Saturday 31 July 2021

Northamptonshire v Derbyshire RLODC

Sorry folks, on a lightning trip to see my parents and too busy for a proper preview to the game. Nor will I be able to see any of it tomorrow.

Please put your comments in below and I will make them live as soon as I am able.

Thanks! 

22 comments:

  1. Is Dal employed by Derbyshire purely as a fielder?Derbyshire like their bits and pieces players if you pick these sort of players they need to contribute Derbyshire have had the same problem all season the lack of runs very little has been done to rectify it

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  2. Tim, Chesterfield1 August 2021 at 19:13

    We played. We lost. The usual.

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  3. Dal is a really poor cricketer, one who wouldn't be snapped up by any other county, offers absolutely nothing. There are several like him unfortunately, we're a real sorry state on and off the field

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  4. Couldn't agree more about Dal. We recovered from 8-4 to a decent looking score then FHP was out after another excellent innings - then Dal was out 2nd ball. Then he bowled 1 over for 11 runs. I know we are very hard up for players but.....!

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    1. As already mentioned by John, Dal is a decent cricketer who has been unlucky with injuries but hasn't really taken his opportunities. I do feel for him a little as on several occasions he has come to the crease in difficult circumstances. He's likely to be released but there's no need for some of the critical comments.

      Nice guy who gives his all but seems to be short of what's required to be successful at this level but not through a lack of effort on his part I' m sure.

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  5. I’m gonna go the other way to be honest. We had an horrific start to the game in once again bowler friendly conditions. Poor young Wagstaff got a swinging ball right on the money first nut up. Missed it and out. He will have better days no doubt. I’ve seen him a few times now. Once when he got 90 odd in the 2s and he cartainly can play. Not sure I’d have opened with him but that’s a management shout. Came gets out trying to be positive which is what he’s been told to do by DH. Wood gets done by a ball that jags in about a foot off a good length. Watched it several times and not sure what he could have done with it to be fair. Then the skipper gets given out when I’m pretty sure he didn’t hit it. 8 for 4 and I’m thinking 50 all out. However Guest and FHP again batted really well eventually supported by priestly snd Marshall to get upto a workable total. In short we showed some balls and fight to overcome that start and get upto 177. Not enough but a great effort from where we started from. Once again wickets proved difficult to come by but the bowlers and fielders worked hard to make sure Northants did not run away with the total. All 3 spinners did well and when Wood got Curren we had a sniff. At one point we had them needing nines down the closing stretch. The excellent young Gay started to panic and Wood could have had him 3 times in a very short period of time. 2 Skyed miss hits and a dropped catch from the usually dependable Hughes probably being the turning point. Once again the reliable Keogh came in and ensured they got over the line with a few balls to spare. Never the less, I thought we made a decent fist of it considering the nightmare start. Hughes lead his incredibly inexperienced team well. Wood showed he is also more than just a specialist batsman. In short another loss but on a whole a better performance than I feared after 3 overs. Not sure why Ravi did not play unless I missed a report? He would be a better bet than Ben H who is really struggling with the white ball. Any way. Let’s see what the Notts game brings

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    1. That’s fine CB. It’s not for everyone. I get that. But it’s still my club after all’s said and done. Whilst I like a moan as much as the next old fart there needs to be constructive dialogue. Not just a moanathon. Not a big fan of single ing out players for abject humiliation either to be fair. Serves no purpose. Dal is a decent cricketer who as been out with numerous injuries and obviously struggling for form and confidence. The ball he got yesterday kept low and that’s what happens sometimes when it’s not going your way. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t deserve some of the comments posted. The game is hard enough if indeed you’ve ever played it. We all get better after we’ve stopped playing .

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    2. I admire your optimism John but Northants were neve in trouble chasing that down. Gay showed a bit of inexperience towards the end that's all which made it a little more difficult then it should have been. The dropped catch by Hughes (not easy) was unfortunate but of little relevance at that stage.

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    3. No one will ever know if the catch changed the game but 27 off 18 balls is never a given. Especially if you have a new batsman on 0. If we could have got Keigh off strike who knows. Ben H going for 16 in the 18th was not helpful. If Ravi plays I think we would have possibly won it but again, all conjecture. My main issue really is the constant negativity aimed at this group of players as if they are all useless after very little experience at this level. I’m not a woke warrior at all . In fact I hate some of the rubbish that gets pushed on us regarding political correctness. I do however have a problem with internet trolling and attacking people in personal ways on line is a crass use of such sights which I largely enjoy. I knew Mark Saxleby (the Notts cricketer who committed suicide ) on a personal level and depression in cricket is a real thing. I’m more than happy to pass objective criticism on a collective level especially if it’s the management of the club but would back away from individual insults which Dal appears to be bearing the brunt of on both this and the other forum.

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  6. On the one hand, given the team we put out, we at least made a game of it.

    On the other hand, we've seen more batting collapses. FHP and Guest did so well after we we were 8-4, and then...Well FHP is on fire. Credit to Marshall and Priestley for bumping up the runs at the end.

    Bowling wise we we poor, overall, once again.

    The big plus for me from our latest defeat is Broom Guest. He looks such a composed batsman, and has a beautiful cover drive. He was signed, primarily, as a wicket keeper, but he has proved he can bat high up the order.

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    1. I agree Brooke Guest looks a real find and can hopefully cement a place in our middle order, which to be fair is not such a difficult challenge these days.

      Not so sure about Broom Guest, though I do believe he's good on the sweep!!

