Leicestershire 267-5 (Horton 66, Ackerman 65, Reece 3-58)
v Derbyshire
There was an end of season air to the cricket at Leicester today, the players all aware that the 71 overs possible, thanks to the herculean efforts of the groundstaff, were likely to be the game's total.
That it was not the season end, but an unseasonably cold Spring day was betrayed by several Derbyshire players wearing woolly winter hats, rather than the traditional cap. It was a day for the hardy, and perhaps foolhardy.
Truth be told, we didn't bowl especially well today. It was understandable, with a wet ball likely difficult to grip, and none of our bowlers would have wanted a muscle spasm in the cold. Neither South African really hit their stride, but the most we were going to get from the day was three points, and we ended a wicket short of two.
Luis Reece, who continues to prove himself a cricketer of considerable value, ended up with three wickets and bowled some fine balls. I have racked my brains and can think of only one other opening batsman who bowled good quality seam and that was Eddie Barlow, though he latterly dropped to the middle order. I am sure that Luis will be happy to be mentioned in that company...
Ravi Rampaul bowled a decent spell with no luck, while Will Davis bowled a couple of slippery spells that augured well for the season. I was especially impressed by Matt Critchley, who bowled thirteen overs for just 31 runs and a wicket. There was a nice loop to his bowling and he will be a key figure as the summer progresses.
There's still a few too many balls that the batsmen don't need to play, something that was a cardinal sin in the days of Cliff and Les, but we brought it back well from 157-1.
Mind you, it's a good job that tomorrow is set to be a washout. Ed Eckersley was unbeaten on 40 and always gets runs against us, a ton nigh inevitable.
I have a long, twelve-hour day at work tomorrow, so a final wrap-up on the game will likely need to wait until Tuesday.
I don't think any of us will miss too much.
Sunday, 29 April 2018
Saturday, 28 April 2018
Leicestershire v Derbyshire
Not much happening folks, and the way this is shaping up there is very little chance of any cricket.
There may be some tomorrow, but Monday doesn't look too clever and the chances of a positive result are slim to negligible.
It is ironic, because I have been sitting out in the sunshine in our back garden for most of the last two days.
Funny old climate we have, eh?
More from me soon - in closing, thanks to all those who made this season's 35 team Peakfan Blog Fantasy League the biggest yet.
Dean Etwall is the current leader, presumably better at checking where there will be play than many of us in this awful start. Adam Oakley and Gary Spencer are in hot pursuit.
I have just changed my team substantially, in the light of injuries that have been announced.
Soon I shall rise, like a falcon.
But don't hold your breath on that one...
There may be some tomorrow, but Monday doesn't look too clever and the chances of a positive result are slim to negligible.
It is ironic, because I have been sitting out in the sunshine in our back garden for most of the last two days.
Funny old climate we have, eh?
More from me soon - in closing, thanks to all those who made this season's 35 team Peakfan Blog Fantasy League the biggest yet.
Dean Etwall is the current leader, presumably better at checking where there will be play than many of us in this awful start. Adam Oakley and Gary Spencer are in hot pursuit.
I have just changed my team substantially, in the light of injuries that have been announced.
Soon I shall rise, like a falcon.
But don't hold your breath on that one...
Thursday, 26 April 2018
Leicestershire v Derbyshire preview
It is as you were for Derbyshire, as they travel to our East Midlands rivals Leicestershire for our second county championship match tomorrow.
After the tremendous win over fancied Middlesex, who sadly heard today that Toby Roland-Jones is out for the summer with a stress fracture of the back, some will think that this should be a walkover for Derbyshire.
Therein lies the challenge. A Derbyshire eleven that competes from the first ball can beat anyone, as we have proven over recent seasons in different formats. Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Warwickshire, Middlesex - they have all been beaten handsomely, so the ability is there. If Billy Godleman and his men can maintain intensity, they are capable of a very fine season.
With the second team match abandoned without a ball bowled this week, there was no chance for Daryn Smit to win a place over Gary Wilson, but the latter has to score runs and maintain his form behind the timbers. Hamidullah Qadri, Callum Brodrick and Will Davis travel with the squad, Qadri or Davis options if they decide to rest Tony Palladino or the pitch dictates a change to the eleven.
Leicestershire are still to announce their squad, but Indian Test bowler Varun Aaron is in the frame for a county debut as their overseas player. They had a high scoring draw with Sussex to start the season, and new captain Michael Carberry heads an experienced batting line up that includes Colin Ackerman, who scored 186 against Sussex, as well as the prolific Mark Cosgrove.
Their likely line up is:
Carberry, Horton, Ackerman, Cosgrove, Javid, Dexter, Hill, Raine, Parkinson, Griffiths, Aaron
I'm putting this down as a draw, for no other reason than that tomorrow's weather, like Monday's, suggests a lot of rain. So unless the forecast is wrong, or the wicket is like a few around the country in the past fortnight and allows a two-day finish, I can't see how either side will have the time to force a positive result.
When there is play, you will be able to follow it through their live stream, which you can see by clicking here
It will be nice to see their covers tomorrow. If there's more than that, I'll be back to comment on it.
After the tremendous win over fancied Middlesex, who sadly heard today that Toby Roland-Jones is out for the summer with a stress fracture of the back, some will think that this should be a walkover for Derbyshire.
Therein lies the challenge. A Derbyshire eleven that competes from the first ball can beat anyone, as we have proven over recent seasons in different formats. Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Warwickshire, Middlesex - they have all been beaten handsomely, so the ability is there. If Billy Godleman and his men can maintain intensity, they are capable of a very fine season.
With the second team match abandoned without a ball bowled this week, there was no chance for Daryn Smit to win a place over Gary Wilson, but the latter has to score runs and maintain his form behind the timbers. Hamidullah Qadri, Callum Brodrick and Will Davis travel with the squad, Qadri or Davis options if they decide to rest Tony Palladino or the pitch dictates a change to the eleven.
Leicestershire are still to announce their squad, but Indian Test bowler Varun Aaron is in the frame for a county debut as their overseas player. They had a high scoring draw with Sussex to start the season, and new captain Michael Carberry heads an experienced batting line up that includes Colin Ackerman, who scored 186 against Sussex, as well as the prolific Mark Cosgrove.
Their likely line up is:
Carberry, Horton, Ackerman, Cosgrove, Javid, Dexter, Hill, Raine, Parkinson, Griffiths, Aaron
I'm putting this down as a draw, for no other reason than that tomorrow's weather, like Monday's, suggests a lot of rain. So unless the forecast is wrong, or the wicket is like a few around the country in the past fortnight and allows a two-day finish, I can't see how either side will have the time to force a positive result.
When there is play, you will be able to follow it through their live stream, which you can see by clicking here
It will be nice to see their covers tomorrow. If there's more than that, I'll be back to comment on it.
The 'One Hundred' and the wider game of proper cricket
None of us like the idea, but that doesn't matter to the English Cricket Board, because it isn't aimed at us.
The 'One Hundred', or whatever it is eventually called is aimed at 'mothers and children', according to Andrew Strauss, erstwhile successful England skipper and fast becoming as popular as someone with bubonic plague in a tent.
A few years ago, when the Iceland store had an advert that said 'that's why Mums go to Iceland' I stopped shopping there. I was never a regular anyway, but I haven't been in since, because they clearly weren't aiming at Dads. It's similar to when Gerald Ratner proclaimed that the stuff sold in the Ratners Group stores was 'crap' and simultaneously pressed the self-destruct button on his company.
To exclude generations of cricket lovers, the ones who have supported the game and their county for years, in bringing in a new competition is either brave or foolhardy in the extreme. Let's face it, cricket isn't that hard to understand if you spend some time on it and the existing game has been growing in recent years with the T20 Blast. Four-day cricket could do too, if they scheduled it properly. Look at the crowds for last weekend's championship fixtures, and the thousands who followed streaming online. Note also that it was scheduled over a weekend, praise be, and crucially enjoyed good weather, which is not always the case.
But for the ECB to introduce a new competition, claim they are going to simplify it and then say they are running it for mothers and their offspring can easily be seen as patronising. Let's face it, women's cricket has grown in appeal and there are many women who know as much, if not more, than some of the men who watch the game and purport to understand it. And I still don't know how fifteen overs of six balls, then one of ten is easier than twenty six-ball overs. If they want it easy and fitting in a time slot for television, why not have twenty five-ball overs, since they are changing things anyway?
I'm unsure why they aim to find legions of new fans, rather than better cater for the many existing ones. The thousands tuning in to streaming services and radio commentaries are evidence of the current interest, but the scheduling of the game precludes their greater involvement. Why not arrange more cricket Friday to Monday, so working people need only take two days leave to see an entire four-day game? Why not look at the many retired people who are looking for things to fill their time and might, just might be interested?
They are not off to the best of starts and have much to do ahead of the competition launch. You couldn't get me to one of the games unless you paid me a considerable sum, but I watch developments with interest, because I am concerned about how it affects the game that I love. It will be the same elsewhere, because folk in Sheffield, Bradford and Barnsley won't get behind a side called Leeds, any more than those in Liverpool, Wigan and Southport will get behind Manchester.
Look how many people cringe when Sky commentators call us Derby. I'm a Ripley lad, my Dad is from Swadlincote, and there's many in Chesterfield, Buxton and elsewhere. If we cringe at not being called Derbyshire, are we going to get behind Nottingham? I think not...
Irrespective of the fact that this competition will be played in mid-summer and will take a projected one hundred players from the existing county game, I agree with Mike Atherton that the county championship should be played at the same time.
Why? Well, for starters, the county game would then enjoy the best of British weather, rather than being played when the polar bears wear body-warmers. We all know our climate ain't so good sometimes, but there's more chance of good days in what is helpfully called 'high summer'. To simply shut down 'proper' cricket when the circus comes to town would be self-defeating. And since there will be two audiences, it really shouldn't be an issue. The 'Mums and kids' will be watching one, the men, women and children will enjoy the other.
I would go to see a Derbyshire side, or switch on my laptop now to do so, if they fielded a team of under-eighteens. There have been times when we have fielded young and weaker teams anyway and if all counties were the same, I'd still do it. If nothing else, it affords opportunity for young players to make a mark and it would be exciting to be in at the start of things for a special player.
The cricket could be enhanced by allowing counties to sign two overseas players, and changing the qualification ruling. As those rules stand, county cricket would never have seen players like John Wright, Peter Kirsten, Greg Chappell, Keith Boyce, Clive Rice, Glenn Turner, Viv Richards and many others. They all came here to make a name and did so in spades.
There are plenty of good cricketers in the world game who would enhance county cricket, but haven't made the requisite international appearances in recent years to qualify. So what if we could see D'arcy Short, Dane Paterson, Cameron White, Willem Mulder and others in the county game?
Remember Chris Wilkins? He was never an international player, but he entertained royally in three summers at Derbyshire and with the introduction of such players, the county game would still hold appeal. Run more of it Friday to Monday and you heighten that considerably, because those who work can actually go and see a game. Just like last weekend.
With big names already precluded from participation with IPL and CPL contracts, along with short-notice overseas tours, then many of them going to this circus, this move is essential and counties should press for the change.
I am pleased that this new competition is going to break the rules. I am pleased that it has brought in the ten-ball over (more so than the poor sap who has to bowl it) because it won't be seen as a replacement for the T20 Blast. It won't be seen, or recorded, as 'proper' cricket, because the records will be totally different and cricket loves its statistics. Sobers got 36 off an over, but Gayle in prime form could get fifty from a ten-ball over.
But however they work it, however much the ECB envies the Big Bash and Indian Premier League, however they want to create Live Aid meets It's A Knockout meets a bastardised form of cricket, one thing they cannot do a thing about is the weather.
It is easy to get excited about a night out at the cricket when the sun is shining, you have a cold drink to hand, dancing girls, a plunge pool and a jacuzzi, with side shows and giveaways for the kids.
Change the picture and make the offer to those Mums and their kids when there's a wind blowing, a spit of drizzle in the air, the threat of heavier rain on the horizon and the ground half empty accordingly and it isn't so pretty. I'll pass on that plunge pool thanks. Do you have any Bovril?
Still, that's their problem, and I won't be watching it anyway.
As long as my Derbyshire, your Derbyshire continues in its present form they can have bowlers on bicycles and batsmen using power ups, like in Nintendo games. They can dress them as clowns, let them bowl from fifteen yards and use a bat as wide as the stumps. Rule out lbw's and let batsmen only be out if caught one-handed. Hey, they're going to have a countdown - that's worth the admission price alone, because we've never sat at a match and thought 'fifteen to win and ooh..there's only six balls left'.To call a countdown innovation is also patronising, come to think of it.
I really don't care.
But I love, and will always love, my county cricket.
The 'One Hundred', or whatever it is eventually called is aimed at 'mothers and children', according to Andrew Strauss, erstwhile successful England skipper and fast becoming as popular as someone with bubonic plague in a tent.
