Maybe Wes Durston and Ross Whiteley will be known as the "Bajan Bazookas" henceforth. Certainly the demolition job that they did on Barbados today will undoubtedly live long in the memories of those that saw it.
Durston's 93 from 62 balls, with ten fours and three sixes, would have been the innings of the match in most circumstances, but in comparison to what followed from Whiteley it was almost pedestrian. An unbeaten 75 from just 34 balls is an extraordinary rate of scoring and most of his six sixes, at least according to the Twitter feed, seemed to be out of the ground.
A total of 213-3 was an exceptional effort and while the bowling was presumably not of the standard faced previously on the tour, you can only beat what is in front of you. When Wes followed his exploits with two wickets with his first two balls, the game was effectively over and the fielding and bowling restricted the hosts to 115-8 in 20 overs and a win by 98 runs.
It was a heartening effort and the individual performances and the win will do no harm whatsoever. While the side is effectively picking itself from those with the requisite number of body parts, the game gave clear signs that batsmen are finding their range and bowlers are beginning to hit steady lengths.
It is encouraging to hear the positive noises about Mark Footitt, who faces a challenging season in the last year under his existing deal. No one can deny the lad has tremendous talent and bowlers who can hit over 90mph while bowling left arm are as common as snowfalls in the Kalahari. Yet thus far in his career he has had too many injuries, has bowled too many poor balls and has lost rhythm too easily to be anything more than a bit part player. He is capable of more, as anyone who saw him blow Middlesex away in the Pro 40 at Derby will vouch for. That night Footitt was scarily fast...
I hope he can keep it going, take forty wicket as a minimum, run in hard and bowl fast for most of the season. As I've said before, in Footitt and Mark Turner we have two of the fastest bowlers in the country - not just divison two, but the country. Yet pace without a modicum of accuracy is of minimal value at county level. If those lads can harness the two, few sides will fancy facing Derbyshire.
Time to go. Dinner beckons, then American Idol. Some great young singers on that show, which puts our reality music to shame.
Catch you again soon!
Yes,this season is make or break for Footitt and Turner. Both need to stay fit and perform to a higher standard than we have witnessed in the past. I would dearly like to be proved wrong,by both of them,but we shall see.
ReplyDeleteWhilst the injury to Palladino might not be as bad as first thought and the others are returning to fitness,it,s still a warning of what will happen during the season. We are seriously under strength in this area and we will pay the price at some point.