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  7. Minority view I am sure but I think FHP’s innings, and indeed season, shows why Derbyshire are lagging behind. It was a brilliant innings and quite rightly he will receive plaudits. But after building a platform he needlessly got out just as the opposition were feeling the pressure and brought them back into the game. 100 off 100 would have been better than 60 off 40. Perhaps that was the role of Guest, who was unlucky to get out, but we were already well into the tail by then. All season it has looked like the instructions have been to take a leaf out of England’s white ball teams and just keep attacking regardless – see the Came and Wood dismissals. That is fine when you have world class players and bat down to number 11, but we don’t have that – we need to play smart cricket. That instruction has clearly come from management (captain and coaches). For someone with talent like FHP it means he comes off occasionally (like Sunday) but most often fails (like the T20 campaign). Yet we seem to be happy with that as some sort of success – a bit like when our academy players play for the first team, never mind have any success and drift away from the game or to other counties to at best moderate success a few years later.

    It is also sad to see someone like Aitchison, who started the season well, to become so ragged late on. Maybe it is tiredness (and you cannot discount all the injuries we have had all season) but why do so many players regress at Derbyshire? Redfern, Needham, Burgoyne, Cotton, Davis, Taylor (x2), Knight, Gleadall…the list goes on. These things do happen but there are hardly any in the ‘plus’ column to balance things out. I will keep banging on about this but, as a start, we need an academy team in the Derbyshire Premier League like other counties do. It is embarrassing that the last player to debut for England while playing for Derbyshire was Dominic Cork, nearly 30 years ago.

    It had been spin to win then the captain brings Aitchison on with 9 an over needed, bowling round the wicket, field up on the offside. Options: attack the stumps, slower ball or bouncer. The ball? Short and wide outside off stump, 4 runs. Later in the over an attempted yorker (fine) allowed Keogh to free his arms (not fine given the field) and then game is all but done.

    We need an overhaul of personnel at management level – both cricket and board. I am sure people will shout for Chris Adams, and perhaps it is his turn, but I’d be wary of a ‘jobs for the boys’ mentality (Kim Barnett’s most recent employment was as a window salesman before we gave him increasing responsibilities for running cricket operations), not least as our past has been littered with cliques (presumably appointing Adams would be the end of Cork). You’d have to see how they interview but I’d hope we could find the next Mike Hesson, not least to have contacts for overseas players. Glenn Pocknall has had success with Wellington in NZ, for example. Or get a hungry assistant coach from one of the Aussie states.

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    1. Great post that Stone Rose, agree with it all

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    2. Excellent post, Stone Rose, thank you!

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  8. I had the misfortune of being a very close follower of Derbyshire over recent years and I have never witnessed or experienced a more negative, backward looking outfit both on and off the field, top to bottom. Young players are given a fleeting opportunity and then left in the wilderness at the first poor performance. Stop looking to history for leadership and, if you can, find someone with a bit of a positive, forward looking mentality although I do suspect this will be a challenge as anyone with such an attitude will avoid the club like the plague given its current reputation.

    Clear out what you have from the board room, coaching staff and captain and start again. Invest in any talent you have and accept you are not going win anything for a few years whilst this talent develops. Contributors to this blog are notorious for slamming youngsters who don't perform on every occasion and I would imagine most of the culprits haven't played cricket for tens of years, if at all. They need to stop! Even on the rare occasion the club has had a sniff of success comments tend to be founded on sarcasm rather than support on the basis of 'it won't last!'.
    An urgent change is needed at both root and branch at the club or it is inevitable it will not survive. Look at what's going on around you. The Hundred is a wonderful, exciting success and clubs like Derbyshire look back, moan at it and grumble about the good old days. Don't play the victim Derbyshire or you will be gone!

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  9. The hundred is a wonderful exciting success?

    Are you for real. Its engineered with free tickets to boost poor sales and poor ratings, and baffling to understand for new and old fans. It will be propped up or allowed to fail as the ECB won't admit the huge mistake they have made, and want to entrench a 8 team model for all pro cricket. Its a death knell for the majority of counties.

    essexfan

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    1. Essexfan,

      Everything has to be engineered before it can begin, as have all formats of the game both old and new.
      In terms of success, it is great to see the massive new exposure to the womens' game and, notwithstanding whether they are free tickets or not, the number of new people being introduced to live cricket, both young and old. Add to that the exposure to and experience from high coverage pressure for young county cricketers trying to make their way, it all bodes really well for the future.
      In terms of excitement we have seen some thrilling finishes and outstanding skills during the tournament.
      It won't be the death knell for the majority of counties, it is the breath of fresh air the domestic game needed beneath international level and may just tempt one or two, when the tournament is over in a month, to have a look at the summer long county game that had started to become irrelevant in people's sporting interest. Oh, and not to mention the £1m or so funding the counties are getting from the ECB in consideration of the tournament. No doubt Derbyshire will spend that on promoting the next pop concert at their ground.

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    2. Paddy

      There is a very interesting article on cricinfo by George Dobbell about the hundred which is well worth a read.

      Within it he points out that counties such as Derbyshire who received 1.2 million were effectively bribed with their own money.

      Personally I'm not against the hundred in principle but I do worry what it means for my beloved county's future....

      btw the promotional material I have seen for the concerts doesn't appear to have cost 1.2 million!!

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    3. I've read it Jasper and, whilst I don't agree with a lot of his points, its an excellent read..

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  10. I have to wonder what the organisation that is Royal London thinks about continuing to sponsor a one day competition that is being played between severely under strength teams while the "stars" are engaged elsewhere. The RLODC is being undermined by The Hundred and I wouldn't be surprised if Royal London pull out of their sponsorship.

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    1. Yes I have wondered a time or two if they renegotiated a discount, in the light of its lesser status...

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