Wednesday 20 June 2012

Derbyshire v Durham T20

As I said last night, I missed this evening's game as we had arranged a family meal to celebrate our son's 21st birthday. Thanks go to the excellent purveyors of the club's Twitter feed for keeping me and other users abreast of developments in the match.

I look forward to your comments tonight with regard to what went right and wrong, but again there has to be questions regarding the batting. It appeared more solid tonight, but there never seemed to be a point at which we were breaking free of the shackles. Once more we lacked a big score, with Usman Khawaja's 36 top score but being neither substantial nor quick enough to make a difference. Again we lost the two established batsmen within six balls and more often than not 140 will not be enough to win. More than anything else this side has missed Martin Guptill at the top of the order, as we're only managing around six an over from the powerplay.

I've few complaints about the bowling, with David Wainwright again seeming to bowl well and Mark Turner continuing a largely positive impression he has made in the competition. I will be honest and say that I am not yet convinced that Rana Naved is the bowler he once was, though being thrown the ball at key times needs someone firing on all cylinders and he's perhaps not had enough cricket behind him to do that.

Two successive defeats hasn't ruled us out of qualification, but we need to find runs from somewhere - fast. Durham took a chance on the aggressive Myburgh from the Netherlands and his knock seems to have been the difference tonight.I don't see any point in us doing that now, but while our Championship form in 2012 has been a revelation our one-day cricket needs a bit of a re-think

We simply don't have anyone doing what Myburgh did. Naved has had unbeaten bit parts with the bat so far and maybe he needs given an earlier opportunity as a player who can score quickly  if given longer to do so. Wes hasn't really got going in this competition and nor has Ross Whiteley, so our two bankers for quick runs are back in the hutch and we're accumulating, rather than accelerating in the middle overs of the innings.

Maybe we will see a return to winning ways against Leicestershire at the weekend, but I see they scored 120 from their last ten overs tonight against Lancashire. OK, they still lost, but I don't see us scoring at that rate, do you?

Anyway, tomorrow will mark my last lengthy blog for a fortnight or so. I will pop in from time to time when I can, but for these two weeks my focus shifts to Memphis and Nashville, blues and country, the best barbecue ribs you will ever eat and the world epicentre of southern comfort food.

Now, where's those trousers with the elasticated waistband...?

8 comments:

  1. You could blame almost everybody tonight but I will make three points
    1- Naveed looks incredibly poor with the ball, however he did have one good over though tonight.
    2- Khawaja needed to be the man to anchor our innings and he didn't.
    3- Batting positions in general, Why Poynton before Wainwright? and Whiteley batting too high at 3.

    Scott

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  2. We werent a million miles away tonight - probably 20 runs short - i actually thought Ross did quite well at the start and then Usman and Mads did well - we were ahead of them after 10 and 11 overs - it was last 6 or 7 overs when we struggled - Dan never got going, Chesney's cameo too short (despite one monster six into the car park) - we fizzled out a bit. Bowling i thought Timmy G and Mark T were ok - Chessers and Wainwirght tonked in their last overs , Rana - agree he had one great over and two poor - plus Mads messed up the field placing with a no ball for not enough in the ring but in all honesty it had gone by then.

    That said they had 2 England opening seamers and a better side all round (they are in Div 1 afterall).

    I did actually enjoy tonight and we were at least competetive with a decentish crowd in. Beer sales going well and i guess we actually get some extra money from Sky dont we?

    Anyway have a good time in the US of A Peakfan - im there in November and cant wait - Florida though.

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  3. Better than Monday, but not good enough, mind you I bet the players themselves know that.

    141 was never going to be enough, but at one point I did think it might have been. I think I can see why Whitely is playing at no. 3, but sadly it isn't working, so best to put him back to his usual position I think.

    Unbelievable amount of wides, particularly from Chesney, who, apart from the huge 6 he hit had an off night. It was while he was bowling that the game got away from us I think. I wonder how many more, apart from me, were wondering why Wes Durston didn't get a bowl, especially when it wasn't happening for Chesney?

    A pity big Stefan J has retired, he would have given us as much, if not more than Rana Naved. Let's hope Rana improves in the rest of the competition.

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  4. I'm not sure there's too much cause for angst about our T20 performances. Not many of us expected too much a couple of months ago, and expectations may have been raised unreasonably by the signing of Naved and the 4 day performances.

    Having said that, I can't see that we're making the best use of the resources we have. One of the emerging defining characteristics of the Krikken / Madsen leadership is continuity - unfortunately, sometimes after it's already clear it isn't working.

    Turner bowls odd good overs, but overall is he doing better than Clare would, without considering the runs (and the way they might be made) that we lose as a result? Likewise Palladino.Perhaps Clare and Palladino are resting injuries, or being rested to keep them fresh. If neither of these is the case, I don't think it's a selection that's working.

