Tuesday 23 July 2013

Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire T20

Wow! Did you see that?

What a breathtakingly brilliant effort by Derbyshire to go to fortress Trent Bridge and return along the A52 tonight with both points, courtesy of a superb team performance.

I'll hold my hands up. I didn't give us a chance tonight and would cite as evidence recent displays. Had that level of intensity, passion and togetherness that I referred to last night been shown in recent games, we'd be home and dry in the group by now.

We may not go through and the thinking money would still be against us, but the memory of that display will live long in the memory of those who saw it live or on Sky. Logic suggested a team that is choc-full of internationals would take apart a team shorn of both overseas players. Yet maybe in such adversity was rekindled the spirit of Lords, when an overseas star-light Derbyshire beat Lancashire as the shadows lengthened and Frank Griffith became everyone's hero.

Tonight it was the Wes and Ches show. No matter whether Nottinghamshire gave them width to swing their arms, the shots were magnificent and I was racking my brain to think of a Derbyshire partnership that I had found so exhilarating. Cork and Krikken in that Lords final, Cork again and Phil De Freitas one day against Leicestershire, but that was special. There was brute strength, common sense and considerable skill in their batting and in such a short game the preservation of a partnership is key to success.

Hughes was brutal and Durston showed that whatever his four day travails he remains a fine one-day cricketer. It was astonishing, extraordinary, remarkable and so far removed from recent form that I sat shaking my head at the shots the two batsmen produced.

12 an over was always going to be tough, but when Michael Lumb cut loose after a fine opening over from Tim Groenewald it still didn't look enough. Billy Godleman missed a good chance, though I think he slipped which made it doubly difficult, but when Mark Turner, who had taken serious stick from Lumb, redeemed himself with one of the best catches you will ever see, the game turned.

Top marks to Turner for showing a very sound pair of hands at long on, but special mention tonight to two young cricketers with big futures in Peter Burgoyne and Alex Hughes. Burgoyne bowled beautifully around the wicket and to only concede thirteen runs in two overs of such a game was quite something, He showed common sense beyond his years and kept a tight line and length against a strong batting line-up. Great stuff to watch.

There will have been a few who were worried when Alex Hughes got the penultimate over, but I thought it was a good choice from Wayne Madsen, who set his field very well tonight and kept his players going. Hughes' skiddy length was perfect for conditions and to concede only four runs in taking two wickets was again a special effort from a talented young man.

They were all heroes tonight and apart from two dropped catches the fielding was as athletic and vibrant as you would expect from a young side, all coordinated by the Derbyshire foghorn, Tom Poynton, who kept wicket with his usual sound style and produced a lightning piece of work to stump Steve Mullaney.

Having seen such a display, everyone now knows they can do it, including the wider cricket public. The talent is undoubtedly there, they just need to capture the vitality and desire of tonight and can then give any side a game. Should they doubt themselves in the future, the team should think back to this evening when a young side stormed the Trent Bridge bastille and took a very strong side to the cleaners.

Wonderful, wonderful stuff. By crikey, we will sleep well tonight.

PS Yeah, I'm excited at that one. If you aren't, you'd better check your pulse...

8 comments:

  1. Having just returned from two fantastic weeks in the far north west of Scotland (but with virtually no internet access), I've been trying to catch up since coming back on Sunday with how the wheels have come off so spectacularly since I left on the eve of our last T20 match with Notts. Three straight T20 wins and some improving championship performances (despite the disappointing result against Somerset) suggested then that a corner might have been turned, and there might still be some hope in the season. I've been trying to work out some considered thoughts on just how bad it seems to have been while I've been away. Living within a few minutes walk of Trent Bridge and realising when I got home from work at about 7pm that there was still a match in prospect despite the day's deluges, I went along. All I can say is that there are two Derbyshire's in parallel universes - one that I was in tonight, and the other whilst I was away climbing mountains.

    There are qualifications to a superb performance - primarily that we wouldn't have played with the same freedom from the start if there had been 20 overs to bat rather than 9, and that even if we had made the same start, it wouldn't have been sustained once Notts got into the fragile middle order. Derbyshire will do well to go away from this match to try to work out what psychological shackles were thrown off in this situation that might have strangled them in a game that went the full distance.

    One other thought for now. You can't fault Mark Turner for effort and commitment, and his catch was stunning. But we cannot afford a bowler who so often goes for 20 plus an over. I was far more anxious about him bowling the last over with 29 needed than with Hughes bowling the penultimate over with 33 needed. In fairness, Lumb can do damage to any bowler, but the speed with which Turner is leaking runs against all comers in all forms of the game is an extra burden we simply can't afford.

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  2. Perhaps we've found our forte with a 9 over slog game Peakfan. I wonder if we can push for it starting next season. Really good batting effort last night, and I'd not heard it had been reduced to 9 overs, so when I posted that we were 95-0 after 7 I thought bloody hell we're on for a collossus score here. Agree with the other poster in that Turner is the weak link in this side. His 2 overs went for 33 last night, and I shuddered when he got that last over. I feel his time may be up at the end of this season.

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  3. giving Turner the last over, with his recent form was imo a huge gamble and a mistake by Madsen. All credit to his fielding and catching, he was top class but his bowling is so inconsistent that no other County side would let him near a last over. An excellent win, which showed some real grit and character.

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  4. I disagree mate. With 29 needed I think the options were him or Wes. Readhas climbed into spinners before and there was less chance of him doing it against admittedly erratic pace.
    Take your point on Turner but I would have gone wih the seamer lasf night at that stage

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  5. I wouldn't have even played Turner and I too couldn't believe he got the last. Him and Footitt costing us big-time in this yet we still play them. we never learn. they are championship bowlers not t20

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  6. Bat first and grab ya runs. I know you don,t always agree with my philosopy Peakfan but batting second,Notts did exactly the sort of thing we normally do in similar circumstances. The pressure got to them,they lost wickets and then lost the game.

    The two players we needed to come off did so. With the exception of Alex Hughes, I don,t really think any other batsmen could have emulated Chesney and Durston. Maybe it,s too little too late but any win is always welcome. For once I think a ten over slog actually suited us,but in saying that I still believe we have far too many weak links to ever rely on the chain holding. Let.s see what happens Friday.

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  7. Amazing performance last night. Great to see Burgoyne and Hughes do so well with the ball, as well as Wes&Ches with the bat. Groenewald was also superb - and his figures would have been even better if that catch had been held. I agree with the other comments on Turner - and I don't understand why we didn't configure the bowlers so that we had the option of giving Hughes a second over. As it turned out - he bowled really well in his one over but as it was over 8 he couldn't bowl his second. Very small negatives though - an amazing win.

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  8. Great win although looking at the line up there is an awful lot of pressure on the top 3 to score runs. I was looking forward to the comments had Lumb gone on to win the match after Godlemans dropped catch - I would imagine you would have been in moderating overload Peakfan!!

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