A few years ago, when the Iceland store had an advert that said 'that's why Mums go to Iceland' I stopped shopping there. I was never a regular anyway, but I haven't been in since, because they clearly weren't aiming at Dads. It's similar to when Gerald Ratner proclaimed that the stuff sold in the Ratners Group stores was 'crap' and simultaneously pressed the self-destruct button on his company.
To exclude generations of cricket lovers, the ones who have supported the game and their county for years, in bringing in a new competition is either brave or foolhardy in the extreme. Let's face it, cricket isn't that hard to understand if you spend some time on it and the existing game has been growing in recent years with the T20 Blast. Four-day cricket could do too, if they scheduled it properly. Look at the crowds for last weekend's championship fixtures, and the thousands who followed streaming online. Note also that it was scheduled over a weekend, praise be, and crucially enjoyed good weather, which is not always the case.
But for the ECB to introduce a new competition, claim they are going to simplify it and then say they are running it for mothers and their offspring can easily be seen as patronising. Let's face it, women's cricket has grown in appeal and there are many women who know as much, if not more, than some of the men who watch the game and purport to understand it. And I still don't know how fifteen overs of six balls, then one of ten is easier than twenty six-ball overs. If they want it easy and fitting in a time slot for television, why not have twenty five-ball overs, since they are changing things anyway?
I'm unsure why they aim to find legions of new fans, rather than better cater for the many existing ones. The thousands tuning in to streaming services and radio commentaries are evidence of the current interest, but the scheduling of the game precludes their greater involvement. Why not arrange more cricket Friday to Monday, so working people need only take two days leave to see an entire four-day game? Why not look at the many retired people who are looking for things to fill their time and might, just might be interested?
They are not off to the best of starts and have much to do ahead of the competition launch. You couldn't get me to one of the games unless you paid me a considerable sum, but I watch developments with interest, because I am concerned about how it affects the game that I love. It will be the same elsewhere, because folk in Sheffield, Bradford and Barnsley won't get behind a side called Leeds, any more than those in Liverpool, Wigan and Southport will get behind Manchester.
Look how many people cringe when Sky commentators call us Derby. I'm a Ripley lad, my Dad is from Swadlincote, and there's many in Chesterfield, Buxton and elsewhere. If we cringe at not being called Derbyshire, are we going to get behind Nottingham? I think not...
Irrespective of the fact that this competition will be played in mid-summer and will take a projected one hundred players from the existing county game, I agree with Mike Atherton that the county championship should be played at the same time.
Why? Well, for starters, the county game would then enjoy the best of British weather, rather than being played when the polar bears wear body-warmers. We all know our climate ain't so good sometimes, but there's more chance of good days in what is helpfully called 'high summer'. To simply shut down 'proper' cricket when the circus comes to town would be self-defeating. And since there will be two audiences, it really shouldn't be an issue. The 'Mums and kids' will be watching one, the men, women and children will enjoy the other.
I would go to see a Derbyshire side, or switch on my laptop now to do so, if they fielded a team of under-eighteens. There have been times when we have fielded young and weaker teams anyway and if all counties were the same, I'd still do it. If nothing else, it affords opportunity for young players to make a mark and it would be exciting to be in at the start of things for a special player.
The cricket could be enhanced by allowing counties to sign two overseas players, and changing the qualification ruling. As those rules stand, county cricket would never have seen players like John Wright, Peter Kirsten, Greg Chappell, Keith Boyce, Clive Rice, Glenn Turner, Viv Richards and many others. They all came here to make a name and did so in spades.
There are plenty of good cricketers in the world game who would enhance county cricket, but haven't made the requisite international appearances in recent years to qualify. So what if we could see D'arcy Short, Dane Paterson, Cameron White, Willem Mulder and others in the county game?
Remember Chris Wilkins? He was never an international player, but he entertained royally in three summers at Derbyshire and with the introduction of such players, the county game would still hold appeal. Run more of it Friday to Monday and you heighten that considerably, because those who work can actually go and see a game. Just like last weekend.
With big names already precluded from participation with IPL and CPL contracts, along with short-notice overseas tours, then many of them going to this circus, this move is essential and counties should press for the change.
I am pleased that this new competition is going to break the rules. I am pleased that it has brought in the ten-ball over (more so than the poor sap who has to bowl it) because it won't be seen as a replacement for the T20 Blast. It won't be seen, or recorded, as 'proper' cricket, because the records will be totally different and cricket loves its statistics. Sobers got 36 off an over, but Gayle in prime form could get fifty from a ten-ball over.
But however they work it, however much the ECB envies the Big Bash and Indian Premier League, however they want to create Live Aid meets It's A Knockout meets a bastardised form of cricket, one thing they cannot do a thing about is the weather.
It is easy to get excited about a night out at the cricket when the sun is shining, you have a cold drink to hand, dancing girls, a plunge pool and a jacuzzi, with side shows and giveaways for the kids.
Change the picture and make the offer to those Mums and their kids when there's a wind blowing, a spit of drizzle in the air, the threat of heavier rain on the horizon and the ground half empty accordingly and it isn't so pretty. I'll pass on that plunge pool thanks. Do you have any Bovril?
Still, that's their problem, and I won't be watching it anyway.
As long as my Derbyshire, your Derbyshire continues in its present form they can have bowlers on bicycles and batsmen using power ups, like in Nintendo games. They can dress them as clowns, let them bowl from fifteen yards and use a bat as wide as the stumps. Rule out lbw's and let batsmen only be out if caught one-handed. Hey, they're going to have a countdown - that's worth the admission price alone, because we've never sat at a match and thought 'fifteen to win and ooh..there's only six balls left'.To call a countdown innovation is also patronising, come to think of it.
I really don't care.
But I love, and will always love, my county cricket.
Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Guest post - from Rob Enderby
After reading Keith's comments on the last blog post, I feel a strong urge to write and offer some support / thoughts. I normally keep these thoughts to myself but on occasion I can't help myself.
The comment from Keith is both unnecessary and crass. For those of us in full time employment and not living remotely near HQ, Peakfan's blog is a regular read and the place to go to find rational comment on the clubs fortunes. I understand how difficult it is after I guested during his wife's illness last year ( I trust she is on the mend?) So if nothing else, thank you for what is informed and well thought out comment.
It serves to show how differently we view things. I am literally running around Southend with my shirt over my head. My own spouse and others are bored to tears with my mentioning it and at approx 1710hrs on Monday 23rd April, it was noticed that I was either fitting or jigging about in my car while stopped at traffic lights!
A terrific win over four full days, no behind the scenes contrived result, having been put into bat first. This is fantastic and should rightly be acknowledged as so. For Keith to talk about injuries and half the team missing does this result a massive injustice and quite frankly is insulting to the team. I would hate to see this guy when DCCC lose.
In any case he should perhaps keep his negative comments to himself. That he then contradicts himself by saying that we should roll over a weak Leicestershire side this weekend again does neither him nor the side any favours. We are not suddenly the cricketing Brazil and any team we beat this year will be hard fought, with full concentration required.
Which leads me on to my main point. Both Keith and several so call expert journalists have failed to pick up what I consider a pertinent point. After this terrific win it was mentioned that Middlesex were resting their England players and others were injured. Their implied point being that they were much weaker for that. Well if you look at it my way, so were Derbyshire, but differently.
Both Mark Footitt, and Tim Groenewald were signed as fringe players turned into excellent bowlers and both, as others, were lured away by 'bigger' counties with expectations of trophies and more money. As a result, we are continually having to shop around, Even if you do not follow or agree with my point, it is clear that we are not playing on a level playing field. So one could reasonably argue that our attack was weakened as a result. This does not happen to Middlesex or Notts or Lancashire and so to feel sorry for them that they are missing their England internationals is not easy.
This point follows on from journalists saying our hard earned handout from the ECB is being spent badly on players who they call mercenaries, or who are not qualified or ever going to play for England. Well we wouldn't have to if the bigger clubs were not continually sniffing about. To then carry on by suggesting that Derbyshire and others should be disbanded is again missing the point. Footitt was languishing in Nottinghamshire seconds, Groenewald similar at Warwickshire. If they were only eight clubs, the above two players would not get a look in and would be lost to the game. Younger players would not get a chance and there would be no progression. That this point point is missed continually surprises me.
If Leicestershire were not a professional county, how would Broad, Taylor and Gurney have got opportunities? Repeat that, ad infinitum, around the shires.
In summary: a fantastic blog, a fantastic win and we should all revel in this. If I'm ranting as much as Keith I most certainly don't mean to be. It's just that continual Derbyshire bashing irritates me!
Up the shire
A very excitable Rob Enderby, Essex.
Tuesday, 24 April 2018
The development of Captain Godleman
Thank you for all your comments after yesterday's fine win over Middlesex.
It is a continuing pleasure to swap thoughts with fellow supporters and it is always nice to meet up with regular contributors. If you see me wandering round a ground over the summer, do please come up and say hello, as it is nice to put a face to a name!
There were three things I wanted to touch on today, before the team is announced for the trip to Leicester on Friday. The first is the excellent wicket that Neil Godrich prepared for the first game of the summer.
The last few weeks have been a nightmare for groundsmen around the country and there have been plenty of pictures of floods and puddles. To prepare a wicket that lasted well until after tea on the fourth day is a great credit to Neil and his team. There was something for bowlers throughout, even if the final new ball of the match barely moved. There was decent bounce and batsmen could, if they got in, play their shots, which many managed to do.
Here's hoping such tracks continue throughout the summer, ideally with a little more turn if we can pick up a spinner from somewhere. The Pakistan leg spinner Yasir Shah was mentioned in a link the other day, and although he didn't set the world on fire for Kent last year, sometimes environments and circumstance work for players.
Look at Matt Henry. Last year there were few fans in the Derbyshire support following a disappointing stint in the T20, but he is on fire for Kent at present, the wickets and format better suited to his bowling. If we landed Shah, it would be quite a coup, but it may just be media conjecture.
Then there's Billy Godleman. He didn't have much chance to contribute with the bat, but his decision to drop to the middle order was typical of the man. It has given Luis Reece and Ben Slater a chance to bat in their preferred position, while giving us another experienced man in the middle order. He has made runs there before and it may just give him a better chance to switch on and off after being in the field.
Out in the middle the other day I was impressed with his captaincy. Bowlers were changed around, and switched ends. There were innovative field settings and regular chats with his senior players. Yet it was clear that he was in charge and in his demeanour he is growing well into the role.
There are those for who captaincy is foreign and it doesn't sit well with them. I think Joe Root one such player, but I look at Billy and see a man who has handled the expectation well and has become more than competent .
He is obviously respected by his team and it was good to read today how Duanne Olivier was always offering to bowl another spell. Such an overseas signing is gold dust to a captain, just as Michael Holding was to Kim Barnett. All bowlers want a crack when the wicket is in their favour, but Olivier was keen to bowl even when the batsmen were getting on top. Full marks to him for that and good luck to Billy for the remainder of the summer.
Finally today, I think we will hear soon about a new, perhaps short term signing in the seam department. Sadly, the weather has meant that neither Charlie Hartley nor Mohammad Azharullah have had a chance to impress for the second team, who have yet to get on to the pitch against Lancashire at Liverpool.
Either of them would be an asset for the upcoming RLODC, but the loan market may also be worthwhile. With Mark Footitt not getting a game for Nottinghamshire, and Conor Mckerr some way back in the queue at Surrey, there's two bowlers who might enhance our attack. The latter was in the wickets for their second team yesterday and after his fine loan spell with us last year would doubtless be welcomed back with open arms. I'd be pleased to see him return, as I see neither Tony Palladino or Will Davis playing in that competition and we need an extra option.
Until then, we have a nice clutch of bowlers who will look forward to a trip across the East Midlands later this week.
More on that in due course.
It is a continuing pleasure to swap thoughts with fellow supporters and it is always nice to meet up with regular contributors. If you see me wandering round a ground over the summer, do please come up and say hello, as it is nice to put a face to a name!
There were three things I wanted to touch on today, before the team is announced for the trip to Leicester on Friday. The first is the excellent wicket that Neil Godrich prepared for the first game of the summer.
The last few weeks have been a nightmare for groundsmen around the country and there have been plenty of pictures of floods and puddles. To prepare a wicket that lasted well until after tea on the fourth day is a great credit to Neil and his team. There was something for bowlers throughout, even if the final new ball of the match barely moved. There was decent bounce and batsmen could, if they got in, play their shots, which many managed to do.
Here's hoping such tracks continue throughout the summer, ideally with a little more turn if we can pick up a spinner from somewhere. The Pakistan leg spinner Yasir Shah was mentioned in a link the other day, and although he didn't set the world on fire for Kent last year, sometimes environments and circumstance work for players.
Look at Matt Henry. Last year there were few fans in the Derbyshire support following a disappointing stint in the T20, but he is on fire for Kent at present, the wickets and format better suited to his bowling. If we landed Shah, it would be quite a coup, but it may just be media conjecture.
