Another (division one) scalp bites the dust...
After a professional bowling and fielding performance where no one went for 30 runs in their four overs, Derbyshire completed a fine win with a ball to go in the nineteenth over.
Martin Guptill led from the front with a brilliant 72 including six sixes, but it was a professional chase in which everyone contributed. The innings was finished off by Garry Park (who wasn't expected to play) and Ross 'Bradman' Whiteley, who now boasts a T20 average of 66.
The reasons for Derbyshire's form aren't hard to find. The lowest average in the top six is 25, with Park 44, Madsen 37 and Guptill 34. As for the bowlers, Knight and Hughes are bowling their overs for less than seven runs each; Clare and Groenewald for less than eight.
It is impressive stuff and they are very much in the shake up with six games to go. Where it finishes is anyone's guess, but there's no disputing that this is an improving side rejuvenated by young players and with an overseas player who is well worth the admission fee.
Plenty to play for...now back to the Championship in Wales tomorrow.
More later.
Just got back peakfan. An enjoyable day all round. Our groundfielding was very good but we should have made it even harder for them,had we taken our catches. Whieley,Clare and of all people,Park all dropped simple chances. Its something Whiteley needs to work on as this is the third game on the trot he,s muffed easy catches.
ReplyDeleteThe bowling was good on the whole. Knight should have had a wicket with his first ball,but he and hughes bowled tidily as did the others. Sutton was excellent behind the stumps and captained well.
Guptill was excellent. One thing this lad can do well is hit over the top and it makes a big difference. Hughes didn,t bat well again. He looks like he,s going to get out every ball when a spinner is on. He doesn,t seem to know what to do with them. It,s a weakness other counties will exploit if he doesn,t sort it out soon. Anyway,it was a good win and keeps us alive and kicking.
Apart fron having to eat a few of my words (but it's not over yet!), one of the pleasing things about this t20 mini-recovery is that it shows learning and development that hasn't been much in evidence when things have been going wrong in the last couple of years. The other promising change has been the consistency of our CC performances (a day against Surrey apart) so let's hope that we can keep that going against Glamorgan.
ReplyDeleteGood comments guys! Thanks as always.
ReplyDeleteSets us up nicely for Friday
ReplyDeleteHmm, might set us up nicely for a fall back to earth on Friday. The ease of Notts win against Lancs today puts our tie with them in perspective. They are a truly formidable t20 team, in sharp contrast to their recent CC form, which has started some of my Notts supporter friends twitching about whether they are might be heading for relegation.
ReplyDeleteI think they are probably still a little too strong for this to be a real danger, but there is a real weakness and failure at Notts. It's exemplified by the fact that we have as many players in the England under 19 squad as they have. Notts have built their strategy on importing players, and in the meantime their development of their own players has dried up. I suspect that a Derbyshire side of their current home-grown players would see off the equivalent of Notts with comfort.
Peakfan's comment a few weeks ago about the make-up of WI Cavaliers (Usman Afzaal, Alex Tudor and Saqlain Mushtaq) demonstrates the weakness rather than the strength of Notts Premier League cricket, that it isn't producing potential future county and test players, but recycling the has-beens and never-weres from first class cricket.
This is the trap that Derbyshire have fallen into over the last few years. Think about how excited we are every year when we see who we've signed from other counties, and how the discussions about about next year always focus on who we can sign from elsewhere.
This was a survival necessity between about 1998 and 2006 because of the atrophy in our scouting and coaching set-up and the haemorrhage of talent. Since then, it has become a yearly narcotic injection. It makes us feel good for a time but ultimately doesn't deal with our underlying problem. It also drains our resources, and prevents us from developing our own solutions.
This is why I think the new direction has to be right. We can't compete in the market with Notts and their ilk, but ultimately their approach takes them into a cul-de-sac where they either have to carry on spending larger and larger amounts (Surrey for example) or have to risk short-term failure by developing their own (Hampshire and Yorkshire for example).
We only have one real option, and that's the one we're taking.