Derbyshire 327-2 (Masood 201*, Madsen 88*)
v Sussex
If anyone had any doubts as to the quality of Shan Masood, as well as his motivation for playing here, it was amply illustrated today.
Having warmed up nicely at Lord's, with scores of 91 and 62, he batted through the day today to make a sublime, unbeaten 201. That's 354 runs in 3 innings (so far) and a quite extraordinary start to his county career.
He added an unbroken 236 for the third wicket with Wayne Madsen, a new county record for the third wicket against Sussex. It was a joy to see Wayne back to his accumulating best, playing straight, working the field and running magnificently with Masood between the wickets. He was the perfect foil, finishing unbeaten on 88 himself.
For years, Wayne has carried the Derbyshire batting hopes and it is nice that he now has high-class support. With serious batting to come, we will hope to push towards 500 tomorrow and then see how things go.
I don't think our bowlers will find much more in the wicket than a young Sussex attack managed. The only two wickets that fell, Billy Godleman and Brooke Guest were both 'strangled' down the leg side, as Masood was at Lord's. They likely spent the day kicking themselves afterwards, as precious little passed the bat thereafter.
Rizwan kept very well for the visitors and skipper Tom Haines bowled steadily and set intelligent fields to stem the flow of runs. I also liked the look of teenage spinner James Coles, who got the odd ball to bite and turn - not bad on day one, even better from a Derbyshire perspective.
But today was all about Shan Masood. After several years of less effective overseas recruitment by his predecessor, Mickey Arthur has produced a gem with a man who, astonishingly, can't get into the Pakistan side.
Shan already looks one of the best batsmen to have played for the county and I would rank his running between the wickets and judgement of a run to the same high standard as Dean Jones. His technique appears so easy, standing tall and still, then seemingly playing the ball wherever he wants.
This was his first double century in first-class cricket. The question now is whether he can carry on tomorrow and threaten, maybe even beat George Davidson's county record score of 274, made in 1896.
How big a message would that send back home?
Wonderful stuff, a day of total dominance.
Don't you love to see it?
Sure do! It would great to convert this into a win which would be a great boost for the bowlers if they could take 20 wickets on this track - especially as that would include Pujara and Rizwan.
ReplyDeleteShan Masood? English wickets in April? Dukes ball? Brilliant signing. I really hope he breaks that 274 record tomorrow. Unforgettable day - and excellent streaming.
April is actually the best time to bat in England per Tim Wigmore in todays Telegraph...of all the months averages, they are highest in April! So its completely incorrect to say use April wickets to defend batsmen who fail this month! This is the best time to bat weirdly per the stats, thinking is as players only have red ball on their minds now and groundsman have had time to focus on red ball pitches only.
DeleteAnyway good to see Derbyshire doing well, Masood looks good, but i think you need to factor in the weakness of the Sussex attack, they are pretty poor and many of thier lads are no better than club level at this point in time...they may come good, Rob andrews policies are causing uproar amongst their members. No idea what standard the previous highest score for you was against, but i don't like to see records fall when its against poor opposition, doesn't hold the cachet for me, his efforts vs Middsx in the first innings hold more value to me as a against a decent seam attack on traditionally awkward pitch. Well though hes done here, its really a UCCE standard attack at best (Mr Finn long having gone off the boil sadly), still as i say encouraging signs, and Masood looks a class apart in div 2 and should score 1000 runs at least. Hopefully your bowlers can do the business too against some genuinely promising Sussex batsmen.
Essex Fan
Well, after scoring 274, Davidson bowled 57 overs and took 3-74. I hope he got a bonus payment for that one!
DeleteThe Lancs attack included Johnny Briggs, who took 6-185 in 90 overs...
Yes, we love to see it!
ReplyDeleteHowever, should someone have a word with him to reign it in a bit, otherwise Pakistan might come calling!
Sensational! I shall be at Derby tomorrow to hopefully see the stand approach mammoth proportions.
DeleteVery good alot of batsmen have played for Derbyshire who on paper are better batsmen but haven't managed to score a double hundred for Derbyshire,the biggest problem Derbyshire may be this season is bowling sides out
ReplyDeleteMasood looks a serious player. Really enjoyed this knock and he's still going!
ReplyDeleteHis doubters are looking a bit silly.
What a refreshing change to see our overseas player off to a flyer. Season after season they've disappointed but in Masood I think we've got a gem, Guptil is the last excellent one we've had. Exciting times ahead for Derbyshire!
ReplyDelete