Then there's Billy Godleman. He didn't have much chance to contribute with the bat, but his decision to drop to the middle order was typical of the man. It has given Luis Reece and Ben Slater a chance to bat in their preferred position, while giving us another experienced man in the middle order. He has made runs there before and it may just give him a better chance to switch on and off after being in the field.
Out in the middle the other day I was impressed with his captaincy. Bowlers were changed around, and switched ends. There were innovative field settings and regular chats with his senior players. Yet it was clear that he was in charge and in his demeanour he is growing well into the role.
There are those for who captaincy is foreign and it doesn't sit well with them. I think Joe Root one such player, but I look at Billy and see a man who has handled the expectation well and has become more than competent .
He is obviously respected by his team and it was good to read today how Duanne Olivier was always offering to bowl another spell. Such an overseas signing is gold dust to a captain, just as Michael Holding was to Kim Barnett. All bowlers want a crack when the wicket is in their favour, but Olivier was keen to bowl even when the batsmen were getting on top. Full marks to him for that and good luck to Billy for the remainder of the summer.
Finally today, I think we will hear soon about a new, perhaps short term signing in the seam department. Sadly, the weather has meant that neither Charlie Hartley nor Mohammad Azharullah have had a chance to impress for the second team, who have yet to get on to the pitch against Lancashire at Liverpool.
Either of them would be an asset for the upcoming RLODC, but the loan market may also be worthwhile. With Mark Footitt not getting a game for Nottinghamshire, and Conor Mckerr some way back in the queue at Surrey, there's two bowlers who might enhance our attack. The latter was in the wickets for their second team yesterday and after his fine loan spell with us last year would doubtless be welcomed back with open arms. I'd be pleased to see him return, as I see neither Tony Palladino or Will Davis playing in that competition and we need an extra option.
Until then, we have a nice clutch of bowlers who will look forward to a trip across the East Midlands later this week.
More on that in due course.
Monday, 23 April 2018
Derbyshire v Middlesex day 4
Derbyshire 265 and 333-3
Middlesex 157 and 340 (Harris 64 not, Helm 52, Roland-Jones 46, Olivier 4-82)
Derbyshire won by 101 runs
A home win. The first since 2014. In the first game of the summer too, so the weight is removed from our neck, the monkey from our back, the albatross consigned to history.
Full credit to Middlesex tonight, because the game looked as good as done at lunch, but Harris, Helm and Roland-Jones batted sensibly and with great skill and courage to take things into the final hour. Truth be told, I couldn't see where we were splitting that ninth wicket stand, as they had defied everything we threw at them. Helm made the first fifty of his county career and Harris barely looked troubled as the wicket got slower.
There was a very close shout for lbw, when Hardus Viljoen hit Harris on the pad with a full toss. When that was turned down I feared the worst, but Matt Critchley returned from an earlier, one-over mauling by Roland-Jones, in which he finished a flurry of boundaries by hitting straight to Ben Slater.
A good ball, what looked like his googly, was enough to see the umpire's finger raised and that exposed Tim Murtagh, one of the more rabbit-like tail enders in the county game. He handled Critchley OK, but once the quicks returned he wasn't going to stay for long and Duanne Olivier bowled him to seal a memorable win.
Critchley did well, two wickets showing his value to the side, while Wayne Madsen's crucial wicket just before lunch opened up what we thought was the tail. So much for that, eh?
Olivier finished with four wickets, to go with four in the first innings, while Hardus Viljoen ran in hard and didn't quite get his just reward in this game. I thought Ravi Rampaul's post-tea spell was excellent, troubled the batsmen and made them work, though we were a little wide with lines at times again today.
When Holden and Rayner were quickly removed this morning, an easy win looked on the cards, but Derbyshire had to work, the bowlers had to bend their backs and the fielders, as they did throughout the match, held most of what came their way.
It wasn't a bad wicket and credit to Neil Godrich and his team for producing one, after all the weather we have had, that took the game into the final hour of the fourth day.
We'd have liked it a little less worrying than that, but this was a superb advert for county championship cricket. Middlesex, with their fighting spirit to the very end, showed why they will challenge for promotion this year, irrespective of this result.
Derbyshire? We've shown a few non-believers what we are capable of.
Those pre-season predictions of tenth place might be even less clever now.
Well done guys. You stuck to it well and got your reward in the end.
Leicestershire next...
Middlesex 157 and 340 (Harris 64 not, Helm 52, Roland-Jones 46, Olivier 4-82)
Derbyshire won by 101 runs
A home win. The first since 2014. In the first game of the summer too, so the weight is removed from our neck, the monkey from our back, the albatross consigned to history.
Full credit to Middlesex tonight, because the game looked as good as done at lunch, but Harris, Helm and Roland-Jones batted sensibly and with great skill and courage to take things into the final hour. Truth be told, I couldn't see where we were splitting that ninth wicket stand, as they had defied everything we threw at them. Helm made the first fifty of his county career and Harris barely looked troubled as the wicket got slower.
There was a very close shout for lbw, when Hardus Viljoen hit Harris on the pad with a full toss. When that was turned down I feared the worst, but Matt Critchley returned from an earlier, one-over mauling by Roland-Jones, in which he finished a flurry of boundaries by hitting straight to Ben Slater.
A good ball, what looked like his googly, was enough to see the umpire's finger raised and that exposed Tim Murtagh, one of the more rabbit-like tail enders in the county game. He handled Critchley OK, but once the quicks returned he wasn't going to stay for long and Duanne Olivier bowled him to seal a memorable win.
Critchley did well, two wickets showing his value to the side, while Wayne Madsen's crucial wicket just before lunch opened up what we thought was the tail. So much for that, eh?
Olivier finished with four wickets, to go with four in the first innings, while Hardus Viljoen ran in hard and didn't quite get his just reward in this game. I thought Ravi Rampaul's post-tea spell was excellent, troubled the batsmen and made them work, though we were a little wide with lines at times again today.
When Holden and Rayner were quickly removed this morning, an easy win looked on the cards, but Derbyshire had to work, the bowlers had to bend their backs and the fielders, as they did throughout the match, held most of what came their way.
It wasn't a bad wicket and credit to Neil Godrich and his team for producing one, after all the weather we have had, that took the game into the final hour of the fourth day.
We'd have liked it a little less worrying than that, but this was a superb advert for county championship cricket. Middlesex, with their fighting spirit to the very end, showed why they will challenge for promotion this year, irrespective of this result.
Derbyshire? We've shown a few non-believers what we are capable of.
Those pre-season predictions of tenth place might be even less clever now.
Well done guys. You stuck to it well and got your reward in the end.
Leicestershire next...
Mohammad Azharullah in second team today
Interesting to see that Mohammad Azharullah, as well as Charlie Hartley are in our second team for the game against Lancashire second eleven, that starts today at Liverpool.
Thinking over the weekend, I reckon we are a bowler light for the RLODC, which is coming up fast.
I wouldn't expect Tony Palladino to play, nor Will Davis, as both will be key to our four-day fortunes this summer. That leaves us with Messrs Viljoen, Olivier and Rampaul to bowl thirty overs, but where do the other twenty come from?
Yes, we have Alex Hughes, Wayne Madsen, Luis Reece and Matt Critchley, but I would prefer them to cover the final ten between them, rather than twenty.
Azharullah is a proven bowler of county class and is currently without a county. Hartley was unlucky to be released by Kent and has a lot to give, in my opinion.
It will be worth keeping an eye on their fortunes in that match, as well as following the first eleven at the 3aaa County Ground. With Will Davis also in the squad, that's a decent seam attack, even before Alfie Gleadall and Sam Connors are considered.
Keep an eye on Daryn Smit's performance too. Another big score would make his first team claims very difficult to ignore.
The Derbyshire squad:
Kettleborough, Smit, Brodrick, Hosein, Qadri, Dal, Hartley, Azharullah, Sonczak, Gleadall, Connors, Davis.
Thinking over the weekend, I reckon we are a bowler light for the RLODC, which is coming up fast.
I wouldn't expect Tony Palladino to play, nor Will Davis, as both will be key to our four-day fortunes this summer. That leaves us with Messrs Viljoen, Olivier and Rampaul to bowl thirty overs, but where do the other twenty come from?
Yes, we have Alex Hughes, Wayne Madsen, Luis Reece and Matt Critchley, but I would prefer them to cover the final ten between them, rather than twenty.
Azharullah is a proven bowler of county class and is currently without a county. Hartley was unlucky to be released by Kent and has a lot to give, in my opinion.
It will be worth keeping an eye on their fortunes in that match, as well as following the first eleven at the 3aaa County Ground. With Will Davis also in the squad, that's a decent seam attack, even before Alfie Gleadall and Sam Connors are considered.
Keep an eye on Daryn Smit's performance too. Another big score would make his first team claims very difficult to ignore.
The Derbyshire squad:
Kettleborough, Smit, Brodrick, Hosein, Qadri, Dal, Hartley, Azharullah, Sonczak, Gleadall, Connors, Davis.
Sunday, 22 April 2018
Derbyshire v Middlesex day 3
Derbyshire 265 and 333-3 (Reece 157* Slater 99, Madsen 52)
Middlesex 157 and 86-3 (Olivier 2-25)
Derbyshire lead by 355 runs
Another day, another disciplined effort by Derbyshire, as they moved within seven wickets of their first home championship win in four seasons.
Seven wickets are needed tomorrow, on what looks like a full day of cricket. The wicket is not playing undue tricks, but seemed to have more in it when we bowled, especially as the visitors were shorn of the injured Harris and Roland-Jones.
That takes nothing away from Ben Slater and Luis Reece, who took their opening stand to 219, a county record against Middlesex, before Ben got bogged down on 99 and hit to cover. It takes nothing, bar a digit in the record book, from an excellent innings that continued his fine early season form and confirmed his ability to get his head down.
Reece went on and on, remaining unbeaten when the declaration came after another top innings. His success since moving from Lancashire has been entirely gratifying in all forms of the game, though not especially if you go to cricket matches with a red rose on your jumper. His short spell late in the day was also promising, bowling a full length that troubled the batsmen and got the ball to swing. I cannot think of too many opening batsmen who gave you a left-arm seam option over the years, and he is becoming a very special cricketer.
Tony Palladino was also on the mark and beat the batsmen with late movement in a typical display, but the star turn was again Duanne Olivier.
Hardus Viljoen ran in hard and took the key wicket of Robson with a big in-swinger, but he didn't appear to have full rhythm today. It will come, but when Olivier switched to the Racecourse/Media Centre End, he really seemed to slip himself. He had taken a wicket with his first ball from the City End, but from the other he looked a handful and the quickest bowler on show.
The sight of a Derbyshire quick bowler with five slips and two short legs brought back memories of Messrs Holding, Bishop and Malcolm in their pomp and Olivier responded to being pulled for four with a fine delivery that left Cartwright and gave a simple catch to Gary Wilson.
I still think the keeper is too far back and he was taking a lot of deliveries at his ankles, which seemed to confirm that, but to find faults in this performance is churlish in the extreme.
It won't be easy to take the last seven wickets tomorrow, but I was heartened by how Billy Godleman switched his bowlers around and tried them at different ends. It looked like a captain in control of things and with the confidence that he had the firepower to win a four-day match, perhaps for the first time in his captaincy.
We'll see if that is the case tomorrow, but we have had three very impressive days so far.
Middlesex 157 and 86-3 (Olivier 2-25)
Derbyshire lead by 355 runs
Another day, another disciplined effort by Derbyshire, as they moved within seven wickets of their first home championship win in four seasons.
Seven wickets are needed tomorrow, on what looks like a full day of cricket. The wicket is not playing undue tricks, but seemed to have more in it when we bowled, especially as the visitors were shorn of the injured Harris and Roland-Jones.
That takes nothing away from Ben Slater and Luis Reece, who took their opening stand to 219, a county record against Middlesex, before Ben got bogged down on 99 and hit to cover. It takes nothing, bar a digit in the record book, from an excellent innings that continued his fine early season form and confirmed his ability to get his head down.
Reece went on and on, remaining unbeaten when the declaration came after another top innings. His success since moving from Lancashire has been entirely gratifying in all forms of the game, though not especially if you go to cricket matches with a red rose on your jumper. His short spell late in the day was also promising, bowling a full length that troubled the batsmen and got the ball to swing. I cannot think of too many opening batsmen who gave you a left-arm seam option over the years, and he is becoming a very special cricketer.
Tony Palladino was also on the mark and beat the batsmen with late movement in a typical display, but the star turn was again Duanne Olivier.
Hardus Viljoen ran in hard and took the key wicket of Robson with a big in-swinger, but he didn't appear to have full rhythm today. It will come, but when Olivier switched to the Racecourse/Media Centre End, he really seemed to slip himself. He had taken a wicket with his first ball from the City End, but from the other he looked a handful and the quickest bowler on show.