    Even more so with the batting. Two successive failures in such a short-lived competition might have prompted a rethink, but three makes it essential.

    Last year's Whiteley didn't bat at 3, and I can't understand why he is this year when he's so clearly struggling. He'll come again, but like most second year players, he needs time to reshape his game and T20 at number 3 isn't the place to do it.

    Durston doesn't do best at 2, and he's such an essential element that he needs to bat in the position he's most comfortable and effective in. We have plenty of other candidates to fail as an opener, but very few to succeed at 4.

    Khuwaija, Madsen and Redfern are much of a muchness - able to play holding roles that others can play around, but likely to get bogged down and getting out playing unnatural forcing shots when they bat together. Hughes and Naved are then coming in too late and with too few runs on the board to get themselves set before starting to play the big and imaginative shots.

    With 1 to 7 not firing for one reason or another, we're never going to score enough runs however good our bowling is.

    So (and expecting to be shot down) I think the following team gets a better balance and the best chance we have of turning this round:
    1. Khuwaija
    2. Hughes
    3. Madsen
    4. Durston
    5. Park
    6. Naved
    7. Redfern
    8. Clare
    9. Wainwright
    10.Poynton
    11 Groenewald

    I've added Park because he brings experience and nous, a couple of overs of pace off the ball, and outstanding fielding.

    I still don't think this will turn us into consistent T20 winners, but it makes a better use of our strengths, and gives us a better chance of the extra 20 runs or so that would have made a difference in both of our defeats.

    A couple of weeks ago, there was a twitter exchange between Luke Sutton and Steffan Jones, along the lines of LS saying that he thought Derbyshire were better equipped for one day matches than last year, and SJ saying that he thought the problem was selection but it wasn't for a public forum, though he'd be happy to have a chat with Krikken about it. Time for a phone call, Karl?

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  5. Good comments gentlemen and thanks for them!

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  6. There are several reasons we are struggling and i see little or no way out of it. At least not this season. Before delving into some of the more general aspects, a big factor in last nights defeat was Poynton,s missed stumping of Gibbs.As far as stumpings go it was an absolute sitter and would have seen Durham in real trouble at 24 for 3. It was a horrible miss and arguably cost us the game.

    There are other,more fundamental problems. Three of our first six batsmen are not good enough for T20. Khawaja is what many of us thought he would be. He,s just not the player required for this form of cricket. Redfern has done nothing to dispell doubts about his suitability for either T20 or CB40. His comical dismissal last night would have had even his most ardent fans shaking their heads in disbelief. Then we come to the captain. Madsen is a makeshift one day player. For me he,s a four day player and definately not a T20 man.

    Bowling wise we are probably as good (or bad) as most other counties and for the most part seem to hold our own. Naved has,thus far,been a big disappointment. He needs to come good quickly,otherwise his appointment will have been a waste of time and money.

    It would seem the current team is going to be the preferred choice,come hell or high water. The lack of flexibility in the batting order is a concern to me. For example, we don,t want Whiteley coming in fourth ball of the innings. All the batsmen should be padded up and then we adjust accordingly.

    There is much to do before we can even consider ourselves a reasonable one day outfit. It is difficult to see where such player may exist within the club and therefore we may have to pursue a different policy,at least in the short term. I stated last season we would be better served with two hard hitting batsmen for the T20. I have not changed that opinion. We must give serious thought to where we go in the future and how we can improve our standing.

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  7. I didn't think we were a million miles from winning the game. Khawaja and Madsen set the innings up much better than the previous game against Yorkshire. The problem is we couldnt cope with the leg spin of Borthwick and ended up 10/15 short. I agree that Whiteley would be better served with coming in at 5/6 or 7 towards the end of the innings when we could have him Hughes and Rana to play big shots. Maybe Redfern at 3 to give him a bit more time at the crease as he is not the man to come in during the last couple of overs. Khawaja really needs to bat through the innings but he looked better last night
    I don't see much of a problem with the bowling. Unlike others Turner has impressed me over the last couple of matches barring one over v Yorkshire. Bowling at pace with variation he has looked a theat. Add that to Groenawald and the spinners who on the whole do a good job there is not much wrong there. I agree Rana has looked a bit rusty early on but will wait till the end of the campaign to comment more

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  8. The problem with Khawaja (and others) is too many dot balls. We know he,s not a big hitter and never will be,but you have to rotate the strike better. There are singles all over the place in T20 and any dot ball should be a rare occurance. We are very poor at just keeping the scoreboard ticking over. Then panic sets in and people get themselves out playing stupid shots. It,s a vicious circle.

    The whole batting order isn,t right and looks unbalanced. I agree with others we haven,t made best use of what we have available. The underlying problem is the lack of batsmen who can power the innings forward. Whiteley is one who is capable,but at the moment he hardly knows which end to hold the bat. We have too many nudges and nurdlers and we never get out of second gear.

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