Derbyshire 168-7 (Reece 59, du Plooy 34, Hughes 28, Parkinson 3-28)
Lancashire 171-4 (Livingstone 94* Hudson-Prentice 2-9, Reece 2-26)
Lancashire won by six wickets
He told me he would never pull me up for something failing, only if he thought we were standing still and not trying things.
He never had cause to. We tried all sorts of stuff, some of it extremely left field, but a lot of it worked handsomely. It was an approach I used subsequently with managers and teams under me to great effect.
Which is why our starting today with the same old, same old frustrated me.
We KNOW Lancashire are good. They have several top international players and to beat them it comes down to fine margins.
You need luck, and losing Wayne Madsen today was something we could live without. You need everyone playing to potential and you need to have the right people.
We didn't get all that right today. We competed well, but unless we go for a little bit of innovation, I fear I may just keep 'but eventually we were beaten in the latest Vitality Blast game' on my clipboard to paste in each time.
Positives? Luis Reece was excellent all round, Alex Hughes and Leus du Plooy batted pretty well, Brooke Guest did well behind the stumps and took a terrific catch. We stuck at it and heads didn't drop. We took it to the last over.
But at risk of sounding like a broken record, we should have opened with Harry Came, a man in form who can hit. Billy Godleman struggles to get spin away at the start of an innings and teams KNOW this. None off four balls today, seven off seven in the second team game yesterday. At this level it isn't quick enough.
Billy is usually a run machine in fifty over and four day cricket but this isn't his format. There is no disgrace in that but someone, be it Dominic Cork or Dave Houghton, has to realise it before it is too late.
If we aren't picking Came, play Tom Wood at the top. If we have to play Billy (and surely you don't HAVE to pick anyone as coach?) bat him at seven or eight for the last few overs against seam and pace.
Personally I would have included Mattie McKiernan, who has shown against strong sides (including several of this Lancashire attack) that he can clear the boundary. We struggled with that today and so, for me, we need to pick the right people.
I can only assume that Fynn Hudson-Prentice had a knock today, because otherwise bowling him for only one over and two wickets made no sense. Little things mean a lot, to quote the old song.
I won't blame Billy for the loss. I won't blame the injury to Wayne, the non-bowling of Fynn or anything else. I will give credit to a very good home side who will take some beating in this competition.
But I would like to write, more than a couple of times in the coming weeks 'we got it right today'. With similar commitment, better luck and improved team selection, I might be able to do that.
But we need all three, without a doubt.
Totally agree Peakfan, so how many chances will Billy keep getting in this T20?. Knowing Derbyshire we'll keep going with him until it's too late to qualify again. Tough decisions have to be made, and if it means dropping Billy after one game then so be it
ReplyDeleteBilly would be the first name on my 50 over teamsheet. He wouldn't be on my teamsheet at all for the VB.
ReplyDeleteAgreed Simon. A beast in RLODC but very good players don't play T20 especially well. And very good T20 players don't play 4 day cricket well..
DeleteYes selection wise I agree peakfan. Macca and one of Wood/Came seemed the right way prior to this match. Aside from that and some bad look with Madsen we batted 'okay' today. The bowling was good too. The fielding was not okay and befitted a side lacking in clarity and direction, culminating in amateur attempts at a catch and cutting off a boundary. In the end those last two errors, may ultimately, have cost us victory.
ReplyDeleteAdded to my previous comments we need to change things up at the top of the order. Macca is an option perhaps with Wood, although Reece led from the front today with bat and ball. As for Billy, the 'mask' has slipped and he is exposed by teams opening with spinners, ultimately thrawting us at the beginning of the innings.
ReplyDeleteI will not repeat my thoughts expressed in the previous post.Suffice to say your use of capital letters on one occasion in expressing your feelings speaks volumes.The dynamics behind the scenes are not for the first time a mystery to me.With emerging changes in the competitive format,my greatest fear is that the future of our beloved County in terms of top level cricket is very much on a slippery slope.Notwithstanding the obvious calibre of the opposition today we urgently need to prove we should be at the 'top table'.16 rather than 18 first class counties is a more accommodating number to the powers that be ?
ReplyDeleteThanks Peakfan, this is spot on. I was so disappointed today - it felt like we had lost before we started. We'd probably still have lost if Wood/Came had played instead of BG, but at least we'd have given ourselves a chance - and that's all you ask as a fan. (As a Derbyshire fan anyway). I was almost glad to see BG lose his wicket. Maybe that's an awful thing to say, but with LR and WM at the crease we looked like we knew what we were doing. The selection felt so safe and unadventurous. At least at the top of the order.
ReplyDeleteWho is Macca?
ReplyDeleteMcKiernan
DeleteReece was superb with bat and ball. He did look though like the only batter we had who could hit boundaries regularly though Madsen was unlucky and I hope he's not out too long. I think there is an argument for both Wood and Came to come into the side to be honest in place of Godleman and Madsen.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about bringing in Came for Billy. He's in cracking T20 form. And if Madsen's not fit for the game tomorrow, bring in Wood. Reece was brilliant. He went for it straightaway. It was good to see Leus du Plooy make some runs, although he struggled to find the boundary. All in all, although we lost, a decent performance. We certainly weren't outclassed.
ReplyDeleteWe weren't and that's the thing, small margins in T20.
DeleteWe failed to score off 26 balls, they did from 24..but they found the boundary with greater frequency and got the bowling right more often..
If we are playing a different batter I’d think Wood is a safer bet. Played several T20s now with an average of 33 at around 120 strike rate. The boy Came never played a first team white ball game for his previous County. Also think Woods previous innings should entital him to be the first batsman tried.
DeleteTotally agree John. He is on contract and has a proven, albeit limited opportunity record. Let's see what he can do!
DeleteDu Plooy played a decent anchoring innings to be fair. We just lacked another player at the other end doing as Reece did and really accelerating. The switch hit 6 was a thing of beauty.
ReplyDeleteIt really was! The outrageous shot over fine leg by Hughes off Wood was superb too.
DeleteGood cricketer, Alex. As is Luis, of course..
How did you view the game Peakfan?
ReplyDeleteMainly through the Lancashire stream, which seemed to be up more of the time for me.
DeleteAssume that's what you mean? My thoughts on the game are above!