The sight of a Derbyshire quick bowler with five slips and two short legs brought back memories of Messrs Holding, Bishop and Malcolm in their pomp and Olivier responded to being pulled for four with a fine delivery that left Cartwright and gave a simple catch to Gary Wilson.
I still think the keeper is too far back and he was taking a lot of deliveries at his ankles, which seemed to confirm that, but to find faults in this performance is churlish in the extreme.
It won't be easy to take the last seven wickets tomorrow, but I was heartened by how Billy Godleman switched his bowlers around and tried them at different ends. It looked like a captain in control of things and with the confidence that he had the firepower to win a four-day match, perhaps for the first time in his captaincy.
We'll see if that is the case tomorrow, but we have had three very impressive days so far.
Saturday, 21 April 2018
Derbyshire v Middlesex day 2
Derbyshire 265 and 118-0 (Slater 63 not Reece 47 not)
Middlesex 157 (Olivier 4-26)
Derbyshire lead by 226 runs
If you had offered this position to Derbyshire supporters at the start of the match, they may well have laughed. Even at the start of the day for that matter. To be 226 runs ahead of the county fancied by many to win this division this summer, with two days of good weather to come, is a very impressive effort.
Two days do not make a summer, of course and the key for us now will be to finish off a job that we have started extremely well, then continue with the high intensity level of cricket we have displayed for the rest of the summer.
Kim Barnett must be happy with the initial return on the investment in Ravi Rampaul and Duanne Olivier. Both showed their class over the opening two days, bowling with skill and purpose that was simply too much for the visiting line up.
Rampaul runs up to the crease looking nothing out of the ordinary, yet the final rock back sees a strong body and shoulder deliver a ball that is likely quicker than it appears to the casual bystander. I said pre-season that he may benefit from 'flying under the radar' and I think he will do so in the months ahead, a steadying influence at one end, like Tony Palladino, steadily nipping it one way and the other, making the batsmen think.
Olivier, I think, we have got at the right time. A good spell here will put him to the front of the queue of would be South African bowlers and everything about him strikes me as a cricketer of purpose. His run accelerates, unlike Rampaul, into a final coil and whip which must make him awkward to face, with bounce and lateral movement a potent combo. In the flesh he looks quicker than on video and he is a key component of what looks a very strong seam attack. He shows the same purpose in the field and is a fine cricketer.
That attack apportioned the wickets out quite nicely today and Middlesex were never allowed to get going. The only criticism one could make was in some of the direction, which made Gary Wilson's life a difficult one and added too many unnecessary runs to the visiting tally for most tastes.
When we went in again, with a lead of 108, Ben Slater and Luis Reece did extremely well. Slater, as he did in the first innings and in pre-season, looked a player of real talent, playing shots all around the wicket. Reece led a more charmed life, with a couple of lbw calls and a rap on the hand before the rain stoppage, but they are phlegmatic characters who could become a fixture at the top of the county order for years to come.
As the clock passed six, the partnership a hundred and the lead 200, those supporters who remained could reflect on two impressive, professional days of cricket.
Proper cricket.
Let's keep it going gentlemen...
Middlesex 157 (Olivier 4-26)
Derbyshire lead by 226 runs
If you had offered this position to Derbyshire supporters at the start of the match, they may well have laughed. Even at the start of the day for that matter. To be 226 runs ahead of the county fancied by many to win this division this summer, with two days of good weather to come, is a very impressive effort.
Two days do not make a summer, of course and the key for us now will be to finish off a job that we have started extremely well, then continue with the high intensity level of cricket we have displayed for the rest of the summer.
Kim Barnett must be happy with the initial return on the investment in Ravi Rampaul and Duanne Olivier. Both showed their class over the opening two days, bowling with skill and purpose that was simply too much for the visiting line up.
Rampaul runs up to the crease looking nothing out of the ordinary, yet the final rock back sees a strong body and shoulder deliver a ball that is likely quicker than it appears to the casual bystander. I said pre-season that he may benefit from 'flying under the radar' and I think he will do so in the months ahead, a steadying influence at one end, like Tony Palladino, steadily nipping it one way and the other, making the batsmen think.
Olivier, I think, we have got at the right time. A good spell here will put him to the front of the queue of would be South African bowlers and everything about him strikes me as a cricketer of purpose. His run accelerates, unlike Rampaul, into a final coil and whip which must make him awkward to face, with bounce and lateral movement a potent combo. In the flesh he looks quicker than on video and he is a key component of what looks a very strong seam attack. He shows the same purpose in the field and is a fine cricketer.
That attack apportioned the wickets out quite nicely today and Middlesex were never allowed to get going. The only criticism one could make was in some of the direction, which made Gary Wilson's life a difficult one and added too many unnecessary runs to the visiting tally for most tastes.
When we went in again, with a lead of 108, Ben Slater and Luis Reece did extremely well. Slater, as he did in the first innings and in pre-season, looked a player of real talent, playing shots all around the wicket. Reece led a more charmed life, with a couple of lbw calls and a rap on the hand before the rain stoppage, but they are phlegmatic characters who could become a fixture at the top of the county order for years to come.
As the clock passed six, the partnership a hundred and the lead 200, those supporters who remained could reflect on two impressive, professional days of cricket.
Proper cricket.
Let's keep it going gentlemen...
Friday, 20 April 2018
Derbyshire v Middlesex day one
Derbyshire 265 (Viljoen 60 not, Madsen 47, Harris 4-68)
Middlesex 45-3
A glorious sunny day greeted the arrival of the first-class season at the 3aaa County Ground in Derby and a decent crowd arrived to witness it. A good number will have come in on the back of the 'bring friend free' offer that was extended to county members, but I'd like to think a few might have come along, as will be the case through the summer, to show support for a form of the game that the English Cricket Board seems intent on marginalising.
Derbyshire got through to lunch pretty well, at 117-3, after Middlesex opted to bowl. It was a decision that may have taken some thought, but there was movement for the seamers and one or two balls lifted from around a length. It was a wicket that kept the bowlers interested as the day progressed and offered lateral movement; similarly, it was one on which a batsman was never truly 'in'.
Luis Reece and Ben Slater opened, Billy Godleman having opted for a middle order berth this year. The two looked pretty comfortable, until Reece departed to a stunning, one-handed catch by Ollie Rayner at second slip, the first of four that he took. That brought in Wayne Madsen, restored to his (and my) preferred position of number three. We were soon being treated to trademark drives and though there were a few alarms, he survived through to the interval on an unbeaten 46.
Not so his partners. Ben Slater batted well, before a miscalculation on line saw him bowled, while Alex Hughes, after a few nice shots, was caught behind off the final delivery of the session, from the bowling of Cartwright.
Still 117-3 at the interval was better than most other sides batting first, at a traditionally tricky time of year. There was a need for a partnership, though, as the players came out for the afternoon session.
It was not to be. The consensus was that 250 was a score with which we could be fairly happy, but the departures in quick succession of Godleman (17) and Madsen (47) left a lengthy-looking tail dangerously exposed with the county at 143-5.
Gary Wilson gave it away with a half-hearted attempt at a pull that lobbed up to mid-wicket and a decent lunch position had evaporated in the space of half an hour.
Thereafter the position improved, thanks to a dogged innings by Tony Palladino and one of impressive quality from Hardus Viljoen. Those of us with concerns over the tail end batting were heartened to see the giant South African go to his fifty with three sixes, a huge one over mid wicket sandwiched between two effortless drives.
There was a fourth six before the end came quickly and Derbyshire's mood was lightened by these late order runs, obvious from their demeanour as they came on to the field. Ravi Rampaul took the new ball and and shaped it beautifully, getting Holden caught behind as he ran one across, after swinging the previous ones into him.His initial spell for the county was an impressive one.
Viljoen and Olivier worked up good pace, but the line was often wanting. Both suggested though, when the line is adjusted, that the wickets will come, plenty of balls leaving the batsmen groping.and a couple of edges falling short of the slips, who could perhaps have been up a yard or two with the batsmen not assaying too many aggressive strokes.
It was a spell of cricket that hinted at good times to come. Only twenty runs came from the bat in the first twenty overs, a good few of them from the edge of the bat and in stark contrast to an innings in which Derbyshire scored at four an over. Olivier took his first wicket for us, courtesy of a sharp catch from Matt Critchley at slip, while Viljoen adjusted his line and, bowling a fuller length, had the Australian, Cartwright, beautifully held at second slip by Alex Hughes.
All in all? A very encouraging day's work. There is more to to do tomorrow to get through the Middlesex batting, but we are ahead at the end of day one.
And that's against what most considered the likely champions this summer.
Not bad at all..
Middlesex 45-3
A glorious sunny day greeted the arrival of the first-class season at the 3aaa County Ground in Derby and a decent crowd arrived to witness it. A good number will have come in on the back of the 'bring friend free' offer that was extended to county members, but I'd like to think a few might have come along, as will be the case through the summer, to show support for a form of the game that the English Cricket Board seems intent on marginalising.
Derbyshire got through to lunch pretty well, at 117-3, after Middlesex opted to bowl. It was a decision that may have taken some thought, but there was movement for the seamers and one or two balls lifted from around a length. It was a wicket that kept the bowlers interested as the day progressed and offered lateral movement; similarly, it was one on which a batsman was never truly 'in'.
Luis Reece and Ben Slater opened, Billy Godleman having opted for a middle order berth this year. The two looked pretty comfortable, until Reece departed to a stunning, one-handed catch by Ollie Rayner at second slip, the first of four that he took. That brought in Wayne Madsen, restored to his (and my) preferred position of number three. We were soon being treated to trademark drives and though there were a few alarms, he survived through to the interval on an unbeaten 46.
Not so his partners. Ben Slater batted well, before a miscalculation on line saw him bowled, while Alex Hughes, after a few nice shots, was caught behind off the final delivery of the session, from the bowling of Cartwright.
Still 117-3 at the interval was better than most other sides batting first, at a traditionally tricky time of year. There was a need for a partnership, though, as the players came out for the afternoon session.
It was not to be. The consensus was that 250 was a score with which we could be fairly happy, but the departures in quick succession of Godleman (17) and Madsen (47) left a lengthy-looking tail dangerously exposed with the county at 143-5.
Gary Wilson gave it away with a half-hearted attempt at a pull that lobbed up to mid-wicket and a decent lunch position had evaporated in the space of half an hour.
Thereafter the position improved, thanks to a dogged innings by Tony Palladino and one of impressive quality from Hardus Viljoen. Those of us with concerns over the tail end batting were heartened to see the giant South African go to his fifty with three sixes, a huge one over mid wicket sandwiched between two effortless drives.
There was a fourth six before the end came quickly and Derbyshire's mood was lightened by these late order runs, obvious from their demeanour as they came on to the field. Ravi Rampaul took the new ball and and shaped it beautifully, getting Holden caught behind as he ran one across, after swinging the previous ones into him.His initial spell for the county was an impressive one.
Viljoen and Olivier worked up good pace, but the line was often wanting. Both suggested though, when the line is adjusted, that the wickets will come, plenty of balls leaving the batsmen groping.and a couple of edges falling short of the slips, who could perhaps have been up a yard or two with the batsmen not assaying too many aggressive strokes.
It was a spell of cricket that hinted at good times to come. Only twenty runs came from the bat in the first twenty overs, a good few of them from the edge of the bat and in stark contrast to an innings in which Derbyshire scored at four an over. Olivier took his first wicket for us, courtesy of a sharp catch from Matt Critchley at slip, while Viljoen adjusted his line and, bowling a fuller length, had the Australian, Cartwright, beautifully held at second slip by Alex Hughes.
All in all? A very encouraging day's work. There is more to to do tomorrow to get through the Middlesex batting, but we are ahead at the end of day one.
And that's against what most considered the likely champions this summer.
Not bad at all..
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Derbyshire v Middlesex preview - and so it begins
It's been a long cold, wet, dark winter. Come to think of it, a long cold, wet, dark Spring, but cricket is here again and to mark its arrival, Derby has once more been transformed into Derbados. I'm sure that Duanne Olivier and his new wife arrived in the city wondering what on earth they had done, but I am sure that both will enjoy their spell in God's own county now that the sun has remembered that it shines here from time to time.
If Duanne delivers, as part of a four-pronged pace and seam attack that promises much, we will all be very happy. Because despite what the doom-mongers of the media may say, in suggesting we will be lucky to finish tenth in the division, I still disagree.
IF Messrs Viljoen, Olivier, Rampaul and Davis, with assistance from Tony Palladino or anyone else, hit their straps early, no one will fancy batting against us. Especially if we have backed it up with pitches that offer assistance. If the batting can graft their way to totals that offer them something to work with, who knows?
The initial twelve effectively picked itself, the only question, for me, being whether Gary Wilson or Daryn Smit got the gloves. The vice-captain got the gig, which is hard luck on arguably the best keeper on the county circuit, who scored an unbeaten hundred the other day. You could say, of course, that Harvey Hosein can also feel unlucky, but therein is a measure of the strength of this Derbyshire squad.
