In my season preview, I suggested that Derbyshire would need their share of luck to do well this season, as any side does.
They have certainly had that for the season opener against Durham. The visitors' contentiously chosen captain, Cameron Bancroft, has been detained in Australia for, of all things, a dinner. Meanwhile, their very dangerous fast bowler, Mark Wood, has been pulled from the game by England, to protect his workload.
That said, the visitors will arrive tomorrow after a busy winter of changes on and off the field. Former Derbyshire batsman Marcus North now calls the shots as Director of Cricket , while Alex Lees and Ben Raine have arrived from Yorkshire and Leicestershire respectively.
Both will improve an already talented squad, which came close to beating us at Derby last year, after doing so at the Riverside in a dreadful capitulation.
Warning signs then, but a side we should be beating if there are genuine aspirations of a promotion challenge. Chris Rushworth will lead their attack, with good support and Derbyshire, as Dave Houghton said pre-season, will need to bat time better.
Although unrecognised at the time, the role of Paul Borrington in our promotion season of 2012 was overlooked by many. While he would liked more runs, to convince the doubters, he saw the shine off the new ball, tired the bowlers and made the job much easier for the later batsmen.
A side that has first class centurions down to number ten is likely to find runs at some point, if they're doing it under more beneficial conditions.
Dave Houghton has announced a twelve-man squad that includes Sam Conners. He was the pick of the young bowlers in the MCCU game last week, but the eleven likely to play, for me is:
Godleman, Lace, Reece, Madsen, Hughes, Critchley, Hosein, Dal, van Beek, Palladino, Rampaul
As for Durham their squad is:
Alex Lees (c), Gareth Harte, Will Smith, Michael Richardson, Jack Burnham, Stuart Poynter, Ned Eckersley, Ben Raine, James Weighell, Liam Trevaskis, Josh Coughlin, Matt Salisbury, Chris Rushworth.
We will almost certainly be asked to bat, on the first track of the summer.
How the top order does, against a keen visiting attack, will set the tone for the game. It is, I would have to say, very winnable.
Go well, boys.
If this afternoon's howling wind and rain in single digit temperatures is anything to go by I don't envy either the players or anyone heading to Derby tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to tomorrow although hoping that the temperature ups a little. I think Durham could surprise - Raine is a very good signing and they have Burnham back after his ban; he played that very good match winning innings at Chesterfield. Rushworth is a first division bowler in my view.
ReplyDeletePlayers to watch for Derbyshire are Lace, Dal and Van Beek - all unproven but have a chance to cement themselves firmly in the team.