Durham 475 and 175-2 dec
Derbyshire 267 and 280-5 (Madsen 74, Critchley 69, Hosein 34*)
Match drawn
Derbyshire batted doggedly and with great skill on the last day at The Riverside, earning a creditable draw after an innings in which everyone contributed.
A win was never an option for me, on a wicket where bounce was uneven and going for it would likely have presented the game to the home side.
I don't think Tom Wood settled in this game. He seemed to be nervous and 'pushing' at balls outside off and should have been caught at slip by Bedingham before he was bowled for the second time in the game, to a ball cutting back. That he can bat is undeniable, but with opportunities likely to be limited, Tom will need to make the most of those that he gets.
Luis Reece batted with admirable restraint until twenty minutes before lunch, when he swept at the leg spin of Borthwick and was leg before. The shot was unnecessary with runs irrelevant and it was a careless way to go after a lengthy vigil.
I have to say Scott Borthwick's throwing his hands into the air after every ball while bowling or fielding annoyed me in this game. Maybe I am getting old and tetchy, but there is no need for such nonsense, especially when most of the time the delivery didn't justify such over-exuberance.
Speaking of which, Ben Raine's excessive appeal earned him the wicket of du Plooy straight after lunch. He was well outside off stump to a ball that pitched well outside off. Raine's successful appeal was unacceptable to the Peakfan standards of cricket behaviour and I don't like the way this aggression is creeping into the game. It is intimidatory and frankly unpleasant to endure. Nor was I impressed by his running backwards down a line outside off stump for the left-hander. He did this for two or three subsequent appeals too and it is neither nice nor clever.
The du Plooy decision wasn't umpire Richard Kettleborough's only dubious decision today. After a terrific stand between Matt Critchley and Wayne Madsen, a county record for the fourth wicket against Durham, the former was adjudged leg before to a ball that cut back a long way and looked to be going down leg. Madsen soon followed for his second fine innings of the game, which meant that the second new ball and the last 22 overs were likely to be nerve-jangling.
And yet they weren't. With eminent good sense and sound technique, Harvey Hosein (soon to be known as 'the undefeated Harvey Hosein' ) and Brooke Guest saw it through to the end.
It was another battling effort from a Derbyshire side that continues to impress me. You can tell they are a team and they are a pleasure to watch.
In Bedingham and Rushworth the home side had the game's outstanding players and the lion's share of the match. They have always been a county I had a soft spot for, but their antics in the field on this occasion were disappointing.
Well done to Derbyshire, for keeping their unbeaten record going.
Nottinghamshire next. That will be fun..
Totally agree,Peakfan, and well done to the two youngsters at the end having to come in and face the new ball in the hands of one of its best exponents. A gritty, determined effort all round - this is a game we would have lost a few seasons ago. Clear improvement.
ReplyDeleteYes, bring on Notts. I sincerely hope Billy Stanlake will at least be in contention for this one. Covid regulations notwithstanding it seems a pity that our overseas star " available for the whole season" could miss nearly a third of the Championship before setting foot in the country!
Thanks for this PF, I dont expect to read any reference to Raine's aggressive appealing anywhere else tomorrow so its good to have it here on the record as having been a factor in their getting rid of du Plooy.
ReplyDeleteI think we did right today, the run chase would have left us wide open.To have the discipline required to see the day out and get the draw does the side credit.
Thanks John. At no point did I ever consider a run chase. When Madsen and Critchley were going well the second new ball was imminent and that might have blown away some sides.
DeleteOne of the benefits of being independent is that I can say what I feel needs to be said. Such behaviour is boorish. For me it has no place on a cricket field. I would call it out were it done by Derbyshire. Lancs are bad for it too and it needs stamping out.
Du Plooy offered no shot. It was out. With you on the appealing. The Overton's are the absolute worst in the whole county game for it. Really unpleasant, and cannot think of anyone before or since as bad as them.
ReplyDeleteI dislike this new trend in long and passionate appeals. Lancs were bad pre season and Durham annoyed me intensely
DeleteThat he played no shot is not in doubt. But I have no idea from the angle how he could say that was hitting the wickets. It didn't look close to me, or plenty of others. But the umpire gave in to a peolonged appeal.
Please excuse my ignorance but what is the current situation regarding Derbyshire’s Australian overseas player? It was reported a few weeks ago that he would be available for the entire season is he injured?
ReplyDeleteI understand he arrives today, but then has to quarantine for 5 days so won't be available for Notts.
DeleteSoon though and it will be good to see him in action! We haven't played an overseas player so far..
Luis Reece is one of my favourite players great talent with the bat in all formats and brilliant with the ball. So far this season his numbers in last 3 matches have been down to his high standards. Do you think he should be opening both bowling and batting? I can’t think of anyone else on county circuit doing this workload. My gut instinct is that he 30 and we need to look getting best out of him manage his workload better as be running empty by August. I think would start looking at opening bowling with Conners and Aitchinson . Manage his workload on his bowling instead of dropping him down the order as do think shown enough past to open. I think concern batting will suffer if he carries on bowling the amount he does. Let’s hope after saying all this gets 5 wickets and hundred runs against notts.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of anyone in the world EVER who has done that on a regular basis Gary.
DeleteAt present the ball is going past but not finding the edge, while being sawn off in the first innings here didn't help.
I think he plays better when he is leading from the front but I agree Aitchison would be my new ball pick if he was given a breather.
Showing my age here but the only name that springs to my mind is that of the South African Trevor Goddard who I'm pretty sure did so even at Test level on a fairly regular basis.Coincidentally he was left arm medium too !
DeleteGoddard did it, but more often was change bowler for SA after his early seasons I think, behind Adcock and Heine, then Pollock and Procter. But he is the only one. Barlow did both but not often at the same time, Kallis batted 3 most of the time.