There have been times, in the not too distant past, where you looked at a named twelve and had concerns in certain areas. I don't here, save for there being no top spin option, but that's not an issue at this time of year and Matt Critchley and Wayne Madsen can fill that gap if required. A spinner might have been the reason for preferring Smit behind the timbers, as a better all round glove man.
Here's the squad:
Godleman
Slater
Reece
Madsen
Hughes
Critchley
Wilson
Viljoen
Rampaul
Olivier
Davis
Palladino.
One assumes Palladino will miss out, but that depends on the expected wicket and he knows Derby tracks pretty well, besides lengthening the batting order.
As for the visitors, they are fresh off their first win last week, against Northamptonshire, but it is no bad time to be playing them. They have a few players missing, including Steven Finn and Nick Gubbins, as well as Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan.
Their squad:
Robson
Cartwright
Franklin
Harris
Helm
Holden
Murtagh
Rayner
Roland-Jones
Scott
Simpson
Stirling
White
I see Middlesex as the most likely winners of the division, so this is a chance for us to make a statement and benchmark ourselves against the best. They have a very strong seam attack, but will be looking at ours and thinking 'this might be a test'.
All very exciting and I look forward to seeing how the game unfolds over the next four days - or less, if the wicket is anything like those of last week around the country.
I hope the club gets the support it deserves and that 2018 is a year we can all be proud of.
Let's get going gentleman.
Maybe it's the year of the Falcon...
If Duanne delivers, as part of a four-pronged pace and seam attack that promises much, we will all be very happy. Because despite what the doom-mongers of the media may say, in suggesting we will be lucky to finish tenth in the division, I still disagree.
IF Messrs Viljoen, Olivier, Rampaul and Davis, with assistance from Tony Palladino or anyone else, hit their straps early, no one will fancy batting against us. Especially if we have backed it up with pitches that offer assistance. If the batting can graft their way to totals that offer them something to work with, who knows?
The initial twelve effectively picked itself, the only question, for me, being whether Gary Wilson or Daryn Smit got the gloves. The vice-captain got the gig, which is hard luck on arguably the best keeper on the county circuit, who scored an unbeaten hundred the other day. You could say, of course, that Harvey Hosein can also feel unlucky, but therein is a measure of the strength of this Derbyshire squad.
There have been times, in the not too distant past, where you looked at a named twelve and had concerns in certain areas. I don't here, save for there being no top spin option, but that's not an issue at this time of year and Matt Critchley and Wayne Madsen can fill that gap if required. A spinner might have been the reason for preferring Smit behind the timbers, as a better all round glove man.
Here's the squad:
Godleman
Slater
Reece
Madsen
Hughes
Critchley
Wilson
Viljoen
Rampaul
Olivier
Davis
Palladino.
One assumes Palladino will miss out, but that depends on the expected wicket and he knows Derby tracks pretty well, besides lengthening the batting order.
As for the visitors, they are fresh off their first win last week, against Northamptonshire, but it is no bad time to be playing them. They have a few players missing, including Steven Finn and Nick Gubbins, as well as Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan.
Their squad:
Robson
Cartwright
Franklin
Harris
Helm
Holden
Murtagh
Rayner
Roland-Jones
Scott
Simpson
Stirling
White
I see Middlesex as the most likely winners of the division, so this is a chance for us to make a statement and benchmark ourselves against the best. They have a very strong seam attack, but will be looking at ours and thinking 'this might be a test'.
All very exciting and I look forward to seeing how the game unfolds over the next four days - or less, if the wicket is anything like those of last week around the country.
I hope the club gets the support it deserves and that 2018 is a year we can all be proud of.
Let's get going gentleman.
Maybe it's the year of the Falcon...
Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Live stream announcement wonderful news
Two days before the season starts, Derbyshire announced today that all of their home county championship and RLODC matches will streamed live this summer, together with selected other games.
This is wonderful news and the club is to be congratulated for providing this service, in conjunction with Stream AMG and Purpose Media UK.
There will apparently be a fixed camera behind the bowler's arm at each end, with commentary provided by BBC Radio Derby as the season progresses, for those who want it.
It deserves to do well and I think will do. I know from the many emails that I receive that so many people follow the county from a distance, yet their love for the county cricket club is no less than those whose circumstances allow them to attend on a regular basis.
If I lived close enough to go more often it would not stop me doing so, but for those of us many miles, many counties and many countries away it will be a means of keeping close to the action.
All this in what promises to be a special summer.
Bring it on...
And thanks to all involved in this excellent development.
This is wonderful news and the club is to be congratulated for providing this service, in conjunction with Stream AMG and Purpose Media UK.
There will apparently be a fixed camera behind the bowler's arm at each end, with commentary provided by BBC Radio Derby as the season progresses, for those who want it.
It deserves to do well and I think will do. I know from the many emails that I receive that so many people follow the county from a distance, yet their love for the county cricket club is no less than those whose circumstances allow them to attend on a regular basis.
If I lived close enough to go more often it would not stop me doing so, but for those of us many miles, many counties and many countries away it will be a means of keeping close to the action.
All this in what promises to be a special summer.
Bring it on...
And thanks to all involved in this excellent development.
Hartley takes five as seconds beat Nottinghamshire
Derbyshire 419-4 declared and second innings forfeit
Nottinghamshire 69-1 declared and 287 (Hartley 5-62, Qadri 3-40)
Derbyshire won by 63 runs
A win is a win and our second team forced a last afternoon win after three declarations against Nottinghamshire at Lady Bay.
Charlie Hartley, on trial from Kent, took 5-62 and Hamidullah Qadri took 3-40 as our opponents never got close, although an astonishing 46 no balls by the Derbyshire bowlers gave the figures a little artificial massaging.
Nonetheless the win was wrapped up in mid-afternoon and there is something satisfying about one achieved by pace at one end and spin at the other.
I'd be surprised if we didn't have another look at Hartley, who seems a talented lad worthy of another opportunity at first class level.
Wickets also for James Taylor and Alfie Gleadall in the win which is an excellent start to the club's summer.
Now for Derby, on Friday!
Nottinghamshire 69-1 declared and 287 (Hartley 5-62, Qadri 3-40)
Derbyshire won by 63 runs
A win is a win and our second team forced a last afternoon win after three declarations against Nottinghamshire at Lady Bay.
Charlie Hartley, on trial from Kent, took 5-62 and Hamidullah Qadri took 3-40 as our opponents never got close, although an astonishing 46 no balls by the Derbyshire bowlers gave the figures a little artificial massaging.
Nonetheless the win was wrapped up in mid-afternoon and there is something satisfying about one achieved by pace at one end and spin at the other.
I'd be surprised if we didn't have another look at Hartley, who seems a talented lad worthy of another opportunity at first class level.
Wickets also for James Taylor and Alfie Gleadall in the win which is an excellent start to the club's summer.
Now for Derby, on Friday!
Tuesday, 17 April 2018
Slater and Smit make hay for the seconds
Derbyshire Seconds 419-4 (Slater 221 not, Smit 101 not Hosein 45)
v Nottinghamshire Seconds
It may have taken Derbyshire a few attempts to get out on to the pitch for a day's cricket, but when they finally got on today, against Nottinghamshire's second team, our lads did pretty well indeed.
After the early loss of skipper James Kettleborough brought Harvey Hosein to the crease. Ben Slater was very severe on Mark Footitt, whose first six overs went for 41 runs and the pair added 119 for the second wicket before Hosein fell for 45 to the accurate Milnes, who finished with 2-29.
Alex Hughes and Matt Critchley got starts but didn't go on, but the latter's departure brought in Daryn Smit, who shared an unbroken stand of 198 with Slater, reaching his century just before the close, with ten fours from 152 balls.
As for Slater, he has started the summer in golden form and ended the day on an unbeaten 221, with 5 sixes and 26 fours.
Of course, both will face more stringent tests as the summer goes on, but you can only play what is in front of you.
For me, Smit cemented a place in the starting eleven on Friday (not that it should have been in doubt) and took his second team average to a little under 400, while Slater confirmed what I said he needed to do in the winter.
He batted beautifully, and long. All day in fact and if he can translate undoubted talent into weight of runs this summer, Derbyshire will have another very good player on their hands. I was thrilled to see him reach his hundred, chuffed to see him go on to 150 and astonished when he sailed past 200.
Quite an effort, Mr Slater.
Finally, it was also nice to see the make up of the second team attack today.
Hamidullah Qadri, Sam Connors, Alfie Gleadall, James Taylor and Nils Priestly - all of them comfortably teenagers, together with trialist from Kent, Charlie Hartley.
That's what you need. Talented young players getting stretched and tested at an early age, not killing time awaiting an opportunity in the academy.
There will be days they get hammered, but they will learn from them, perhaps even more than the ones where the wickets fall for them.
Good portents, my friends.
v Nottinghamshire Seconds
It may have taken Derbyshire a few attempts to get out on to the pitch for a day's cricket, but when they finally got on today, against Nottinghamshire's second team, our lads did pretty well indeed.
After the early loss of skipper James Kettleborough brought Harvey Hosein to the crease. Ben Slater was very severe on Mark Footitt, whose first six overs went for 41 runs and the pair added 119 for the second wicket before Hosein fell for 45 to the accurate Milnes, who finished with 2-29.
Alex Hughes and Matt Critchley got starts but didn't go on, but the latter's departure brought in Daryn Smit, who shared an unbroken stand of 198 with Slater, reaching his century just before the close, with ten fours from 152 balls.
As for Slater, he has started the summer in golden form and ended the day on an unbeaten 221, with 5 sixes and 26 fours.
Of course, both will face more stringent tests as the summer goes on, but you can only play what is in front of you.
For me, Smit cemented a place in the starting eleven on Friday (not that it should have been in doubt) and took his second team average to a little under 400, while Slater confirmed what I said he needed to do in the winter.
He batted beautifully, and long. All day in fact and if he can translate undoubted talent into weight of runs this summer, Derbyshire will have another very good player on their hands. I was thrilled to see him reach his hundred, chuffed to see him go on to 150 and astonished when he sailed past 200.
Quite an effort, Mr Slater.
Finally, it was also nice to see the make up of the second team attack today.
Hamidullah Qadri, Sam Connors, Alfie Gleadall, James Taylor and Nils Priestly - all of them comfortably teenagers, together with trialist from Kent, Charlie Hartley.
That's what you need. Talented young players getting stretched and tested at an early age, not killing time awaiting an opportunity in the academy.
There will be days they get hammered, but they will learn from them, perhaps even more than the ones where the wickets fall for them.
Good portents, my friends.
Sunday, 15 April 2018
County game abandoned before start of day 2
That went well.
Derbyshire's pre-season matches have all fallen foul to the weather, which means that we will go into this weekend's season opener against Middlesex with little game time.
Only Ben Slater and Luis Reece have had any time in the middle, while the bowlers have yet to turn their arms over in earnest.
I am sure that this has been replicated around the country, accounting for why teams have been rolled over for next to nothing in the season's early skirmishes.
Middlesex already look like living up to my prediction as the team to beat and their seam attack is likely to complete a win over Northamptonshire today. A target of 303 is considerably higher than any innings thus far and should be too much, even for a good batting side.
I don't see the announced Derbyshire side for the coming weekend game as being much different to the one for this match, with Daryn Smit's return to it the only likely amendment.
More on that, later in the week.
Derbyshire's pre-season matches have all fallen foul to the weather, which means that we will go into this weekend's season opener against Middlesex with little game time.
Only Ben Slater and Luis Reece have had any time in the middle, while the bowlers have yet to turn their arms over in earnest.
I am sure that this has been replicated around the country, accounting for why teams have been rolled over for next to nothing in the season's early skirmishes.
Middlesex already look like living up to my prediction as the team to beat and their seam attack is likely to complete a win over Northamptonshire today. A target of 303 is considerably higher than any innings thus far and should be too much, even for a good batting side.
I don't see the announced Derbyshire side for the coming weekend game as being much different to the one for this match, with Daryn Smit's return to it the only likely amendment.
More on that, later in the week.
Thursday, 12 April 2018
Leeds/Bradford MCCU v Derbyshire preview
Back in the day, when my reflexes were good and my eyesight more acute, I opened the batting for Manchester Polytechnic, as it was then (now Metropolitan University).
We had a pretty good team, drawn from all over the country of course and we won three rounds of the national colleges and polytechnics cup, or whatever it was called. My opening partner, Nigel, was like our Virender Sehwag, while I played a more controlled, common sense role in the vein of Alan Hill. I scored less quickly and prolifically, but it worked and I had the nous to work him onto strike when the chance was there and keep the scoreboard moving.
Then came the day when we were drawn against Crewe and Alsager College, away from home. We left in good spirits, which were dampened a little when we realised our opponents had some good players, specifically four who played county second eleven cricket and a couple who played Minor Counties.
They put us into bat and Nigel's class shone through with a typically breezy fifty, peppered with cover drives and pulls. At the other end, I was finding it more of a challenge, managing to hang on in there but struggling to get better quality bowling away, though my rib cage and thigh pad served me well.
