Sunday, 8 September 2019
Morning after thoughts
It was a night oh oh what a night
It was it really was such a night (Such a Night, Elvis Presley)
Having got my inner Elvis out of the way, I can get on with my final thoughts on a pulsating T20 quarter final and look ahead to finals day.
We were quite simply brilliant last night, in every aspect of the game. The ground fielding was fast and alert, the throwing was quick and accurate, the catching, a late drop on the boundary by Wayne Madsen notwithstanding, solid and at times spectacular. When Matt Critchley held the remarkable diving effort, some way removed from a routine caught and bowled, I started to think it might be our night, and so it transpired.
The bowling was professional, accurate and skilled, the batting sensible and well judged. It was so nice to watch such a display and think it was MY team. OUR team. Derbyshire, at finals day.
The sad thing, of course, is that such events are no longer the preserve of the participating sides. My understanding is that the day was long since sold out, bar for each of the four clubs getting 750 tickets each. So the majority have gone to corporate clients and those who took a risk that their team would be there. Some are now offloading them, and as I write they are selling at between £120 and £270 online. No thanks...
With members likely to get first option, as they should do, there will be a lot of people disappointed at each county, even when a lot of the membership prefer the four-day game.
After due consideration, I won't be applying for a ticket. For one thing, I don't think it fair, when I haven't attended, for logistical reasons, any matches in the tournament so far. I'm not that keen on the noisy side of T20 'in the flesh' anyway, but a 600-mile round trip plus a hotel and the ticket makes it expensive for me. I hope that those from the very vocal following who served us well last night will hopefully get their ticket and do us proud. Domestic reasons are also a factor and ageing/ailing parents north and south of the border are my priority right now.
I will watch from afar, as will many more of you, I am sure. It doesn't make anyone more or less of a supporter, but I do hope that the disappointingly low ticket allocation goes to the ones who are most deserving of them. Those who have bought tickets for most of the matches along the way deserve to be there, if they are able to do so.
I actually think a lot of neutrals will side with us, supporting, as I always do, the underdog. Fans of the other counties involved will doubtless want us to beat Essex, seeing us as the 'easy option' en route to a trophy.
Some Essex supporters have already written us off, and Twitter comments last night suggested that drawing us in the semi-final was effectively a bye to the final.
That would be a very big mistake to make. The more discerning will be aware of a top four that have scored 1500 runs in the competition thus far, an array of all rounders who ensure we bat low and have bowling options, together with Ravi Rampaul.
Ravi, for me, is player of the year. He has missed very little cricket, has over 70 wickets in all competitions and is the leading wicket-taker in the Vitality Blast. He has not just taken wickets, he has been parsimonious to the extreme and his overs at the top and tail of an innings have defined and decided several matches.
When you consider that we have no T20 'expert' flown in, our efforts show the value of genuine team work. Watching things unfold last night, I was taken by how every single player knew his role and carried it out. No one was hidden away in the field and most of them were brilliant. The bowlers had a game plan that worked, giving no width and no variations in length to make getting at them easy. The batsmen just knocked it around, all they needed to do after the early Godleman and Reece salvos.
We may lose our semi-final, or lose the final. Then again, we could win this, because momentum is a wonderful thing to have on your side. Just as long as we pick up no injuries in the remaining championship matches...
One thing is for sure - the only ones who will discount this Derbyshire side are the ones who really don't know their cricket.
Isn't that a nice thought for a Sunday morning?
Postscript - over TWO THOUSAND blog visits yesterday, and already over a thousand today.
Interest in Derbyshire cricket is booming...
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I'm one of the lucky recipient of the 'corporate' tickets due to my employer being a big sponsor of English cricket. The only issue is that I have to take two customers to entertain for the day. When I took up the offer I never considered for a moment that it might be us involved.
ReplyDeleteWhen was the last time Derbyshire beat Essex in a semi final 1981?
ReplyDeleteJust to be there and not have to listen to the ...'and the only County never to hove been to finals day is Derbyshire' line ever again is more than enough for me. And, thankfully my son & I already have tickets as we love finals day and go most years. Will be special no not have to nominate a team to support for once.
ReplyDeleteI was amused at some of the Essex supporters comments, as my fervent hope as the draw was being made was that we'd get Essex, as the weakest and least consistent of the alternatives. It's easy to be taken in by the star names - star names mainly because people talk and write about them rather than because of their intrinsic quality or achievement - and by an illustrious one day history - history being the operative word as they've won nothing in the past 10 years. The reality is that they've never won the T20 and haven't even been at finals day in the last 6 years, and struggled to qualify by the skin of their teeth out of the demonstrably weaker South group partly by virtue of 4 no results. Notts and Worcs would have been much more formidable opponents in the semi-final with their recent experiences of finals days and winning, so this draw is very good for us.
