Sadly a pretty virulent virus has put the kybosh on my first visit to God's Own County for the season. Vocally I am something akin to 'Whispering' Bob Harris of the much missed Old Grey Whistle Test and not sure that a full day on the cricket ground is going to improve things at this stage.
So I will be following this one from afar and will schedule my first trip for next month instead, when hopefully it is warmer and has stopped raining. I've also got a good few books for the revamped book shop, which will hopefully do its bit for developing our young Academy talent.
Derbyshire's Karl Krikken has named the following squad for the game:
Billy Godleman, Chesney Hughes, Wayne Madsen, Shivnarine Chanderpaul,
Wes Durston, Dan Redfern, Richard Johnson, David Wainwright, Jonathan
Clare, Tim Groenewald, Mark Turner, Mark Footitt and Alasdair Evans.
My guess is that Ally Evans will miss out but be there for the experience, while the final choice will be between Marks Turner and Footitt. Turner was bowling well before his injury and for me Footitt deserves a crack for his sterling effort against New Zealand.
Sussex travel with a strong-looking squad that lines up as follows:
Anyon, Brown (wkt) JS Gatting, Hamilton-Brown, Jordan, Joyce (capt), Liddle, Magoffin, Miller, Nash,
Panesar, Wells, Yardy
For me, the weather looks set to take too much from this game for a positive result, unless the respective sides play very well and poorly.
I'll go for the draw, but I hope we're the team that plays well. There will be a little pressure on Billy Godleman, with Ben Slater scoring well in the seconds and in the league, while Richard Johnson will have to justify his elevation to the wicket keeping role ahead of Tom Poynton. The latter has kept well but not made the runs that are required at this stage, though his time will undoubtedly come again.
In closing tonight, I read with interest that the Falconettes are recruiting for the coming summer. Having (just about) given up on my dream of playing for the county, that could just be the next best thing...
See you all tomorrow
Let's hope we can get a result that will aid your recovery Peakfan. It would appear Poynton has paid the price for a lack of runs, a bit harsh for a tail ender but I guess Johnson deserves a crack. Selection of the bowlers will no doubt be determined by how Krikken and Madsen view the pitch. As you say,the weather looks poor with the possible exception of tomorrow, so it might not be a bad idea to try and get some batting practice in. Godleman needs to come good quickly or the claim staked by young Slater will be hard to ignore. I don,t think we can lose anything by giving the lad a chance. If he,s good enough then he,s old enough in my book.
ReplyDeleteVery poor yet again apart from Madsen. We're not learning much as the season progresses are we. Another defeat looming unless the weather intervenes.
ReplyDeletePlenty of cricket to play,
ReplyDeleteA few of our batsmen may be better off joining the Falconettes at this rate!!
ReplyDeleteAs you normally say Peakfan we will see until they bat what a good score is but we are looking short again barring another lower order comeback
I saw some of the days play. Both chesney and godelman seemed to give it away to ill judged wafts outside off stump. Madsen looked good but the rest of the innings seemed something of a procession back to the pavilion. The pitch was by no means easy but people seemed to get themselves in before giving it away. Fingers crossed for better tomorrow but our flaky batting is rapidly becoming a fatal handicap.
ReplyDeleteSpireite Tim
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