Nigel finally went for one big shot too many and from 60-0, our innings subsided to around 130 all out. I made twenty-odd and was, I think, eighth man out, the batting developing a somewhat binary look thereafter.
The point being, of course, that we all reach our limit in the game. I had reached mine, but was pleased I at least battled it out. Our opponents won by eight wickets and, on the way back in the minibus, Nigel told us he was chucking cricket. His rationale was that he had got to a standard he wanted, and was going to take up something else that interested him more.
I'd have loved Nigel's talent, but that lengthy preamble leads nicely on to the thoughts of the Leeds/Bradford batsmen as they head to be tonight. They haven't had any cricket yet, because of the weather, yet tomorrow walk out to face an attack that may well include three international bowlers.
They will all be much better players, of course, but some will find that a challenge, even against bowlers who at this stage are looking for rhythm, rather than outright pace. Others? Well, they may have one or two Nigels, as one might expect from a source that was represented by Luis Reece and Ben Slater
A strong Derbyshire side has been announced, largely because it is a much smaller squad and only so many can be omitted.
It reads:
Billy Godleman
Ben Slater
Luis Reece
Wayne Madsen
Alex Hughes
Matt Critchley
Gary Wilson
Tony Palladino
James Taylor
Ravi Rampaul
Will Davis
Hamidullah Qadri
Hardus Viljoen
Duanne Olivier
There's a good look to that squad, whichever eleven take the field, a nice look of youth and experience - and doubtless a degree of trepidation and excitement for those about to face what should be a testing attack.
I wish them well, but hope that Derbyshire start as they mean to go on, playing purposeful and aggressive cricket from start to finish.
Then next week, the real stuff starts, just as the weather improves (allegedly) and I make my first summer trip to Derbados.
Bring it on.
We had a pretty good team, drawn from all over the country of course and we won three rounds of the national colleges and polytechnics cup, or whatever it was called. My opening partner, Nigel, was like our Virender Sehwag, while I played a more controlled, common sense role in the vein of Alan Hill. I scored less quickly and prolifically, but it worked and I had the nous to work him onto strike when the chance was there and keep the scoreboard moving.
Then came the day when we were drawn against Crewe and Alsager College, away from home. We left in good spirits, which were dampened a little when we realised our opponents had some good players, specifically four who played county second eleven cricket and a couple who played Minor Counties.
They put us into bat and Nigel's class shone through with a typically breezy fifty, peppered with cover drives and pulls. At the other end, I was finding it more of a challenge, managing to hang on in there but struggling to get better quality bowling away, though my rib cage and thigh pad served me well.
Nigel finally went for one big shot too many and from 60-0, our innings subsided to around 130 all out. I made twenty-odd and was, I think, eighth man out, the batting developing a somewhat binary look thereafter.
The point being, of course, that we all reach our limit in the game. I had reached mine, but was pleased I at least battled it out. Our opponents won by eight wickets and, on the way back in the minibus, Nigel told us he was chucking cricket. His rationale was that he had got to a standard he wanted, and was going to take up something else that interested him more.
I'd have loved Nigel's talent, but that lengthy preamble leads nicely on to the thoughts of the Leeds/Bradford batsmen as they head to be tonight. They haven't had any cricket yet, because of the weather, yet tomorrow walk out to face an attack that may well include three international bowlers.
They will all be much better players, of course, but some will find that a challenge, even against bowlers who at this stage are looking for rhythm, rather than outright pace. Others? Well, they may have one or two Nigels, as one might expect from a source that was represented by Luis Reece and Ben Slater
A strong Derbyshire side has been announced, largely because it is a much smaller squad and only so many can be omitted.
It reads:
Billy Godleman
Ben Slater
Luis Reece
Wayne Madsen
Alex Hughes
Matt Critchley
Gary Wilson
Tony Palladino
James Taylor
Ravi Rampaul
Will Davis
Hamidullah Qadri
Hardus Viljoen
Duanne Olivier
There's a good look to that squad, whichever eleven take the field, a nice look of youth and experience - and doubtless a degree of trepidation and excitement for those about to face what should be a testing attack.
I wish them well, but hope that Derbyshire start as they mean to go on, playing purposeful and aggressive cricket from start to finish.
Then next week, the real stuff starts, just as the weather improves (allegedly) and I make my first summer trip to Derbados.
Bring it on.
Fantasy cricket ready to roll
There are 21 teams so far in this year's Peakfan Blog Fantasy Cricket Trophy.
With the first round of games starting this weekend, there's still time to join and add a little extra to this year's cricket season.
To do so, follow this link and follow the instructions
https://fantasycricket.telegraph.co.uk/county/league/view/8031395
Enjoy!
With the first round of games starting this weekend, there's still time to join and add a little extra to this year's cricket season.
To do so, follow this link and follow the instructions
https://fantasycricket.telegraph.co.uk/county/league/view/8031395
Enjoy!
Press day arrives as odd stuff hits the media
Press day at the 3aaa County Ground. Here's hoping that the sun shines so they can get their photographs outdoors and among them we can all get to see the eagerly awaited pic of Messrs Viljoen and Olivier, the Saffer Assassins as we may now call them. There will be friendly rivalry between the two men to do best, which can only be to the club's benefit. Assuming fitness, that should be well worth a watch.
Yet there has been a unanimity among most of the cricket press that we are going to be propping up the rest in four-day cricket this year. I don't buy that and hope that these forecasts are pinned on the dressing room wall as incentive to prove people wrong.
There's also been some odd selections among the 'player to watch' pieces, which suggest either lazy or uninformed journalism at its worst. James Kettleborough has been pronounced ours by some, which is pretty odd considering they will need to watch him at Belper and Leek, unless something goes badly wrong.
Yesterday it was Hamidullah Qadri's turn, doubtless on the back of his fine performance against Glamorgan last year. Yet how many games would you expect the now 17 year old to play this season? He will get opportunities and will doubtless be a fine player for us over the years ahead (much in a Matt Critchley-type role, I reckon) but first team appearances this summer? Rare, I suspect, unless we are headed for a game on a 'beach' or playing a touring side. Early season will be seam, later summer, unless we can't get a decent spinner, he should be bowling a lot of overs in the seconds and learning his craft.
I even saw, presumably from someone who wanted to show he had read the squad list, that we hoped for fine performances from Alfie Gleadall and James Taylor. I'm sure we do, but if they are first team regulars this summer, something has gone badly wrong and premature elevation may be diagnosed...
Why is no one picking up on Matt Critchley, after a successful winter down under and then in the North/South matches? Or Alex Hughes, after a fine 2017? Or even Luis Reece, who rather proved a point to Lancashire with an excellent summer last year in all formats?
Odd, very odd.
Today's 'setting ourselves up for a fall' award goes to Kent, whose Twitter feed yesterday included a quiz, entitled 'Who are our biggest rivals for promotion'?
I don't look at their side and see one to run away with division two and after the wickets dry out and Darren Stevens has reached thirty wickets by the end of May, I struggle to see where they will get them. Maybe Matt Henry will enjoy the four-day game more than the T20 for us last year, but I don't see their bowling strong enough for much more than mid-table
Likewise, suggestions that Sussex have a 'stellar attack' are being based on T20, when they will have Rashid Khan, Jofra Archer, Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan. Yet only two of them will otherwise feature and then not until the end of the IPL.
It is, I think indicative of too many local and national newspaper reports being taken from agencies, from which the standard of knowledge and reporting is questionable. Sadly, the days of the cricket specialist, apart from in a few areas, are long gone and the generalists base their writing on other reports, which themselves aren't often correct.
Given that most of the specialists, with honourable exceptions such as George Dobell and Lizzy Ammon, focus their attention on the international game and the south, it's no wonder that we have to suffer a bit too much nonsense for many tastes.
Anyway, good luck to all at Derby today.
Here's hoping it is all topped off with a media announcement on an overseas player.
Or two..
Yet there has been a unanimity among most of the cricket press that we are going to be propping up the rest in four-day cricket this year. I don't buy that and hope that these forecasts are pinned on the dressing room wall as incentive to prove people wrong.
There's also been some odd selections among the 'player to watch' pieces, which suggest either lazy or uninformed journalism at its worst. James Kettleborough has been pronounced ours by some, which is pretty odd considering they will need to watch him at Belper and Leek, unless something goes badly wrong.
Yesterday it was Hamidullah Qadri's turn, doubtless on the back of his fine performance against Glamorgan last year. Yet how many games would you expect the now 17 year old to play this season? He will get opportunities and will doubtless be a fine player for us over the years ahead (much in a Matt Critchley-type role, I reckon) but first team appearances this summer? Rare, I suspect, unless we are headed for a game on a 'beach' or playing a touring side. Early season will be seam, later summer, unless we can't get a decent spinner, he should be bowling a lot of overs in the seconds and learning his craft.
I even saw, presumably from someone who wanted to show he had read the squad list, that we hoped for fine performances from Alfie Gleadall and James Taylor. I'm sure we do, but if they are first team regulars this summer, something has gone badly wrong and premature elevation may be diagnosed...
Why is no one picking up on Matt Critchley, after a successful winter down under and then in the North/South matches? Or Alex Hughes, after a fine 2017? Or even Luis Reece, who rather proved a point to Lancashire with an excellent summer last year in all formats?
Odd, very odd.
Today's 'setting ourselves up for a fall' award goes to Kent, whose Twitter feed yesterday included a quiz, entitled 'Who are our biggest rivals for promotion'?
I don't look at their side and see one to run away with division two and after the wickets dry out and Darren Stevens has reached thirty wickets by the end of May, I struggle to see where they will get them. Maybe Matt Henry will enjoy the four-day game more than the T20 for us last year, but I don't see their bowling strong enough for much more than mid-table
Likewise, suggestions that Sussex have a 'stellar attack' are being based on T20, when they will have Rashid Khan, Jofra Archer, Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan. Yet only two of them will otherwise feature and then not until the end of the IPL.
It is, I think indicative of too many local and national newspaper reports being taken from agencies, from which the standard of knowledge and reporting is questionable. Sadly, the days of the cricket specialist, apart from in a few areas, are long gone and the generalists base their writing on other reports, which themselves aren't often correct.
Given that most of the specialists, with honourable exceptions such as George Dobell and Lizzy Ammon, focus their attention on the international game and the south, it's no wonder that we have to suffer a bit too much nonsense for many tastes.
Anyway, good luck to all at Derby today.
Here's hoping it is all topped off with a media announcement on an overseas player.
Or two..
Tuesday, 10 April 2018
Derbyshire to play touring Aboriginal side this summer
I was delighted to read this morning that Derbyshire will be playing a touring Aboriginal side, led by Nottinghamshire's overseas star Dan Christian, on June 10.
The game, played at the 3aaa County Ground, commemorates the first touring Aboriginal side to this country, back in 1868, 150 years ago for those who don't want to work it out.
The side will also play Surrey, Sussex, Nottinghamshire and the MCC in one-day matches on the two-week tour, which runs alongside that of a women's side.
The touring squad also includes Australian seam bowler Scott Boland and the currently hot D'Arcy Short, whose BBL was so spectacular that it earned him a gig in the ongoing IPL.
I would think it a game well worthy of interest and attendance, so get the date in your diary now!
The game, played at the 3aaa County Ground, commemorates the first touring Aboriginal side to this country, back in 1868, 150 years ago for those who don't want to work it out.
The side will also play Surrey, Sussex, Nottinghamshire and the MCC in one-day matches on the two-week tour, which runs alongside that of a women's side.
The touring squad also includes Australian seam bowler Scott Boland and the currently hot D'Arcy Short, whose BBL was so spectacular that it earned him a gig in the ongoing IPL.
I would think it a game well worthy of interest and attendance, so get the date in your diary now!
Optimism? My thoughts on our rivals in division 2
There's always a few comments at the start of the season regarding my optimism on Derbyshire's fortunes.
Part of that is a reflection on my attitude to life, which is very much of the 'glass half full' variety. There are those who will see the slings and arrows of misfortune at every turn. I acknowledge they are there, but prefer to focus on what I have, not what I don't.
It's the same with my cricket team. Of course there are some good sides out there, but we have proven we can beat any of them over recent summers. Now, we need to string it together over a season.
We have two young opening batsmen of quality, two experienced ones of proven ability and two young men in the middle order who offer all round contributions and steady improvement. We have a wicket-keeper of world class, two South African seam bowlers of international standard, a West Indian who has been selected for elevens around the globe and one of the most exciting young fast bowlers in the country.
Why can't you be optimistic?
Now, let's look at our rivals in division two of the County Championship.
Durham - they've lost Onions, Coughlin and Jennings, while Burnham is banned for the season. They appear to have recruited well, with Tom Latham and Aiden Markram sharing overseas duties at the start of the summer, but need others to step up to the mark and Paul Collingwood can't go on for ever.
