There have been a few grumbles in recent days after Derbyshire's loss to Yorkshire in their opening T20 game of the summer.
All the old failings were there, but I am happy to hold fire on major criticism until we see the level of performance against lesser sides than Yorkshire. They are the best side in the country, beyond doubt, even without some of their big international players. In Richard Pyrah they have a solid county all-rounder who turns into an amalgam of Garfield Sobers and Eddie Barlow when he plays against us, while they just turn out professional displays in all forms of the game.
It is something for us to aspire to, but we should hopefully have enough in the tank to beat a Leicestershire side tomorrow, even without Wayne Madsen, Nathan Rimmington and Tony Palladino. Graeme Welch has named a fourteen-man squad from which I find it impossible to call a final eleven. It is good to see Wayne White, a proven T20 performer, fit once more, though whether he is deemed match fit to play against his old county is a moot point.
I would like to see Scott Elstone, a player in form, bat at five. He made an unbeaten 60 today as Derbyshire's two matches against the Unicorns resulted in easy wins. Wes Durston also got runs under his belt, while both Shiv Thakor and Greg Cork both bowled very economical spells. Encouragingly, Wes also got overs and wickets in, hopefully without reaction.
The Derbyshire squad:
Wes Durston (capt)
Hashim Amla
Chesney Hughes
Shiv Thakor
Billy Godleman
Alex Hughes
Scott Elstone
Tom Poynton
David Wainwright
Tom Knight
Ben Cotton
Greg Cork
Wayne White
Mark Footitt
As for the home side, they have New Zealand World Cup star Grant Elliott in their side, a dangerous customer, but the batting looks stronger than the bowling. The O'Brien brothers are dangerous batsmen, as of course is Mark Cosgrove and we will need to bowl with the requisite discipline to keep them in check, hold the catches and, of course, bat with a little more common sense than we appeared to manage last week.
Leicestershire's squad:
Cosgrove, Eckersley, Elliott, McKay, Naik, K O’Brien, N O’Brien, Pinner, Raine, Sheik, Sykes, Taylor, Wells.
My forecast? The home side will be itching to get back on track after their last day collapse against Lancashire, but I think Derbyshire will get their first T20 win of the campaign, ahead of the televised game against Lancashire next weekend.
More from me after the game tomorrow.
What do you think?
If we fail to win this game the signs for the rest of the 20/20 are not looking good,even at this early stage.
ReplyDeleteI quite agree with your comment about working the ball around and keeping the scoreboard moving. Eight runs per over is only an average score these days but in a number of matches it would offer a fighting chance of winning.
Our main problem is when players allow themselves to become becalmed and then panic sets in and down go the wickets. Any player should be able to work three or four singles while building a little platform to then attack the bowling more vigorously.
There's a few good players in that Leicestershire team, but I agree it'll be disappointing to lose to them. I'd go one further and bat Elstone at 4, above Thakor and Alex Hughes
ReplyDeleteMy team would be Amla, Durston, C Hughes, Elstone, Thakor, A Hughes, Knight, Poynton, Wainwright, White and Cotton
I'm not overwhelmed with optimism. Last week's performance was all too reminiscent of last season, so wasn't a one-off, and Yorkshire were a long way short of the team that didn't do especially well in T20 last year, so I don't think we can really look at them as a power-house in this competition. Indeed, Yorkshire didn't do much better than Leicestershire last year, who made a reasonable start last week against Lancashire. Unfortunately, I think we are likely to be seen by rivals as the cannon-fodder in this competition. Our best chance lies in an outstanding individual performance, and I'm not sure that selection tweaks will make much difference. However, I think there needs to be some experience in the middle order and either Durston or Amla needs to move down to 4 or 5. I'm also puzzled about why Hosein doesn't seem to feature in the T20 planning, either in the first or second team squads, as he's shown the ability to score quickly with good cricket shots.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is fair to Hosein to give him the added pressure of T20 on top of four-day cricket. At 18 he will find maintaining focus and, by extension, performance a tough job. He's rarely kept wicket for four days in a row and when I saw him there was an occasional bit of less solid glovework, indicative of the concentration wavering a little. It is understandable, of course.
ReplyDeleteEqually, Poynton is a good keeper and aggressive bat and they both need opportunity. One will come out on top but for me, Welch has sensibly - at least for now - split the role.
Godleman, Footitt and White (fitness not quite there ) should be the 3 left out imo
ReplyDeletePoynton strike rate in t20 cricket is less than 100, so to me isn't aggressive and thus hosein should be played.
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Lol, we're a complete shambles from top to bottom. Nobody capable of scoring runs at a quick rate, nobody capable of taking wickets in this format of cricket. We may as well pack up this t20 lark as it's becoming very embarrassing. Woeful effort Derbyshire.
ReplyDeletedisappointing again. The batting order can be altered , say with Poynton opening and Wes dropping to 4 or 5 but now we are in this position give Tom Knight a chance in the light of his ability with the bat. No point in getting too downhearted about it but we do have to try new things. This type of cricket is obviously very competitive and often explosive and we are still too hesitant and too easily subdued in all aspects. Good luck in the next one lads - just go for it and believe in yourselves. Well done Chesney - first name on the teamsheet now.
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