DeleteBut you are right, Goddard is the closest I can think of!
I've never been totally convinced that we get the best of Reece the batsman when he's also opening the bowling but it's been unavoidable for the past couple of years when our quick bowling resources have been so thin. That's less the case this year, and I think we're already seeing it reflected in fewer and shorter spells. But he's a bowler who thrives in moister conditions and the lack of lateral movement reduces his effectiveness, whilst his batting is being undermined by poor decisions - mostly umpires but his own on a couple of occasions. So I think it's probably a little early to say his workload is the problem.
DeleteNeil Johnson did it for Zimbabwe in the great team of the late 90's early 2000's i think.
DeleteHe did in one day cricket, but in Tests he batted in the middle order as a rule.
DeleteThey had a very good side at that time, sad how they have gone back so far..
Let's not forget Matt Critchley. Three games and 449 runs: 64, 83, 109, 84, 40, 69. Sensational. I'd always seen him as a bowler who could bat a bit. he's developong into a top batsman, who can also bowl.
ReplyDeleteAverages 75, plus 13 wickets at 28. A HUGE talent and in the form of his life. Long may it continue
DeleteDon't forget Harvey Hosein...
ReplyDeleteThere's a blog post coming on Harvey before the next match.. Watch this space!
DeleteIs there a better all rounder than Matt Critchley on the circuit at present?. You'd like to think the test selectors are taking note but they will see Derbyshire and think ' nothing there to get us excited '. Such a shame as he's in the form of his life
ReplyDeleteIf he converts more of these great fifties into hundreds he can't be ignored. He is facing quality attacks
DeleteRegarding repeated over-zealous sppealing, perhaps an answer would be to call a no- ball. That would nullify the vast majority of appeals and the ball is usually still "live" when the appeal is made. After all it's arguably a metaphorical overstepping of the line!
ReplyDeleteI think it needs addressing, Phil. If anything stopped me watching cricket it would that and it being turned into a pantomime, like the new compy.
DeleteUmpires need to report serial offenders and excessive/prolonged/intimidating appealing. It is not acceptable for me
Seems a great idea to me.
DeleteAppealing for a decision is one thing but the sheer volume/extent of some of what we see is nothing short of gamesmanship designed to intimidate the umpire into a decision.
Yeah, no ball, free hit, captain can't change field from delivery just bowled.
DeleteThat would soon shut some of them up!
I only appealed if I thought it was pretty adjacent and found 'Owzat umpire?' worked just as well as yelling as if I had just trodden on a six inch nail...
This type of behaviour is worryingly becoming more prevalent.The convention I grew up with is for enquiry to be made of the umpire before celebration -- and then it should be restrained and impersonal.The habit is certainly infectious within a team -- a further example being the the behaviour of Coughlin towards Guest in the closing overs.As a Western Australian he will hopefully be well equipped.The primary responsibility lies with the often faceless team management ie behave with decorum or don't play !A slippery slope nonetheless and one which needs to be addressed lest we slide down to the current standards of other sports.
DeleteAgreed 100%. If the person at the top says 'this is unacceptable' then it generally stops.
DeleteIf I ever saw a Derbyshire player or team behave so poorly I would be as quick to call it out too. But I wouldn't expect that of any side that has Billy Godleman or Wayne Madsen in charge and Dave Houghton as Head of Cricket
I don't think Raine's behaviour went unnoticed. He roared in Wood's face and shook a fist when he bowled him. likewise with du Plooy after he had him LBW, and the umpires came together to exchange notes after the incident when he claimed the catch off Madsen and ran to embrace the slips while Poynter ran to the other end in celebration and ended up in exaggerated disbelief in front of the umpire. It's clearly a team tactic, and particularly disappointing from a county which I've generally seen as among the good guys when it comes to behaviour.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure the possibility of a chase was entirely abandoned until tea, and if we'd been 30 runs on at that stage I think we might have seen it tried at least while Critchley and Madsen were together. With all of the talk about over-cautious declarations, it's interesting that most commentators seemed to think that Durham could have declared 10 overs and 40 runs earlier. If they had, Derbyshire would have been strong favourites.
I suspect we'd all have taken 3 draws and joint third in the group at the start, but what's particularly encouraging is that in all 3 matches you could see a route to winning. Even in this game, if the opportunity to run out Bedingham had been taken, the course of the whole game might have been changed. The umpiring decisions aren't helping and in particular the readiness of umpires to give left handers out to right arm bowlers going round the wicket might prompt Reece and du Plooy to think about their methods.
I also think we took a step closer to working out the Hosein / Guest conundrum, which is that they both play, with whichever is not keeping wicket batting at 3. Guest's composure and technique against a new ball and under pressure has been impressive for a player with so little experience. With neither Dal nor Wood making the best of their opportunities yet, I'd be happy to see him given a run at 3.
Good stuff notoveryet. I too saw the umpires chat but was unsure what it was about. I would like to think 'over zealous appealing' might be on their match report.
DeleteI too, like I said, have always had time for Durham, but not if they are going to behave like petulant children.
Yes, Bedingham could have gone early twice, he very lucky not have been given lbw to Critchley second innings.
And I agree completely on Guest/Hosein. Hosein has the technique and now confidence to bat and bat. Guest impressed me with his willingness too leave balls off the wicket and judge line and length well. He, Hughes, Wood and Dal will all fancy that berth at 3, but so will du Plooy, of course.
Borthwick & raines exaggerated gestures
ReplyDeleteGrew very tiresome,exposed time & again ...via ex livefeed camera work.
I think,unfortunately theyve been watching to much M.O.T.D.
and the very petulant squealing
"Pro" footballers to much.
Just saying
Ps "fletch" not best pleased either!