T20 Preview

John Morris is absolutely right in his comments in today's Derby Telegraph - see link on the left. Our one day cricket IS inconsistent. We're not, by any stretch of the imagination, a bad side but the players need to sustain a level of performance, especially before the larger crowds and TV cameras that floodlit fixtures bring, before they will be taken seriously.

Big players, good players in any sport pull out the stops on the big occasions when there's a good crowd and an atmosphere. It can add an extra 10% to a performance and thereby the result. We see it occasionally at club level where Scotland left arm spinner Glenn Rogers plays for our club occasionally. When he's in the side everybody does better in the field and there's long barriers, diving stops and attempts for catches that on an average day wouldn't be considered for fear of having to wash the flannels for the next game... It's our equivalent of a big match atmosphere and if an international cricketer says "well done mate" to one of the guys they seem to grow in fromt of your eyes.

I would hope that any professional player worth his salt should rise to the big crowds of the T20. The eyes of thousands are on you and most would trade places like a shot. Mundane day at the office and handling complaints and sickness or a chance to be idolised by many? I know which one I would take, but I stopped sticking my cricket gear in the back of the car just in case they were short when I got to the game when I was 18!

For the T20, I would expect something close to this side to take the field

Chris Rogers
Greg Smith
Stuart Law
Wavell Hinds
James Pipe
Graham Wagg
Tim Groenewald
Garry Park
Dan Redfern
Mark Lawson/Jake Needham
Charl Langeveldt

The return of Langeveldt from his "exertions" in the IPL is a welcome boost and he will have a point to prove to the Kolkata management who curiously ignored him, despite a phenomenal record in this form of the game, where he has taken 48 wickets at just 14 each. After his excellent record in the competition last year Smith would surely open with Chris Rogers? The latter will want to show that he can play this form of cricket, having been regularly overlooked back home. Law and Hinds must go in next, with the power hitters of Pipe, Wagg and Groenewald to follow. If it all goes pear-shaped (cynics might say "when") we'd have Park and Redfern to nudge it around at the end, with Park's brilliance in the field sure to be an asset.

Perhaps the concern, aired on BBC 606 in the week, is that the spinners are inexperienced and may be "got at" by the opposition. In the absence of any viable alternative they would at least provide variety and the above side has eight bowlers (nine if one included Stuart Law, a decent bowler in his younger days). Groenewald the hitter is a beast we have yet to see in Derbyshire competitive colours (not withstanding a fine knock at Northampton pre-season) but at some point I am sure that someone will pay.

Reality check. We're up against the best team in the country over the past two years (Durham), perhaps the form team in the country (Lancashire), a likely trophy winner this summer (Nottinghamshire) our longest rivals (Yorkshire) and a team that we should beat (Leicestershire). My head says that we'll probably come second bottom in the group. My heart suggests that we could improve on previous years and do a little better. IF we compete, bat like a cricket team and not like a baseball side, we could do better. I cannot see us getting through the group stage but hope I'm wrong.

If we could bat through the first ten overs and reach 60-1 or similar, then take 8 an over from the remaining overs, a total of 140 on a regular basis would win us a few games. It's a rough guide, I know, but it frustrates me when we get to eight overs and are 36-5 trying to bat like millionaires. The presence of Rogers and Law at the top should bring an element of sanity to proceedings and if the fielders back up the varied attack and the latter don't replicate Wednesday's excesses, we will at least compete. From there, it's down to luck, someone chancing their arm and people living up to reputations.

Easy innit?