Glamorgan - Rudolph and Bragg have gone, with Shaun Marsh in as overseas. Colin Ingram is a fine player, but they are very much a side in transition, with young players needing to prove themselves and an attack based around seamers of experience. Need Marchant de Lange and Tim Van Der Gugten to spearhead their bowling.
Gloucestershire - the excellent Michael Klinger has gone and Dan Worrall and Andrew Tye share overseas duties. Phil Mustard has also gone and David Payne misses the start of the summer through ankle surgery. They have some good players but can they take twenty wickets?
Kent - Ball, Coles and Northeast have gone, with South African Heino Kuhn and Matt Henry coming the other way. Darren Stevens will again take early season wickets, but surely cannot keep going as he approaches his mid-sixties...another team where you struggle to see them bowl sides out, though runs should not be a problem
Leicestershire - their biggest card is Paul Nixon as coach. Michael Carberry has a big task as skipper of an experienced batting line-up, with many eyes on Tom Taylor and Callum Parkinson, formerly of Derbyshire, of course. Mohammad Abbas and Varun Aaron in turn need to spearhead the attack in which Ben Raine is likely to play a big part. Mark Cosgrove will again score a thousand runs, because that's what he does.
Middlesex - must surely start as favourites. They have the relatively unknown Hilton Cartwright as overseas, but will miss Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan, as well as the injured Nick Gubbins at the start of the summer. If Roland-Jones gets picked for England and Tim Murtagh and Paul Stirling for Ireland, others need to step forward. Plenty of good players should see them one of the top two though and anything less should be deemed a failure.
Northamptonshire - They have recruited well, with Brett Hutton and Luke Procter shrewd signings. Always a side to be reckoned with, although working from a small squad and need no injuries. In new South African wicket-keeper Ricardo Vasconcelos perhaps have the most exotically-named player in the county game. Top four, for me, especially if Ben Duckett recovers from winter travails to lead a strong batting line-up. They have one of the best seam attacks in the division.
Sussex - another of my challengers, but have lost Chris Nash and Steve Magoffin and have Chris Jordan and Jofra Archer in the IPL for the start of the summer. With no signings yet announced, other than for T20, another side who need to start well under an early handicap.
Warwickshire - only Will Rhodes has come in, from Yorkshire, but a lot of older players in the squad. If Olly Stone fires they can do well, and Keith Barker is a good cricketer, but they need some of their younger players, including the highly-rated Sam Hain, to step up for them. Jeetan Patel will again be one of the county game's best spinners and most valuable overseas players.
As for Derbyshire, you already know my thoughts. If our bowlers stay fit, they can take 20 wickets and there's been a few years since we could say that. The batsmen need to get the runs on the board better than last year and we need a couple around the thousand-run mark.
Yet for me, mid-table at least. Our attack matches any in the division on paper and the second half of summer signing for the overseas role will dictate our final position.
They need to make that work where it matters now.
Part of that is a reflection on my attitude to life, which is very much of the 'glass half full' variety. There are those who will see the slings and arrows of misfortune at every turn. I acknowledge they are there, but prefer to focus on what I have, not what I don't.
It's the same with my cricket team. Of course there are some good sides out there, but we have proven we can beat any of them over recent summers. Now, we need to string it together over a season.
We have two young opening batsmen of quality, two experienced ones of proven ability and two young men in the middle order who offer all round contributions and steady improvement. We have a wicket-keeper of world class, two South African seam bowlers of international standard, a West Indian who has been selected for elevens around the globe and one of the most exciting young fast bowlers in the country.
Why can't you be optimistic?
Now, let's look at our rivals in division two of the County Championship.
Durham - they've lost Onions, Coughlin and Jennings, while Burnham is banned for the season. They appear to have recruited well, with Tom Latham and Aiden Markram sharing overseas duties at the start of the summer, but need others to step up to the mark and Paul Collingwood can't go on for ever.
Glamorgan - Rudolph and Bragg have gone, with Shaun Marsh in as overseas. Colin Ingram is a fine player, but they are very much a side in transition, with young players needing to prove themselves and an attack based around seamers of experience. Need Marchant de Lange and Tim Van Der Gugten to spearhead their bowling.
Gloucestershire - the excellent Michael Klinger has gone and Dan Worrall and Andrew Tye share overseas duties. Phil Mustard has also gone and David Payne misses the start of the summer through ankle surgery. They have some good players but can they take twenty wickets?
Kent - Ball, Coles and Northeast have gone, with South African Heino Kuhn and Matt Henry coming the other way. Darren Stevens will again take early season wickets, but surely cannot keep going as he approaches his mid-sixties...another team where you struggle to see them bowl sides out, though runs should not be a problem
Leicestershire - their biggest card is Paul Nixon as coach. Michael Carberry has a big task as skipper of an experienced batting line-up, with many eyes on Tom Taylor and Callum Parkinson, formerly of Derbyshire, of course. Mohammad Abbas and Varun Aaron in turn need to spearhead the attack in which Ben Raine is likely to play a big part. Mark Cosgrove will again score a thousand runs, because that's what he does.
Middlesex - must surely start as favourites. They have the relatively unknown Hilton Cartwright as overseas, but will miss Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan, as well as the injured Nick Gubbins at the start of the summer. If Roland-Jones gets picked for England and Tim Murtagh and Paul Stirling for Ireland, others need to step forward. Plenty of good players should see them one of the top two though and anything less should be deemed a failure.
Northamptonshire - They have recruited well, with Brett Hutton and Luke Procter shrewd signings. Always a side to be reckoned with, although working from a small squad and need no injuries. In new South African wicket-keeper Ricardo Vasconcelos perhaps have the most exotically-named player in the county game. Top four, for me, especially if Ben Duckett recovers from winter travails to lead a strong batting line-up. They have one of the best seam attacks in the division.
Sussex - another of my challengers, but have lost Chris Nash and Steve Magoffin and have Chris Jordan and Jofra Archer in the IPL for the start of the summer. With no signings yet announced, other than for T20, another side who need to start well under an early handicap.
Warwickshire - only Will Rhodes has come in, from Yorkshire, but a lot of older players in the squad. If Olly Stone fires they can do well, and Keith Barker is a good cricketer, but they need some of their younger players, including the highly-rated Sam Hain, to step up for them. Jeetan Patel will again be one of the county game's best spinners and most valuable overseas players.
As for Derbyshire, you already know my thoughts. If our bowlers stay fit, they can take 20 wickets and there's been a few years since we could say that. The batsmen need to get the runs on the board better than last year and we need a couple around the thousand-run mark.
Yet for me, mid-table at least. Our attack matches any in the division on paper and the second half of summer signing for the overseas role will dictate our final position.
They need to make that work where it matters now.
Monday, 9 April 2018
Slater and Reece make hay before rain
While accepting that it was a pre-season match against a non-first team attack in its entirety, you have to hand it to Ben Slater (89*) and Luis Reece (43*) in steering Derbyshire to 147-0 by the early close of a truncated first day against Warwickshire.
Time in the middle and runs on the board. You can't knock either, even if one side of the wicket, on the very edge of the square, made Heanor look like the old Oval, when the running of fives was commonplace.
Rather like the other side of the wicket. in fact. I've played in teams where that side would have needed a three-man relay to get it to the 'keeper. Mind you, I'd have fancied whistling it over the top of stumps like Keith Boyce used to do from the other side. Then again, so would Mrs P...
Useful stuff then. As, presumably as an incentive was reading several pre-season forecasts that suggest we will be bottom of the championship table.
I don't see that and there's potential in this team IF we get off to a flyer and have a full squad to choose from.
More tomorrow.
Time in the middle and runs on the board. You can't knock either, even if one side of the wicket, on the very edge of the square, made Heanor look like the old Oval, when the running of fives was commonplace.
Rather like the other side of the wicket. in fact. I've played in teams where that side would have needed a three-man relay to get it to the 'keeper. Mind you, I'd have fancied whistling it over the top of stumps like Keith Boyce used to do from the other side. Then again, so would Mrs P...
Useful stuff then. As, presumably as an incentive was reading several pre-season forecasts that suggest we will be bottom of the championship table.
I don't see that and there's potential in this team IF we get off to a flyer and have a full squad to choose from.
More tomorrow.
Sunday, 8 April 2018
Former Kent man on trial in county squad for pre-season friendly
Derbyshire look to be in rude shape ahead of their pre-season opener against Warwickshire tomorrow, a three-day game.
It is billed as a second team friendly, but this must be the strongest second team we have ever fielded, at least since Peter Kirsten, Garth Le Roux and Allan Lamb all appeared in the same side back in the mid-1970's.
South Africans Duanne Olivier and Hardus Viljoen have yet to arrive, but with Harvey Hosein nursing a minor injury and Gary Wilson away with Ireland, we name the following thirteen:
Billy Godleman
Luis Reece
Ben Slater
Wayne Madsen
Alex Hughes
Matt Critchley
Daryn Smit
Callum Brodrick
Tony Palladino
Ravi Rampaul
Will Davis
James Taylor
Hamidullah Qadri
Charlie Hartley (trialist)
The presence of former Kent bowler Charlie Hartley is interesting. He looked like he was set for a decent career there, then picked up an injury or two, but he has the chance here - and presumably in the second team this summer - to earn himself another opportunity in the first-class game. One assumes that he is seen as further on in his development than those of a similar age we released. In the sort of game where presumably each team bats and bowls the players they want, the fast-medium bowler has a chance to impress.
There is a nice mixture of youth and experience in the Derbyshire squad and it will be an early indicator to see where we are as the season approaches fast..
It is billed as a second team friendly, but this must be the strongest second team we have ever fielded, at least since Peter Kirsten, Garth Le Roux and Allan Lamb all appeared in the same side back in the mid-1970's.
South Africans Duanne Olivier and Hardus Viljoen have yet to arrive, but with Harvey Hosein nursing a minor injury and Gary Wilson away with Ireland, we name the following thirteen:
Billy Godleman
Luis Reece
Ben Slater
Wayne Madsen
Alex Hughes
Matt Critchley
Daryn Smit
Callum Brodrick
Tony Palladino
Ravi Rampaul
Will Davis
James Taylor
Hamidullah Qadri
Charlie Hartley (trialist)
The presence of former Kent bowler Charlie Hartley is interesting. He looked like he was set for a decent career there, then picked up an injury or two, but he has the chance here - and presumably in the second team this summer - to earn himself another opportunity in the first-class game. One assumes that he is seen as further on in his development than those of a similar age we released. In the sort of game where presumably each team bats and bowls the players they want, the fast-medium bowler has a chance to impress.
There is a nice mixture of youth and experience in the Derbyshire squad and it will be an early indicator to see where we are as the season approaches fast..
Friday, 6 April 2018
Interesting snippet from supremo Barnett
'I'm in the process of getting those other players on board and both of them will be bowlers'.
Thus spake Kim Barnett, as quoted by The Cricket Paper yesterday and I am heartened by that news. While we would all quite like a top order biffer to put us out of sight in matches, the reality is more that last year we lacked five bowlers who could nullify the batting threat of our opponents. When you average, as we did, 170-180 with the bat, you should win more games than you lose and we lacked the overall bowling to make that count.
Imran Tahir did quite well, without perhaps being the force that we hoped for on more than a couple of occasions. We could bring him back, but for me the signs in recent months are of a star on the wane - he's forty this year, after all.
Hardus Viljoen was limping along for a good part of the tournament on his return after a lengthy absence and Matt Henry was, quite frankly, a huge disappointment.
Away from his giant six in one game and a fine catch against Hampshire in the quarter finals, going in excess of eleven an over is not why you bring in overseas players. I said then, and will again, that I would have preferred Jimmy Neesham to Henry, a better batsman and fielder and no worse as a bowler. He was the best of the three Kiwis we had a summer or two back and last year averaged 29 with the bat and was second top wicket-taker for Kent.
This year? Well, we have Ravi Rampaul, a bowler of massive T20 experience around the globe and an accomplished death bowler, as well as a hopefully fit Viljoen. With presumably Wayne Madsen and Matt Critchley to offer spin options as required, and Alex Hughes available, we have handy 'bits 'n' pieces' bowlers, but two additional front line bowlers would be a massive asset to Gary Wilson as skipper, and to our prospects overall.
One would assume that one of them would be a spinner, who might then be retained to play in the second half of the four-day cricket season. I would love a move for either Tabraiz Shamsi or Keshav Maharaj, but they will likely both be involved in South Africa's tour to Sri Lanka in July. Given they may come up against Jeevan Mendis in that competition, the challenge for recruitment is obvious.
The other, though would need to be able to handle a bat, otherwise the tail would start with Viljoen at eight and a seamer is more likely, I would think. Between Barnett and John Wright there should be enough contacts for someone suitable, capable of four good overs and useful tail end boundary reaching and clearing.
It shouldn't be long before we hear now.
I'm excited and curious.
Let's face it, those two names could make or break our season.
