[Shortlegs]

Astonishing performances from Taylor and White with the bat and a very useful innings from Keogh. Fantastic to get though on a real high when we looked down and out after 10 overs. I wouldn't have picked Keogh for sure so looks like Ripley made the right choice this time. Anyway, a quarter final that I'd long lost hope of us reaching. I just hope today has given the whole side a boost at just the right time. Once you're in the quarters any team can win, so let's make a real go of it. Well done Northants!

[saintcobbler]

Well done White and Taylor, and Gloucester! Tiny margins eh! Also, a good performance from Sanderson.

[onemorerun]

Now we play at Bristol in the quarter finals. By chance, three of the four quarter finals are repeats of group matches.

Fantastic win today after we looked out of it. Probably even more surprising than the late run chase in the 2013 semis, as then it was Cameron White and Steve Crook who we knew could bat, whereas today I don't think we really knew that Taylor, Keogh and White could bat quite like that.

Northants CCC Twitter being a bit arrogant, implying fans should apologise for lack of faith or for being critical. Actually, we have scraped through after nearly blowing a great start, both in this match and in the competition generally, largely due to a new recruit making his debut, a batsman who was only in the team due to Wakely's injury, and some lower order hitting coming off, when we know there's a lot of luck in that. So let's have none of this arrogance.

The much vaunted top order failed miserably yet again, and Cobb in particular continued a largely shocking campaign with the bat. Taylor would seem on this evidence to be far too good to bat at number eight.

I'm delighted we won, but let's not be complacent.

Injuries and illnesses permitting, I can't see the quarter final team being changed from today (please Ripley do not bring back Wakely!)

Roll on October 1st @ 6.30.

[Shortlegs]

Oh dear! Half-way through and one of the worst performances you could possibly imagine. Only Taylor looked like he had a clue. It needs a miracle now, but to be honest we don't deserve to go through anyway.

Our "best in the country" top 4 have proved anything but, once again. Teams have sussed out that our top 4 have power but no guile and prepare pitches and then bowl accordingly. When they struggle they have a swipe and get out, putting pressure on the rest, who simply don't seem to know what to do. We certainly don't seem to have learned anything in the last few weeks, which is the most worrying thing and for which Ripley must also take some responsibility.

[onemorerun]

It must be said that Glos are a good T20 team. They won the group and thrashed us in the one group match played (we were probably fortunate that the other was rained off)

However, this has showed yet again that, as pointed out by Shortlegs, our batting is a major weakness, contrary to what the club itself believes. After the press release acknowledging the brilliance of Taylor in the last match, he was left to bat at number eight in this one. Clearly he deserved to come in much earlier. Even at eight, he showed himself far superior to the purported specialist batsmen. We went exactly 13 overs (3.5 to 17.5) without hitting a boundary.

Cobb has had two years as T20 captain now, and has demonstrated he has nothing to offer. Batting order, choosing to bat on a suspect away pitch, use of bowlers, all poor. If Ripley is involved in these decisions, he too needs to look at where he's gone wrong.

Massive mistakes from the start of the campaign were choosing to leave out our best batsman (Vasconcelos) and our leading run-scorer (Thurston). I'm pretty certain either of those proper batsmen would have managed to get a boundary in those 13 overs mentioned above.

Oh well, roll on next year. This should be a time for an overhaul. Hopefully we'll see more of Vasconcelos, Thurston, Taylor, Zaib, Sole etc and less of some of the old guard who seem to have been picked on the basis of past achievements, or because they fancied a game.

[Den Buckett]

Such a disappointing performance for a quarter final - you expect the players to at least make a match of it. In the end we just didn't have enough quality in the squad.

The club are making out it has been a successful season. A t20 QF was better than nothing but 1 win against Glams in the Bob Willis and scraping through in the t20 is hardly a major success.

[Shortlegs]

To me there have been some plusses in this short season, mostly the emergence of players like Zaib, Thurston, Taylor and Jack White. In fact, I think our 4th place in the 4-day competition was respectable given the amount of experimenting with players we did. Overall, I think that was a sensible approach.

The T20 is a different matter. We looked well equipped for the tounament and flattered in the first few games only to badly deceive later. Our "power game" got sussed out and we didn't have a clue when facing spinners on slow wickets. Add to that our less than athletic team in the field (with a few exceptions) and the fact we always seem to run fewer quick singles and twos than the opposition and you start to see where we are lacking. A new approach is needed, particularly re batting. As onemorerun says we need a couple more fast scoring but orthodox batsmen and a couple fewer "sloggers". I'd keep Rossington and Cobb for the big-hitting roles, particularly as Cobb's bowling is so useful. I think Thurston could play a valuable "Duckett-style" role for us and I agree Vasconcelos should be given a chance too. Tom Sole also has potential.

Sadly I think it's time to say goodbye to Levi. He was a great T20 batsman in his day but he has produced very little in the last couple of years and like Stirling, he can only play one way. Wakely should be another for whom the writing is on the wall, perhaps in all formats and I still have serious doubts about whether Keogh is worth persevering with.

Plenty for Ripley and co to ponder for next season.