It was a funny sort of day at Derby today. A bright start, a solid platform by mid-afternoon and then a collapse that we Derbyshire fans have become accustomed to that saw us limp to 261-9 by the close.
In fairness, however, we will not know how good or bad this total is until the visitors have to bat. Maybe our winning the toss coincided with the best of a wicket that will deteriorate from here, as evidenced by our batting as the day went on. If Glamorgan post 275-3 by the close tomorrow that theory will be out of the window, but I'm prepared to wait until then before passing judgement that is overly critical.
The disappointing aspect was that again, batsmen got themselves in then got out after doing the hard grind. An old county pro of pre-war vintage used to urge his colleagues to "drink at the well" when they had got to fifty. I rarely find fault with players who get out early, as it can happen to anyone, but when players repeatedly get out in the 30-70 bracket one questions their concentration and mental toughness.
The only consolation in Mark Cosgrove getting three wickets was in his being in my fantasy cricket team! While a useful player, he shouldn't be getting three decent players out. Until late in the day we appeared to have played Robert Croft well, but late wickets again took him to a good return against us.
Tomorrow is a key day and a few more runs to take us to nearer the 300 would be useful. Mind you, it could also highlight that our batsmen missed the boat. Honourable mention for Garry Park who again showed what a fine player he is before holing out. Someone due a few runs is Jamie Pipe, who hasn't yet shown the weight of runs to which we have become accustomed. Knowing this top professional, a big score is just around the corner, but it would be good to see the runs against his name sometime soon.
Until tomorrow - here's to lots of wickets!
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