Were Derby County to get back into the Premiership, see the fixtures and find that they had been drawn against Manchester United and Arsenal away in the opening games, few fans would have expectations of a good start.
Then they find that they have Chelsea in the first home game...
The analogy is apposite, as Derbyshire have found themselves facing all the big guns at the start of the summer. Tomorrow's visitors, our nearest and dearest neighbours Nottinghamshire, are the galacticos of the East Midlands, mainly because their resources have enabled them to attract the better players from elsewhere (including the East Midlands...)
Ed Cowan, Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, James Taylor, Samit Patel, Riki
Wessels, Chris Read, Stuart Broad, Ajmal Shahzad, Luke Fletcher, Andre
Adams, Harry Gurney...the squad for tomorrow's game is like an international cricket Who's Who, with eight of them (at a quick count) internationals in one format of the game or another.
By contrast Derbyshire's side has only one international (no prizes for guessing who...) but a team spirit that most sides would love to bottle. We've also brought in players from elsewhere, but ours, rather than established stars, are people with a point to prove; an opportunity to seek, rather than a major pay-day.
On paper, this game should be one-sided, but then again on paper this Nottinghamshire side should never lose. Yet lose they did to Middlesex and so heavily that the rumbling from Trent-side could almost be heard in Gretna. They will field few stronger sides this summer and are realistically only Graeme Swann from full strength.
It will be a major challenge for a young Derbyshire outfit, but they need to remember that it is still eleven against eleven. Winning the toss would help us immensely, but this is why they fought so hard last season, to mix it with the big boys. A good performance against this opposition in a local derby will hearten us as we go on to play 'lesser' sides in the division.
I'm not being defeatist when I say that I don't expect a win in this match, I'm being realistic. I want to hear and read of our side battling as they have in most sessions of a summer in its infancy, taking the game to the opposition, having a good go. 'Fearless cricket' is Karl Krikken's rallying cry before the game and it has to be. Respect the opposition, but don't fear them. As you see time and again in all sports, sometimes the all-star side isn't a team and comes a cropper as a result.
As I suggested last night, Derbyshire swap Ross Whiteley for Chesney Hughes and a return for David Wainwright seems highly likely after a long bowl and six wickets in club cricket at the weekend. Our twelve is:
Wayne Madsen, Billy Godleman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Wes Durston, Dan Redfern, Ross Whiteley, David Wainwright, Tom Poynton, Jonathan Clare, Tony Palladino, Tim Groenewald, Mark Turner.
Do we read anything into the announced twelve on the club site? If Turner is 12th man he is unlucky, but so would any of them be, as the seamers have all done well so far. Do we equally read anything into Chanderpaul at three? In what are likely to be helpful conditions for bowlers, the presence of your big name player as early as possible could be a stabilising influence. I'm sure such things have been discussed in the dressing room, but we need to bat substantially better than in the first two games to get anything from this one. And yes, I know that's a case of stating the obvious...
If we lose this one it is not the end of the world, not the end of the season. There are many more games to come and plenty that we will have greater expectation of winning. If we get a result of any kind, or if we have opponents of this stature in trouble, our guys should start to realise that they are every bit as good as others in this division and can establish themselves.
One of the great benfactors of Nottinghamshire cricket, Sir Julien Cahn, had a favourite saying that is very appropriate as we head into this game. "Grasp the opportunity of a lifetime, in the lifetime of the opportunity".
Our lads have an opportunity to make a name for themselves tomorrow and over the ensuing days.
You never know...
Postscript 1 - Cricket nets for Peakfan tomorrow, so my blog will be later...just so you know
Postscript 2 - Chris Gayle - how does anyone get a hundred from 30 balls? Extraordinary.
Postscript 3 - Radio Derby are having a chat with me tomorrow morning on the Breakfast Show around 8.15am. Hope you can listen in!
We must go into this match with the attitude of winning it. Anything else is a recipe for disaster. They,ve already lost one game so any air of invincibility has already been dispelled.
ReplyDeleteLokking at the weather it may not be a bad thing if we batted first. tomorrow is likely to be a day of stoppages,never the best thing when you are batting. In any case,the pitches are quite dry at the moment and apart from the usual early moisture I dont see it changing a great deal.
I think Wainwright will play,partly for the reasons i,ve just said and also he adds variety to the attack. Whoever misses out will be unlucky,but with Turner now an established part of the set up it may be we rotate the seamers,barring for injuries.
It goes without saying the batting needs to improve,considerably. If we do bat first up the target has to be 300 plus. If we reach that sort of total then it,s game on and we have given the bowlers something to go at. Less than 250 and it will be an uphill task.
Let,s be positive and brave. This match CAN be won and that,s what we have to believe.
Yep, if we win the toss a decent day's weather will affect the decision for sure. It would be nice to have the choice for the first time this summer!
ReplyDeleteOh dear again, especially this top order, except Shiv who has carried the innings brilliantly. We can't always rely on the bottom order to bail us out aswell. Let's get working on this batting KK.
ReplyDeleteShould dino bat in the middle order
ReplyDeleteHe is if you look at my team selection!.
ReplyDelete