v Derbyshire
I have to admit to not seeing as much of today's play as I would have liked. I saw most of the morning, none of the afternoon and a little of the evening session, pesky old work being the problem.
Sam Conners reinforced my impression of him as a 'coming' bowler. His early spell saw him on a hat trick, but that was as good as it got for Derbyshire, although Durham never really got away, scoring at a steady three an over across the day in the face of steady, if not penetrative bowling.
It looked a good toss to win and South African David Bedingham made the most of a good track with a fine innings. He looks an excellent player and certainly seems to capitalise on being 'in' when the time comes.
A few balls went past the bat but it was hard graft today and the bowlers stood up to the examination pretty well. No doubt tomorrow will bring more leather-chasing, but it is then up to a batting line-up sans Godleman to do unto others as was done to us. It is a good opportunity for Tom Wood to show what he can do, so too Brooke Guest, playing as an extra batsman. Fair play to him and I hope he does well, but Alex Hughes will feel aggrieved to miss out after his double hundred last week.
Finally, for those who don't follow me on Twitter, I am delighted to say that two leading blog ranking sites have ranked this blog number one and six respectively of the 'cricket blogs, websites and influencers' in the country, based on various parameters and taking information from a range of rankings.
It came as a big surprise but is down to the people who visit it regularly, you, for making it so.
I am very humbled by those rankings in the face of the competition out there (others in the top ten are more than one-person operations) so thank you all!
An 'influencer' eh? I'll expect to see you on 'Insta' pushing various products in a sly way tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteIf you've any way of 'influencing' a clatter of wickets in the morning mind you, that would be most welcome...
Their words, certainly not mine, Tim!
DeleteThough the first two balls I saw today influenced wickets. Maybe I should have sacked off work and watched through the afternoon...
Good luck finding me on Insta. I don't have an account on there, so I have some way to go..
Morning Peakfan, congratuations on being a top influencer. This is a fantastic blog and keep up the great work. Let us hope we can get Durham out in short order this morning and our batsmen score some big runs. Well done again. Mark
DeleteThank you Mark and thank you again for your sponsorship donation! Their term and not mine, not sure what I influence, but if people enjoy it, that'll do!
Delete"It came as a big surprise"
ReplyDeleteNot a surprise to me, I'm not a Derbyshire fan (though they've become my second county) but visit the blog every day of the season as it's my favourite source for county cricket. Great work!
That is very kind Stuart, thank you!
DeleteI appreciate your interest and support and thank you
Congratulations - well deserved! All we need now is for team selection and recruitment to be influenced by the blog as well!
ReplyDeleteThank you Martin! Might need to get DH to do a guest column on that basis...
DeleteMy [somewhat belated] but heartfelt congratulations PF on the recognition you have received.
ReplyDeleteFor me personally it is so comforting to know that there is somewhere I can express my thoughts without being pounced upon.
Very best wishes
Alison
Thank you Alison, this is and will always be a place where people can express opinions, properly and respectfully. If they don't meet that criteria they don't get published.
DeleteCommenting on players being out of form is fine, constructive criticism also. But no personal attacks on players or other supporters will ALWAYS be the way on here!
So comforting to know !
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