Same as yesterday for Derbyshire, as they travel to New Road for their next RLODC game against Worcestershire tomorrow.
And why not? They produced a fine team performance and unless there are injuries we don't know about, I expect the same team to take the field.
Our hosts have been up against it in division one of the county championship after promotion last year, but they have a talented batting line up. Joe Clarke is one of the best young batsmen in the game, Travis Head is doing a good job in the overseas role and Ross Whiteley remains one of the most feared hitters in the domestic game. Daryl Mitchell will lead the batting, as he has done for many summers, while their seam attack will be led by Josh Tongue and Joe Leach, in the absence of Jack Shantry.
Their squad: Mitchell, Clarke, Head, Fell, D'Oliviera, Whiteley, Cox, Barnard, Leach, Tongue, Morris, Brown.
To be honest, if we play like we did at Warwickshire we can win this one as well. I look down this Derbyshire side and see a bunch of battlers and a whole lot of talent. I think that we supporters can be critical at times, but only the most churlish can look at this squad and not see some very good cricketers.
Yes, we can and we will lose matches, when someone on the opposition plays a blinder, or when we drop below the level of commitment that is required to beat teams of similar talent.
But if we are up for this or any other game there isn't anyone that we should fear.
Let's hope that we acquit ourselves well.
Good luck, gentlemen.
before we get too carried away with the fine win against Warwickshire, it's as well to remember that we made as stirring a start to the RLODC last year against Northants with a record run chase and a big innings from Billy Godleman, and only won one more match. Stringing together a series of wins, or even consistently strong performances is what has eluded Derbyshire in all competitions for several years, so let's hope that's what we'll see today.
ReplyDeleteOn a more general point, it's striking how few interesting games there were in this first round of matches. With the exception of Lancs v Notts, pretty much all of them were settled in the first innings, the winners obvious from a very early stage, and only of continuing interest and uncertainty for committed supporters. It's this predictability in so many matches that makes me disinclined to go to away matches, even in such attractive places as New Road, and makes one day cricket such an inferior format to first class cricket.