After this week's two fixtures at Chesterfield tomorrow, then at Derby on Thursday, we have no further county cricket action until 30 August, eighteen days later. It is a further five days until Derbyshire return to the county, which in mid-summer is little more than a disgrace.
I don't know too many people of a Derbyshire persuasion who have actively enjoyed this summer. When one combines its stop/start nature with poor performance it was always likely to be so.
We must only hope that there are more displays before season end that might rescue it to some extent and send us into the winter in better heart. A repetition of the Nottinghamshire game would do nicely, but I would like to hope that our summers are about more than being enthused about a one-off win against our local rivals.
I'll be honest, I don't expect change this winter, because the Board will not want anything that gives them additional work. Unless they get a succession of bad results from now to season end, it will be same again next April. Come to think of it, we could lose the remaining four-day games by an innings and it wouldn't make a difference. Both they and the Head of Cricket have much to do to persuade me we are on the right track, one that will lead to our preservation as a first-class county.
Tomorrow we play host to Yorkshire in a game that is winnable. Injuries permitting, I don't see any change in the side from the last match and we haven't got many options anyway.
Duane Olivier looks set to be out for Yorkshire, with a recurrence of the back issue he has had in recent weeks. Their squad looks likely to be along the lines of:
Ballance (captain), Birkhead, Coad, Duke, Fraine, Hill, Luxton, Patterson, Pillans, Revis, Shutt, Sullivan H, Sullivan J, Tattersall, Waite.
A showery day is forecast and another truncated fixture appears to be on the cards.
No forecast from me, because I can't call this Derbyshire side at present. If we play to our best, we will win.
If we don't.. you know the rest...
What is the current ownership structure of the club? Is it still a club/society with the board voted in by members each year? I recall Chris Grant changed a few things in his tenure.
ReplyDeleteCraig
Given DH’s record the first time he was with Derbyshire its difficult to understand why he was reappointed unless it was some sort of safe easy option for the management board if there was to be a change of leadership who do they go to Dominic Cork? I think a lot of members like myself will be having a long hard look regarding renewing their memberships for next season
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