-day campaign till September!
Essex have been the best four day side in the country in the years before this season and are still a very good team, Gloucestershire were unlucky not to make it through to the top group after leading their table for so long and I think Durham would have got promoted this season under the two Division system that was around pre pandemic, so we've played some sides that player for player are better than us in these three games.

However, back in the spring and early summer, we were unbeaten in four matches with Yorkshire and Lancashire (we beat the latter in one of them) and thrashed a Kent side that were doing well in Division One in 2019. More than that, we were competitive in all of the early matches played before Labuschagne and Neser arrived.

Therefore the players, who have Rutherford as an improvement on Balbernie now, have shown that they are a lot better than their form during September has suggested. I have tended to be more sympathetic than some in this thread about what's happened since the Final. but yesterday was hard to take - they are still being paid a decent wage to do something which few get the chance to do and they really do need to show a bit more in the season ender against Surrey.