Here is the performance of my Essex team in 2009 :cool: .
Their performance was good in 2008 season winning 3 of the 4 titles with M.Loye being the highest run scorer and D Kaneria being the highest wicket taker. But 2009 is the best season for me
.I made a few changes to the team after 2008 and I was very unfortunate to lose M.Loye (retired) so quickly and a few other good players. I brought in S. Ervine, M.Goodwin, Darlymple, Osborne, Keegan and a few youth players and I replaced Danish Kaneria with Harbhajan Singh.
I have attached the images according to my batting line up.
W. Jefferson was good for me for the first half of the season and was below average the second half. Nevertheless an excellent opening batsman. BTW I think he loves playing for Essex
becz whenever he gets picked for England he doesn't perform well and hence returns to the Essex squad quickly. 
Next comes S.Ervine - a very good player although the avg doesn't reflect that. Performed excellent near the end of season.
M.Goodwin was also a decent player in CC and excellent in one days.
O.Shah has been my best player this season. A reliable player and will definitely get a new contract.
James Darlymple was a good ODI player with excellent strike rate. He also provided the sixth bowling option which I never required since my fifth bowler was exceptional.
Next comes Boom Boom Afridi. Although he hasn't been quite "boom boom" with the bat, he was pretty consistent with a good strike rate. But his bowling has been phenomenal. I used him as a fifth bowler.
And finally comes my wicket keeper, J.Foster. He has been very good for me in CC which is reflected in his average (64.53--not bad for a wicket keeper ). He did not get many chances to do well in ODIs since he would usually come at the end to finish the game. His wicketkeeping was excellent too; dropped only one catch the whole season.
BOWLING :-
I mostly used two spinners and two seamers in all my games with afridi sufficing the role as a fifth bowler.
H.Singh was a decent bowler but not exceptional. Atleast not as much as I had expected. D.Kaneria was much better than him for me in 2008. But the advantage of having H.Singh is that he is a handy batsman as well and can build vital partnerships in the lower order...espicially with J.Foster in CC
K.Osborne is my second spinner. I just brought him for 2009 season and he amazed me.
He even got selected for England and put in a decent performance. He is just 24 and has a lot of cricket ahead of him. :hpraise
The only weakness in my squad, if I had any, would be the lack of good seamers. My two seamers have just been adequate, nothing more or nothing less.
M.Davies
C.keegan
Overall, it has been a good team effort which I find very realistic rather than just the same player scoring all the runs each time. Whenever my opening batsman failed, my middle order saved me, and whenever my middle order failed, my lower order saved me. So I am pretty happy with their performance.
As for my next season (2010), I might do a few changes. I might throw out a few youth and bring in the new ones (seamers). I might replace H.Singh with D.Kaneria and A.Cook might get a chance to play for Essex. I have a few allrounders as well in my squad.
Here was my squad for 2009 in case you are wondering....
BTW when is Cameron White available for selection...
Their performance was good in 2008 season winning 3 of the 4 titles with M.Loye being the highest run scorer and D Kaneria being the highest wicket taker. But 2009 is the best season for me
.I made a few changes to the team after 2008 and I was very unfortunate to lose M.Loye (retired) so quickly and a few other good players. I brought in S. Ervine, M.Goodwin, Darlymple, Osborne, Keegan and a few youth players and I replaced Danish Kaneria with Harbhajan Singh. I have attached the images according to my batting line up.
W. Jefferson was good for me for the first half of the season and was below average the second half. Nevertheless an excellent opening batsman. BTW I think he loves playing for Essex
becz whenever he gets picked for England he doesn't perform well and hence returns to the Essex squad quickly. 
Next comes S.Ervine - a very good player although the avg doesn't reflect that. Performed excellent near the end of season.
M.Goodwin was also a decent player in CC and excellent in one days.
O.Shah has been my best player this season. A reliable player and will definitely get a new contract.
James Darlymple was a good ODI player with excellent strike rate. He also provided the sixth bowling option which I never required since my fifth bowler was exceptional.
Next comes Boom Boom Afridi. Although he hasn't been quite "boom boom" with the bat, he was pretty consistent with a good strike rate. But his bowling has been phenomenal. I used him as a fifth bowler.
And finally comes my wicket keeper, J.Foster. He has been very good for me in CC which is reflected in his average (64.53--not bad for a wicket keeper
). He did not get many chances to do well in ODIs since he would usually come at the end to finish the game. His wicketkeeping was excellent too; dropped only one catch the whole season.
BOWLING :-
I mostly used two spinners and two seamers in all my games with afridi sufficing the role as a fifth bowler.
H.Singh was a decent bowler but not exceptional. Atleast not as much as I had expected. D.Kaneria was much better than him for me in 2008. But the advantage of having H.Singh is that he is a handy batsman as well and can build vital partnerships in the lower order...espicially with J.Foster in CC
K.Osborne is my second spinner. I just brought him for 2009 season and he amazed me.
He even got selected for England and put in a decent performance. He is just 24 and has a lot of cricket ahead of him. :hpraise 
The only weakness in my squad, if I had any, would be the lack of good seamers. My two seamers have just been adequate, nothing more or nothing less.
M.Davies
C.keegan
Overall, it has been a good team effort which I find very realistic rather than just the same player scoring all the runs each time. Whenever my opening batsman failed, my middle order saved me, and whenever my middle order failed, my lower order saved me. So I am pretty happy with their performance.
As for my next season (2010), I might do a few changes. I might throw out a few youth and bring in the new ones (seamers). I might replace H.Singh with D.Kaneria and A.Cook might get a chance to play for Essex. I have a few allrounders as well in my squad.
Here was my squad for 2009 in case you are wondering....
BTW when is Cameron White available for selection...
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