We played terrific cricket against Middlesex and won. We played average cricket against Leicestershire, albeit over two days, and drew.
Therein lies the dilemma for Derbyshire. We have some talented players, but to win matches we must play all of our matches with the same intensity.
Tomorrow we play Warwickshire at Edgbaston and must return to the Middlesex form to match a good side that tops the table at this stage.
Daryn Smit, Hamidullah Qadri and, of course Mark Footitt are added to the side that played at Leicester. I expect Footitt to play and the temptation must be there to unleash that nuclear attack of Viljoen, Olivier, Davis and Footittt.
A decision will need to be made on the wicket-keeper, but Gary Wilson's fine knock at Leicester should get him the nod, if fit.
Our hosts have a mixture of youth and experience, with their batting headed by former England stalwarts Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell. Keith Barker, Olly Stone and Chris Wright make up a good attack, alongside Aussie Ryan Sidebottom and it should be a fine game.
It is also blessed with a good weather forecast, so we need to be ready from the first ball against this squad:
Patel, Ambrose, Barker, Bell, Brookes, Hain, Hose, Lamb, Rhodes, Sibley, Sidebottom, Stone, Trott, Wright
There should be a live stream for the game, so watch out for the link tomorrow, which I will append to the bottom of this piece.
Good luck lads!
PS Streaming link as promised - here
It sounds as if Barker and Stone are marginal for this game so we might expect a pitch with no great pace in it, which will also suit the tedious and ponderous Bell and Trott. It might also mean that it's Viljoen rather than Rampaul who gets the rest here, though I'm not sure we can manage without his runs. Now that's something I didn't think I'd be saying at the start of the season!
ReplyDeleteI was a bit surprised at some of the negative comments about the performance against Leics. The batting was scratchy, but I'm not sure much else could have been expected with a mindset of scoring quickly from the off in pursuit of bonus points. I thought the bowlers came back well after a poor first session, when our overseas trio looked about as acclimatised as parrots in Antarctic. Reece confirmed that he looks a different bowler from last year, with the stiff, angular action replaced by something much smoother; and Critchley again being used as a genuine wicket-taking option. Having bemoaned our inability to take 10 wickets in an innings for the past 3 years, we've now done it 3 times out of 3 this season, and 7 times out of 7 if you count the back-end of last season.
I don't see why we shouldn't do the same against the Bores, but as I expect we'll get tired of saying, the question will be whether we can score enough runs. I've not seen anything yet to convince me that last year's problems have been solved, even allowing for the fact that few batsmen anywhere have been thriving. Pretty much anything you could have said about them last year could be said now.
On balance, I tend to think this is a game we can win. There's not much I rate highly in this Warwickshire side apart from Patel and Barker, although Sidebottom has made a useful start. Most of the rest rely on their past achievements or inflated early impressions, and for all our potential flaws, I think we might come ahead on our strengths.
Final thought, and reopening the wicket-taking argument for the first time this year, an attack that includes Viljoen, Olivier, Footitt and Davis might terrify the opposition, but it also demands a spring-heeled keeper, and Hosein showed again at the end of last season how outstanding he is with quick bowling. Wilson's keeping has been fairly ordinary again, and it's not surprising that another option has been included in the squad. Neither is it surprising that it's Smit rather than Hosein, but it flies in the face of the evidence we saw last year.
Good points notoveryet and it shows how we have progressed that I share your optimism, with the usual caveat.
ReplyDeleteReece and Critchley are much improved. They could even go with 3 seamers and those 2, but it asks a lot of Reece to bowl 15-20 overs then open the batting.
It would lengthen the batting if they omit Viljoen as you suggest is an option.
I agree Harvey a better keeper than Wilson standing back. But Smit is pretty imperious with the gloves. If Wilson keeps scoring it is a battle royal!