Monday musings

After the defeat at Bristol on Sunday, Derbyshire have an opportunity to bounce back in the four day Championship game that starts tomorrow against Northamptonshire.

It has been a funny season so far for a lot of teams, with only Sussex showing consistency in all forms of the game. Lancashire must have thought they were home and dry against the previously lacklustre Surrey at Old Trafford yesterday, but led by a fine innings from under fire skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown the visitors produced a shock.

The successful chasing of such a total is something we have seen all too rarely from Derbyshire sides over the years and will determine whether we make the transition from being an ordinary, sometimes poor one day outfit to a decent one.

With time to build an innings in the Championship, we are a match for most sides in this division and I still expect to see us in the shake up at the business end of the season. With one day cricket I am not so sure and would be content at this stage with our winning more matches than in previous campaigns. At the risk of stating the obvious, until we manage to both bat and bowl well in the same game we ain't going to win one day games...

Gloucestershire's win was built around a special knock of 130 from one man, when the rest of the side managed little. Sometimes this happens and you cannot legislate for it.

Except having one of yours do the same..
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In other news, there's considerable discussion on In Morris We Trust on the poor deal that cricket gets from Radio Derby. It is fair comment from those involved, as the station reports on anything and everything to do with Derby County and Burton Albion, yet cricket appears to be regarded as little more than an afterthought.

For all the fact that Ian Hall seemed negative for most of the time, at times parodying Private Frazer in Dad's Army ("We're doomed…") he at least knew football and cricket inside out, having played them both at professional standard. Maybe that was why he was negative; anyone who played with Derbyshire through the 1960's and early 1970's was bound to be. Whatever you feel about us today, I can assure you that it is a million miles removed as a spectacle from that era. Having said that, I would happily take Harold Rhodes and Alan Ward in their pomp and transplant them into the current squad, as well as Bob Taylor.

I have been told that the online listening figures for some of Derbyshire's matches last season barely made double figures. If true, it is hardly likely that Radio Derby will pay to cover all matches this summer and the associated costs. Ted McMinn was paid a nominal fee for a Saturday afternoon. What price a commentator or analyst for four day cricket?

Conversely, more people may listen if the action was the focus of the conversation. The reason that Test Match Special has remained at the heart of the game for so long is that they never miss a ball of the action and you know what is happening. The references to tea and cake, to pigeons on the square and to buses going past the ground are entertaining embellishments, but never replace the action.

What the Derbyshire commentary team need to remember is that they are the eyes for those unfortunate enough to be unable to get to the game. While the player's nicknames, their thoughts on beer and various other fripperies help to pad out time between balls, they simply cannot be allowed to get in the way of the action on the pitch. It is unbelievably annoying to be told after a mundane conversation, almost as an afterthought "Oh, and Smith's out…"

Doing cricket commentary isn't difficult, if you know the game and the players. Doing it well is different. Painting the picture for those listening, like John Arlott used to do so brilliantly, is a sport-enhancing experience.

I'll confess that it is something that I have always wanted to do myself. When I was at school, my main ambition was to be a cricket commentator and if that proved impossible to be a cricket writer. I suppose I have satisfied the latter through various published articles over the years (and this blog), while the latter will possibly have to go the same way as my other childhood aspirations - to be an engine driver or an astronaut...

Nonetheless, if Radio Derby are ever short, I am ready, willing and able - as long as they make it worth my while. Ted McMinn was released and never properly replaced by Radio Derby after he asked for a rise in the modest sum he was paid. McMinn was worth listening to and entitled to an appropriate remuneration which was not forthcoming. If the station wouldn't pay the going rate for their main sporting area of interest, it is hard to believe they would do so for cricket, which seems to carry minority sport status at the station.

Which effectively means, my friends, that it is as good as it is probably going to get, a shame for all concerned.