Monday 6 May 2013

The enigma and the X Factor

I didn't blog last night because of family commitments, but had said pretty much all that needed to be said earlier in the day, anyway. A Bank Holiday off gives me a chance to reply to a few e mails and to put the rest if this game into context.

Mark Footitt (left) again showed in the second innings that he is a force to be reckoned with. New Zealand's batsmen could be forgiven for thinking that they were facing a player on the verge of the England team and with a point to prove. The latter is certainly true, as with Tony Palladino and Mark Turner injured, Footitt has to stake a claim to a place in the side for the Sussex game.

He's done that with a sterling effort, but the next step is to sustain form and fitness for a prolonged period and a glance at the player's statistics tell the story. This is Footitt's ninth year as a professional cricket, but he only has 72 wickets in that time from 27 matches. While fully accepting that for some of that time he was not selected, it is a damning figure for a player blessed with a very rare ability to bowl at serious pace.

An array of injuries have served to ravage the career of a player who once looked a certain international. Perhaps now at the age of 27, when his body is fully developed and his core is strengthened to cope with the demands of pace bowling, he will go on to fulfill that early promise and become the scourge of batting line-ups. Because to be honest, not that many batsmen like genuine pace and, if his direction is as improved as his figures in this game suggest, precious few tail-enders will.

There's many a dogged lower order batsman decides there are more pressing engagements  if the chap bowling at them is alternately threatening toes, head and wicket at 90 miles an hour plus. Especially when that bowler is bowling left arm over. Other than Wasim Akram and Dirk Nannes, I struggle to think of many genuinely quick left arm bowlers so Footit is part of an elite group.

If he was to go even halfway towards the standard of that pair we would have few complaints.

Ali Evans did himself no harm in this game either and I don't think he would let anyone down if injuries necessitated a call up. He can get wickets and just needs to cut back on the one bad ball an over to become a county cricketer of genuine potential.

I mentioned pre-season that luck was a key component of any side's success. Last year, Derbyshire got breaks from the weather when we needed it and although there's an argument that you make your own luck, few sides do much without a few breaks.

It is the X factor of cricket and lady luck has been against us so far. We've lost all the tosses, lost a couple of our seam bowlers to injury and failed to hang on to some sharp chances at crucial points in matches. I'm well aware that the latter is more down to technique and practice, but a diving catch can be dropped when your elbow hits the ground and there's an element of fortune in there too.

The same goes for the batsmen. For some of them, the first ball they get, like Ross Whiteley yesterday, climbs and catches the glove or the edge of the bat, where on other occasions it will fly merrily past untouched. It is uncanny how often this happens when you're out of nick, just as being caught down the leg side by the wicket-keeper is usually a handy, if unfortunate barometer of form.

Before this season, I suggested that there wasn't much between the two divisions, but now I think the gulf is wider than I first suggested. It isn't unbridgeable, but one has only to look at the YB40 game between Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire yesterday for confirmation. The latter are flying this summer and their prudent winter work will, I think, see them do what we did last summer. Yet our nearest neighbours hammered them yesterday. I know it's a different format, but they will be as aware as we now are that there's a lot of work to do to compete against division one opposition.

Here's to a better day's work from our batsmen today, leading into a resurgence against Sussex next week.

Postscript: we fared a little better second time around, but apart from a spirited 50 from Dan Redfern and useful knocks from Durston, Burgoyne and Godleman, it fell well short of what was required to make New Zealand worry. 

3 comments:

  1. Oh well, we took it to the last day. LOL. What is happening with Whiteley?. All his confidence looks like it's been shot to pieces.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cheshire Chris6 May 2013 at 19:58

    Went along for my first day of cricket this summer today, and came back disheartened with what I saw.

    Redfern apart, who was excellent, I thought the batting (particularly the stream of players who got between 10-25, getting themselves in, then out) was poor. Really poor. Durston played a lazy stroke, Whiteley poked at one, Johnson slashed at a wide one. Some were got out be the excellent bowling of Wagner but most gave it away; to me, the only one who was unlucky was Madsen, who got one that kept low (although he looked like he was trying to cut from off his stumps).

    Anyone can get out early for a handful of runs before you're set, but when you've got past 15, you're getting yourself in and you've done the hard work. To get out then is criminal, IMO. The fact that the batting unit does this, collectively, is a worrying sign; a willingness to stand out, to put your hand up and be counted.

    I'm a huge Ross Whiteley fan, but think he needs time out of the firing line. He did exceptionally well in Aus over the winter, but as mentioned above, he looked devoid of all confidence. He isn't a prodder and a poker. Let him hit the ball. Let's just hope that it's just a case of readjusting to English wickets? Elsewhere, Godleman, to me, looked no better than Borrington - perhaps Paul will get a go soon.

    I'm aware I'm putting my comments up here to be shot down, and perhaps I'm being harsh. At the end of the day, this is a team that has only played 3 games at Div 1 level in ten years playing against a test side, and one with a bowler (Wagner) on top of his game. I don't know - I just came away from TCG today feeling down about it all.

    ReplyDelete
  3. No, they are fair comments Chris and thank you for them. It was an international attack but once you are in against anyone you need to capitalise on it

    ReplyDelete

Please remember to add your name. Avoid personal comment at all times. Thanks!