ReplyDeleteThat's not saying that Essex don't have plenty of good players, and some potential matchwinners. Certainly, no-one would discount Bopara, ten Doeschate, Lawrence or Delport, and Amir will be a huge threat if he's available to them, whilst they are a team who know about winning trophies. In t20, they are very inconsistent, and their bowling has been an Achilles heel, with only Bopara and Amir going at under 8, and most above 9. What's unquestionable is that they haven't had as well-planned and grooved a method as we have had, and we come out very well by comparison from the recent head=to-heads with Gloucestershire.
Nothing's guaranteed, but we should all be feeling that Essex give us the best route to the final every bit as much as they feel the same about us.
Thank you as ever Peakfan for the excellent match report and your considered thoughts on last night.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a remarkable achievement by Derbyshire with its limited resources. It just goes to show what can be achieved by good coaching, team spirit and applied talent. I am so proud to be a member if DCCC.
I was surprised during the last members' meeting when someone rwuce referred to T20 as 'hit and giggle'. I completely understand it is not for everyone but it does attract big crowds and revenue. It is also somethind Derbyshire are pretty good at, I'm delighted to say. Just like Leics and Northants, galvanised smaller counties can bloody the nose of the big counties and give their loyal supporters something to really cheer about. T20 is here to stay, but we must be vigilant that it is not to the detriment of the longer form.
Many congratulations to all the staff and players at DCCC.
I agree about Rampaul being player of the season . He has been immense.
ReplyDeleteSo pleased for all the guys and the coaches. Thoroughly professional performance from start to finish. Well deserved.
ReplyDeleteExcellent summary Peakfan. Still smiling that Derbyshire have finally made it to Finals Day - something I have felt this team has been capable of for a few years now. Du Ploy and Hudson-Prentice have been the missing pieces of the jigsaw in this T20 team for me and the form of Godleman, Reece and Madsen at the top of the order has been outstanding. It looks like Critchley is finding his best form with the ball at the right time too - just ask Steve Smith!!! Agree with you that Rampaul has been outstanding. Nobody will want to play us and we should not be worried about any of the teams who have qualified for the Final. LET'S GO ON AND WIN IT NOW! Best wishes, James
ReplyDeleteEssex is the best draw. We should win despite the ultra competitiveness of the south group. How much sweeter it would be if we actually had more Derbyshire(or at the very least England qualified) players in the side.
ReplyDeleteThe toss decided the quarter final. As it has in most of them. Chase and you win.
The Northern group has proven itself the strength in T20 Anon (please use a name).
ReplyDeleteI am not worried about the origin of players, any more than most counties, if they get success. You are talking ideals that are very tough. You bring on a young player and Notts sign them.
Think your final comment is churlish though. Klinger said he didn't know what to do. They could have won batting first but were overpowered by professionalism, with bat, ball and in the field
Dominic Cork said much the same as Klinger. I don't actually think the toss was much of an issue here, as Gloucs score fell so far below what everyone agreed was par. Perhaps it would have come into play more if Gloucs had got to 160/170, but with that small a target, any side batting sensibly and professionally would have got to it in any conditions.
DeleteLooking at the other matches, Lancs would have won batting first if they hadn't made that ridiculous choice of bowler for the penultimate over, and Sussex might too if they hadn't dropped Moeen so many times. Losing the toss doesn't make you drop catches or choose the wrong bowler.
I'd agree with Anon, though, that it would be sweeter if more of our players were home grown, and I'm not sure we can blame Notts for that, as we've only lost Ben Slater to them, and he probably wouldn't have been in the team if he was still with us. Derbyshire never have and never will be able to rely on home grown talent alone, as a matter of population, demographics and the lack of the cricket-playing public schools that feed so much of the talent to some other counties. That's not to say that we shouldn't be doing better, but we are always going to need shrewd recruitment of under-achievers and late developers from other counties. I don't have any problem (indeed I think it's really praiseworthy) that many fine players get a second chance at counties like Derbyshire who would otherwise be lost to the game.
My final thought here is that we should all eat a little humble pie and accept that our county's leadership does sometimes know what it's doing. At various times in the blog and comments, there were advocates for losing Cork as coach and Godleman as captain and player, Critchley, van Beek, Hughes and Smit (OK, that was mine) and for Madsen to drop down the order (actually, that was mine as well). Peakfan often makes the point that, however knowledgeable about cricket and well-informed we are (or think we are), we can never fully understand the factors that go into blending a particular group of individuals together as an effective team. We need to cut a little bit of slack to the people whose job is to make decisions - although they must be mad to leave Palladino out of the team against Lancs tomorrow!
With reference to home grown players. Rightly members do have more of an affinity with those, cheer a little louder, cut a little more slack, and long should it continue to be so, and our aim.
ReplyDeleteFor quite some years, although not presently, Derbyshire challenged and won the national competition for affiliated leagues, and I for one would have been happy enough to see the Sparham's et all representing Derbyshire in their day. Though of course I'm pleased we're at Edgbaston, would I sacrifice being there for more home grown? Personally I would, but I accept I'm in the minority camp here.