Thus spake Kim Barnett, as quoted by The Cricket Paper yesterday and I am heartened by that news. While we would all quite like a top order biffer to put us out of sight in matches, the reality is more that last year we lacked five bowlers who could nullify the batting threat of our opponents. When you average, as we did, 170-180 with the bat, you should win more games than you lose and we lacked the overall bowling to make that count.
Imran Tahir did quite well, without perhaps being the force that we hoped for on more than a couple of occasions. We could bring him back, but for me the signs in recent months are of a star on the wane - he's forty this year, after all.
Hardus Viljoen was limping along for a good part of the tournament on his return after a lengthy absence and Matt Henry was, quite frankly, a huge disappointment.
Away from his giant six in one game and a fine catch against Hampshire in the quarter finals, going in excess of eleven an over is not why you bring in overseas players. I said then, and will again, that I would have preferred Jimmy Neesham to Henry, a better batsman and fielder and no worse as a bowler. He was the best of the three Kiwis we had a summer or two back and last year averaged 29 with the bat and was second top wicket-taker for Kent.
This year? Well, we have Ravi Rampaul, a bowler of massive T20 experience around the globe and an accomplished death bowler, as well as a hopefully fit Viljoen. With presumably Wayne Madsen and Matt Critchley to offer spin options as required, and Alex Hughes available, we have handy 'bits 'n' pieces' bowlers, but two additional front line bowlers would be a massive asset to Gary Wilson as skipper, and to our prospects overall.
One would assume that one of them would be a spinner, who might then be retained to play in the second half of the four-day cricket season. I would love a move for either Tabraiz Shamsi or Keshav Maharaj, but they will likely both be involved in South Africa's tour to Sri Lanka in July. Given they may come up against Jeevan Mendis in that competition, the challenge for recruitment is obvious.
The other, though would need to be able to handle a bat, otherwise the tail would start with Viljoen at eight and a seamer is more likely, I would think. Between Barnett and John Wright there should be enough contacts for someone suitable, capable of four good overs and useful tail end boundary reaching and clearing.
It shouldn't be long before we hear now.
I'm excited and curious.
Let's face it, those two names could make or break our season.
Thursday, 5 April 2018
The Season Preview
Can Derbyshire build on last season's promise and make 2018 a memorable one for supporters?
Yes, they can.
Will they do so?
Now that's a subject for discussion.
On the face of it, we go into the summer with what appears to be our strongest-looking squad in years. Whether or not you agree with the winter cull on the playing staff, you would have to say that it has left us with a lean playing staff in which every player could pull his weight, if called upon to do so.
While there have been suggestions that we were an experienced batsman light, I disagree (except for the T20) and think there is considerable potential for runs. The experienced and reliable Billy Godleman and Wayne Madsen will, as always, anchor a batting line-up in which I expect to see Alex Hughes, Luis Reece and Matt Critchley build on impressive summers last year.
Indeed, they may thrive, with the attention firmly fixed on big-name signings and all are young players capable of going further in the game. Ben Slater has a big summer ahead of him and will need to show that he can turn classy starts into innings of substance, while Gary Wilson, the vice-captain, has a fight to get into the four-day side and faces a similar challenge. If one of these steps up and makes a top six place his own, we will do just dandy, thank you.
I expect the wicket-keeping role to go initially to Daryn Smit, for no other reason than he is a superb wicket-keeper, up with the best in my fifty-years and counting viewing experience. The robust challenge from the talented Harvey Hosein will do him good and the latter will doubtless have opportunities before September. Yet I expect Smit to be a key member of the side and nurse a lengthy-looking tail to important runs, as well as being a sage counsel to the respective skippers.
The bowling? As has historically been the case for Derbyshire, it should be our strength. We have signed the highly experienced Ravi Rampaul to work alongside the towering and fast Hardus Viljoen. Their experience should aid the development of the very talented but thus far equally fragile Will Davis, while the evergreen Tony Palladino will let no one down when opportunity knocks.
The signing of South African Duanne Olivier could turn out to be an inspired one, as a good first half of summer will enhance his international chances back home. No one will fancy batting against that attack on early season wickets and we should not struggle to bowl sides out. To be honest, it is probably going back to Barnett's own playing career since we fielded such a fine line up, at least on paper. Now, they all have to cut the mustard on the pitch.
Perhaps the key member of staff this year is Fran Clarkson. Her ability, with the strength and conditioning team, to keep the squad fit will be a major factor in our quest for success. If we can field some combination of that attack regularly at the start of the summer then we will win a good few matches. If we can't, and we are bringing academy lads in before they are ready, we won't.
Last year we didn't see Viljoen before the T20 and hardly saw Davis after it. Rampaul is a bowler who benefits from playing regularly, while Olivier has a good fitness record. We can only hope that all get through the summer relatively unscathed, the side can reap the benefits and supporters can enjoy a golden summer of entertainment.
The acquisition of Mitchell Santner for the T20 and second half of the summer was a fine bit of business. Sadly, a knee injury knocked that one squarely on the head and his adequate replacement is yet to be announced. Given that we do not yet know that, nor the overseas players for the T20, it is hard to give a considered opinion on prospects. A quality spinner in the second half of summer could make the difference that I expect from Olivier, but there aren't many available in the world game.
For what it is worth, IF we get luck with the weather, IF we hold our catches, IF we get the other overseas roles filled well and IF we keep people fit, I think we can have a good season. I fancy us to fare well in the RLODC, to be top four in four-day cricket and to battle for the knock-out stage in the T20.
If we don't, with the squad that Kim Barnett has assembled over the winter and the processes put in place, I suspect we won't for some time.
It is a squad of very good cricketers. To use that word again, if they maintain focus and play to potential, they are eminently capable of getting results, so let's all get behind them.
Time to deliver, gentlemen.
And hope those 'ifs' turn out the right way.
Yes, they can.
Will they do so?
Now that's a subject for discussion.
On the face of it, we go into the summer with what appears to be our strongest-looking squad in years. Whether or not you agree with the winter cull on the playing staff, you would have to say that it has left us with a lean playing staff in which every player could pull his weight, if called upon to do so.
While there have been suggestions that we were an experienced batsman light, I disagree (except for the T20) and think there is considerable potential for runs. The experienced and reliable Billy Godleman and Wayne Madsen will, as always, anchor a batting line-up in which I expect to see Alex Hughes, Luis Reece and Matt Critchley build on impressive summers last year.
Indeed, they may thrive, with the attention firmly fixed on big-name signings and all are young players capable of going further in the game. Ben Slater has a big summer ahead of him and will need to show that he can turn classy starts into innings of substance, while Gary Wilson, the vice-captain, has a fight to get into the four-day side and faces a similar challenge. If one of these steps up and makes a top six place his own, we will do just dandy, thank you.
I expect the wicket-keeping role to go initially to Daryn Smit, for no other reason than he is a superb wicket-keeper, up with the best in my fifty-years and counting viewing experience. The robust challenge from the talented Harvey Hosein will do him good and the latter will doubtless have opportunities before September. Yet I expect Smit to be a key member of the side and nurse a lengthy-looking tail to important runs, as well as being a sage counsel to the respective skippers.
The bowling? As has historically been the case for Derbyshire, it should be our strength. We have signed the highly experienced Ravi Rampaul to work alongside the towering and fast Hardus Viljoen. Their experience should aid the development of the very talented but thus far equally fragile Will Davis, while the evergreen Tony Palladino will let no one down when opportunity knocks.
The signing of South African Duanne Olivier could turn out to be an inspired one, as a good first half of summer will enhance his international chances back home. No one will fancy batting against that attack on early season wickets and we should not struggle to bowl sides out. To be honest, it is probably going back to Barnett's own playing career since we fielded such a fine line up, at least on paper. Now, they all have to cut the mustard on the pitch.
Perhaps the key member of staff this year is Fran Clarkson. Her ability, with the strength and conditioning team, to keep the squad fit will be a major factor in our quest for success. If we can field some combination of that attack regularly at the start of the summer then we will win a good few matches. If we can't, and we are bringing academy lads in before they are ready, we won't.
Last year we didn't see Viljoen before the T20 and hardly saw Davis after it. Rampaul is a bowler who benefits from playing regularly, while Olivier has a good fitness record. We can only hope that all get through the summer relatively unscathed, the side can reap the benefits and supporters can enjoy a golden summer of entertainment.
The acquisition of Mitchell Santner for the T20 and second half of the summer was a fine bit of business. Sadly, a knee injury knocked that one squarely on the head and his adequate replacement is yet to be announced. Given that we do not yet know that, nor the overseas players for the T20, it is hard to give a considered opinion on prospects. A quality spinner in the second half of summer could make the difference that I expect from Olivier, but there aren't many available in the world game.
For what it is worth, IF we get luck with the weather, IF we hold our catches, IF we get the other overseas roles filled well and IF we keep people fit, I think we can have a good season. I fancy us to fare well in the RLODC, to be top four in four-day cricket and to battle for the knock-out stage in the T20.
If we don't, with the squad that Kim Barnett has assembled over the winter and the processes put in place, I suspect we won't for some time.
It is a squad of very good cricketers. To use that word again, if they maintain focus and play to potential, they are eminently capable of getting results, so let's all get behind them.
Time to deliver, gentlemen.
And hope those 'ifs' turn out the right way.
News round up
Interesting news from the Mansfield Chad newspaper yesterday, with an interview with Alex Hughes saying that he had stayed home this winter to work on his bowling.
Alex had an excellent summer last year with the bat, but his bowling became that of a bit part operator, largely seen only in T20 cricket. I think he is capable of more than that and has the ability to become a Darren Stevens-style bowler, albeit bowling at around twice the pace...
What chances he has to bowl this year will depend on the fitness of the main seam contingent, but if only to give a little variation in pace, a few overs in certain conditions will be worthwhile. Just as long as it doesn't detrimentally affect his batting, it works for me.
Meanwhile, over at The Cricketer, their 'player to watch' at Derbyshire is James Kettleborough. Now that strikes me as pretty odd, given that he has been signed as second team skipper. I don't doubt that he has the talent to score heavily and his experience will enable him to offer runs in that side for an otherwise likely young eleven.
Yet I don't see him as an automatic first team selection this summer. Notwithstanding an excellent 2017, in which he scored runs in our second team as well as heavily for Bedfordshire, I think Derbyshire will use this year as one in which to watch him closely. If he makes a good fist of the second team, leads astutely and scores heavily, there could be a role for him in 2019. At 25 he still has time on his side and it makes sense from that perspective. Injuries or loss of form could also see him elevated, of course, but in the ordinary run of things, he is down a lengthy pecking order.
To suggest him as the player to watch means either that the correspondent knows something we don't, or that they have disregarded the claims of Matt Critchley, Will Davis or Hamidullah Qadri, as well as Luis Reece and Alex Hughes.
Very odd indeed.
Finally today, the club's planned weekend fixtures have both been cancelled, which tells its own story about starting the cricket season in early April.
It snowed almost all day here yesterday, on a day more worthy of November than early Spring. On the evening walk with Wallace, most of the front gardens we passed were under water.
So spare a thought for Neil Godrich and his team, who have a tough job getting the ground ready in the next two weeks for the opening game against Middlesex.
For what it's worth, I reckon we will be batting on day one.
Alex had an excellent summer last year with the bat, but his bowling became that of a bit part operator, largely seen only in T20 cricket. I think he is capable of more than that and has the ability to become a Darren Stevens-style bowler, albeit bowling at around twice the pace...
What chances he has to bowl this year will depend on the fitness of the main seam contingent, but if only to give a little variation in pace, a few overs in certain conditions will be worthwhile. Just as long as it doesn't detrimentally affect his batting, it works for me.
Meanwhile, over at The Cricketer, their 'player to watch' at Derbyshire is James Kettleborough. Now that strikes me as pretty odd, given that he has been signed as second team skipper. I don't doubt that he has the talent to score heavily and his experience will enable him to offer runs in that side for an otherwise likely young eleven.
Yet I don't see him as an automatic first team selection this summer. Notwithstanding an excellent 2017, in which he scored runs in our second team as well as heavily for Bedfordshire, I think Derbyshire will use this year as one in which to watch him closely. If he makes a good fist of the second team, leads astutely and scores heavily, there could be a role for him in 2019. At 25 he still has time on his side and it makes sense from that perspective. Injuries or loss of form could also see him elevated, of course, but in the ordinary run of things, he is down a lengthy pecking order.
To suggest him as the player to watch means either that the correspondent knows something we don't, or that they have disregarded the claims of Matt Critchley, Will Davis or Hamidullah Qadri, as well as Luis Reece and Alex Hughes.
Very odd indeed.
Finally today, the club's planned weekend fixtures have both been cancelled, which tells its own story about starting the cricket season in early April.
It snowed almost all day here yesterday, on a day more worthy of November than early Spring. On the evening walk with Wallace, most of the front gardens we passed were under water.
So spare a thought for Neil Godrich and his team, who have a tough job getting the ground ready in the next two weeks for the opening game against Middlesex.
For what it's worth, I reckon we will be batting on day one.
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