Essex 412-3 declared
Derbyshire 146 and 251 (Guest 65, Godleman 45, du Plooy 39, Madsen 36, Porter 3-41, Cook 3-45, Harmer 3-122)
Essex won by innings and 15 runs
Yet once both perished in the space of a few overs in the early afternoon, the wickets began to fall with monotonous regularity once more and the inevitable defeat came as a consequence . There was some resistance from Matt Critchley and for the second time in the game from Alex Hughes, but having been bailed out by the lower middle order a few times this season, it didn't last long enough today.
Essex are a good side, as you have to be to become champions. How nice it must be though for a captain to only have to bother about one end, as Simon Harmer bowled at one end throughout, bar for two overs. If we ever go back to the days of amateur captains, I reckon I could handle that kind of gig.
I have said all that I can really say about the performance here on previous nights. I don't expect us to win every game - I have been a Derbyshire supporter for too long for such expectations - but I do want to see more fight than in the Nottinghamshire game and over the first two innings here.
On the plus side, we might just have found our number three in this game.
The challenge is to get numbers one, two and four into their best form, together with our overseas bowlers.
Like you, Steve, I thought Madsen and du Plooy might get the ship into port, but we had another collapse, and, inevitably, lost the game.
ReplyDeleteAnd this happened with a line-up that batted all the way to number nine. What's particularly concerning is that Reece, du Plooy and Hudson-Prentice all seem in poor nick. Of course, all batsmen go through lean spells, but when this occurs with several at the same time, it's bad news for a team.
Guest had an outstanding game. If we can bat like this, the number three spot is his.
At this was Stanlake's first game, I'm not too worried by his rather shaky start. Hopefully, we'll see him do some real damage against Durham.
It just has an all too familiar ring to it this season doesn't it Peak fan?. In the same group as Essex, Notts, Worcestershire, Durham etc, we just can't realistically compete. I look down our eleven and the quality just isn't there, Billy and Mads have seen better days, Du Plooy was maybe a one season wonder, Reece heaven only knows what is going on with him, and that is our batting. Thank god for Matt Critchley's early season runs or we'd be in an even worse position. We do seem better stacked in the seam department although you wouldn't think that these last two games.
ReplyDeleteSuch a disappointment so far as I think we all expected a bit more
I think du Plooy will come again, but is having one of those spells, while Reece I am sure is injured
DeleteYou've made three good points in recent days, Peakfan, which I think are connected. First, some people argue that Derbyshire don't deserve to survive. Second, there's a huge gulf between second team cricket and the first class game. Third, experienced players like Palladino and Rampaul haven't been replaced. Like you, I desperately want Derbyshire to survive and prosper, but we have to earn survival and deserve it. The last 25 years have mostly been a story of feeble under-achievement, even compared to other counties with limited resources. We do have some very good players, but not enough of them. And too much is expected of the senior players we do have such as Luis Reece. The question is whether the management (including team selection and recruitment) of resources is good enough. Last year, a brilliant but freakish win over Notts and the truncated nature of the Bob Willis Trophy masked the obvious weakness of the squad. But the winter recruitment focused on players with very little first class experience. Putting faith in numerous inexperienced players is admirable in some ways but smacks of wishful thinking (as does the idea that Reece can open batting and bowling successfully on a regular basis). It doesn't help inexperienced players if they are not supported by enough senior players, including (preferably) a reliable and experienced overseas recruit. There is hopeful talk of 'progress' being made, but when one looks at overall results in the first class game over the past ten years, what is the real evidence for it? Fans are entitled to be optimistic and hopeful but those in charge have the responsibility of making the very best of the resources that are available. It's a results game. Our poor results this season aren't surprising. Last winter's recruitment strategy made them almost inevitable.
ReplyDeleteGood and valid comments, Martin
DeletePicking up on Martin Edwards’ observations, I tend to agree. If you look at out squad, do we have any outstanding players in it? We have some “good” players but no one (excluding Stanlake, of course, and the incoming McDermott) who would be in with a chance in a test team. That’s the reality.
ReplyDeleteCritchley has been spoken about as a possible England player, especially after such a great start to the season, but he has to prove his worth with consistent performances with bat and ball. And, looking at his career stats, he’s a long way off being considered by the selectors.
I grew up in an area when Derbyshire produced brilliant home-grown players (Taylor, Ward, Hendrick, Miller, Barnett, Morris) and secured world class overseas signings (Venkat, Barlow, Kirsten, Wright). Sadly, we don’t possess players of that calibre now.
On a more optimistic note, Connors (whose action reminds me of Hendrick) could mature into a top class seamer, and Guest has got me thinking that, perhaps, he might have something exceptional about him.
It seems a long time ago now we were waiting for Billy to declare so we could go for our first win of the season at Durham..... Learn from it, chins up and fight on as we've no other options. As PF says, we may have found our No 3 but can only hope as we find one we'll not lose another so fingers crossed for Wayne and Leus or there will be more reverse gears than forwards driving the DCCC bus this year. Let's hope we can get a win from somewhere soon as we may start to see all the positives we hoped for then. At this moment in time I'm not sure we can do anything else......
ReplyDeleteWe can but hope that our team makes a better fist of things against Durham from
ReplyDeleteThursday though the weather forecast is unpromising.If Reece is injured presumably Wood will get another chance but he hasn't grasped the opportunity satisfactorily in the two matches he has featured in so far. As for the bowling....I wonder precisely what our new bowling coach is teaching them? The opening day against Essex was embarrassingly bad and we can only hope that Standlake gets his run up sorted out and the others adhere to the basic principles of line and length. We already have fewer points than any other team in the Championship. Anything other than a win against Durham will signal the end of our 4 day season.