Still no word on name or venues for 'home' matches, but we now know that nominations for consideration in the squad ended before Christmas- and players will be considered if they have played for:

Minor Counties
Universities
Premier Leagues- such as the Birmingham League but not the county leagues beneath that
MCC Groundstaff.

So it isn't a Minor Counties or a Universities side- but really an 'everyone except the Counties and Scotland' XI.

Ridiculous idea.

Why not have an under 19's team or something similar.

Can you imagine the Premiership adding another team made of players who aren't getting regular matches ?

Interesting...the ECB are still not revealing the 'home' venues for the Recreational XI...but Devon CCC revealed that the XI are playing Somerset at Exmouth!

Now that is refreshing..with England Women and Herts. sharing the Denis Compton Oval at Shenley, Middx- a Middlesex outground to boot- I wondered if this might become the de facto County Ground for the XI....clearly not then- it appears that the Minor County or Counties closest to the away County will get the gig.

Makes sense too- they get to keep a good proportion of what should be good attendance receipts in such a contrived 'local derby'.

So we can hope for Colwall/Luctonians, Bridgnorth/Oakengates or Stone/Walsall after all then for our away tie. And more good news- Chris Metters looks like being a shoe-in for the squad when it is announced officially, or Devon seem to think, anyway.

Will they be allocated an OSP? Who will add experience to the squad? Can the xi literally be selected from all available non-contracted pros, playing at the requisite level, country wide?

Assuming the ECB is promoting youth and the UCCE programmes I would suggest those senior UCCE players who are yet to make first team or representative debuts are the most likely candidates. The following who featured in the University Championship, UCCE FC games vs the counties, MC Championship and second xi's are probably worth a mention (some of whom may be familiar);

Batsmen: A Ashok (Camb UCCE), RJH Lett (Ox UCCE), GC Baker (LUCCE), DB Bradshaw (Ox UCCE), R Sharma (Ox UCCE), R Bishop+ (Car UCCE), SK Gray+ (Camb UCCE)
All rounders: DGH Snell (L&B UCCE), PR Groves (LUCCE), A Ansari (Camb UCCE)
Bowlers: J Glover (Dur UCCE), TW Allin (Car UCCE), JA Hawley (L&B UCCE), NT Lee (Camb UCCE), PJ Foster (Dur UCCE), RM Brathwaite (Camb UCCE), DA Woods (L&B UCCE)

Cardiff & Leeds / Bradford UCCE's not at same status as Durham, Oxford, Cambridge and Loughborough UCCE's but have produced decent players in the past - James Tomlinson, Mark Pettini, William Porterfield. There are a few Minor Counties guys who stood out but I don't know if we'll see them thrown in at the deep end this year.

Is the standard in the Minor Counties on a par with second xi cricket? The MCC Young Cricketers do seem to be promising youngsters plus a few ringers who can't get regular games - don't think there will be enough FC experience to be found here to compete at this level.

Interestingly, UCCE graduates on playing staff with the FC counties;

Essex, Surrey 6
Glam, Hants, Kent, Lancs, Leics, N'hants, Sussex 4
Gloucs, Middx, Somerset 3
Derby, Warks, Yorks 2
Durham, Notts 1
Worcs 0

Corrected - found a few more to leave us trailing even further behind

We have released 4? in the last 4 years (Knappett, Gifford, Foster, Wigley) - are we missing out on a trick here? (see previous end of season 'where is the talent coming from?' threads)

It is rather confusing, Asia.

I would think that the eligible are the following players:

Minor Counties, Universities,Premier Leagues, MCC Groundstaff

NOT signed to a First-Class County, Scotland or Holland for 2010.

Which means that we could see Wedgie, Sillo or Metters...

Indeed, I think the whole point is that it is a shop-window for players..presumably the squad will change completely over 3 years; and mostly every year.

Remember that as the 'MCC Young Cricketers', the MCC Groundstaff play in the Second Eleven Championship, and from this season, in some Minor Counties competitions.

George Dobell- more about him on another thread - must read this place; as has come up with a few answers in his Express and Star column tonight.

The XI will be called the Unicorns- [so he clearly has a well-placed connection in the ECB's upper echelons.]

I am forgetting that this is not a Minor Counties side- so why use a Minor County ground?

So the Unicorns will be playing us on 25th July at.....Kidderminster. Oh yes. Because Kidderminster is a Premier League ground and they come under the Unicorns for this competition and not their usual Counties.

So when is a Home ground not a Home ground? When it is the away one!

....if I had known that, I'd have hoped for the Dartmouth for another year!

A few other 'Unicorns' fixtures announced

v Glamorgan, 16 May TBC

v Sussex, 23 May - Arundel

v Worcestershire, 25 July - Kidderminster

v Somerset, 8 August - Exmouth

v Surrey, 22 August TBC

v Lancashire, 30 August Colwyn Bay

Thought Glamorgan might have had Colwyn Bay and Lancashire Aigburth or Blackpool? Neath, Usk or St. Helens then and Surrey either Guildford or Whitgift School?

Might be worth following them between some nice little outgrounds but you'll clock up a few miles

What about the Hampshire Unicorns ? That's a " unique brand " !

Venues for Glamorgan and Surrey games are

Glamorgan : (wait for it) Dean Park, Bournemouth!!!!)
Surrey : Wormsley

The playing squad will be announced Mid March

I can see why the ECB have shoehorned Wormsley in- the late Sir Paul Getty's ground, purpose built by him from farmland- as they have shoehorned in Arundel...but Bournemouth??

Colwyn Bay is an odd and maybe unique location in cricket- it is allowed special dispensation to be considered a 'Glamorgan' ground while being able-under what are clearly now the old rules- to be a Lancashire venue as a Minor County bordering Lancs. Lancs. have played there in the past- up until the 70s, I think.

But Bournemouth and Glamorgan?? Erm- here are a list of grounds meeting the old rules and rules applied so far this time that could have been used:

Swansea
Neath
Ebbw Vale
Cresselly
Abergavenny
Cardiff University
Hereford
Colwall
Luctonians
Bristol University
Bristol [Fry's] -catch it while you can
Bristol
Gloucester
Cheltenham
Weston-super-Mare


But BOURNEMOUTH?? Are the ECB trying to revive Sundays-by-the-sea? If so, Weston can feel especially hard done by.

On this logic, we might have had to play the Unicorns at Diss or Cleethorpes or Cardiff University or Oxford [The Parks] ourselves!

More snippets

* Keith Parsons
Mark Hardinges?
+ Steve Adshead?

46 nominees to be trimmed to a squad of 20? A proper westcountry affair so far

I'm aware Phil Oliver was the MCCA Under 25's coach a few years ago and is involved with the Bears, the PCA, Staffordshire and Old Hill?

Sponsorship links through Cicada sports to a few players too

If they're training indoors at Edgbaston I'm suprised Kim isn't in the know...

You can't really tell it's a West Country affair from 3 names, Asia......

Parsons must have slipped under many people's radar...but we should have seen Adshead coming. If he gets the gig, watch him become a one-day Bob Taylor when they play us..something to prove.