Worcestershire 254-5 (Ali 88, Libby 73, Jones 53 Conners 2-45)
Derbyshire 192 (Reece 96, Came 34, Brown 4-51, Baker 3-29)
Worcestershire won by 62 runs
I disagreed with one correspondent earlier. Sometimes you have to be prepared to give credit where it is due and the Worcestershire batter was quite brilliant today. I don't think it is possible to time a ball better than he did today and his brilliance took the game out of sight.
Rob Jones and Jake Libby lent excellent support, and the Derbyshire attack was hit around the park. Ali scored his 88 from just 36 balls, an astonishing knock.
I thought Conners and Lakmal did OK, and credit is due to debutant Harry Moore. At 16 years of age I was playing for my school and club second team. The young giant did very well indeed and capped off his display with a wicket. He took some stick in his fourth over, but was no different to more experienced colleagues. I like his action and the fact that he doesn't try to bowl too quickly.
His future looks bright, but I will caution against any undue optimism. I have seen plenty of young Derbyshire bowlers over the years, including a very talented Chris Armishaw, who took four wickets on Sunday League debut at Chesterfield but was seldom seen thereafter, opting for a career in banking, ahead of cricket.
I wish him well though and I hope he plays the remaining games in this competition.
The run chase was daunting, but the equivalent of chasing 180 in a 20 over game. While Came and Reece were together it looked on, but thereafter the wickets fell in too great a frequency. Impetus was lost as Tom Wood struggled, Madsen didn't last long and Ali was once again dismissed leg before, playing across the line.
I have enjoyed watching Haider this year, but he has found odd ways of being dismissed and one would hope he would have realised by now that playing straight at the start of his innings was beneficial in English conditions. Thomson also went first ball and it was all terribly anti-climatic.
I felt sorry for Luis Reece who played a sparkling innings, but had little support. The highlight of the home innings, apart from his display, was the bowling of Pat Brown, who bowled cannily until Lakmal had a slog at the end. We have picked up a good one in Brown, both a very talented bowler and excellent fielder.
Played six, lost five. At the end of it all, disappointing once again. But today they were taken apart by a very special innings.
Sometimes you have to take that sort of thing on the chin.
Can we just end this season now please, save us from further pain. Big changes needed if that's possible this winter
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with you, CB. I've been following Derbyshire cricket for even longer than PF and have experienced many peaks and troughs in that time. But it's difficult to recall a trough as deep as the one we are in now , with a totally inadequate bowling attack and a reliance on the same batsmen every game to put a reasonable total on the board. As has been said on here many times, sweeping changes will be needed for 2024 if we are to drag ourselves away from the bottom in all 3 competitions.
DeleteExcellent match winning innings from Ali and as you say difficult to bowl at. Ironically the openers kept us up with the rate and actually ahead for some time but unfortunately once Came departed that was as good as it got. Wood, despite his supporters, cannot rotate the strike and keep the scoreboard moving against top bowlers. The pressure placed on the incoming batsmen proved too much and as usual the middle/tail collapsed like a pack of cards. Disappointing ( again!)
ReplyDeletePaul
The one guy capable of scoring at 10 an over, was out first ball. It's been that kind of season folks. Kris
ReplyDeleteGood starts ending with a collapse has been the story of this competition, and when that's the stronger side of your game you've got problems.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately the decision to bring Wood in at 3 killed the momentum. He's a strange one, he's either really or good or really bad, there doesn't seem to be anything in between 🤷♂️
Thought Moore showed good character as well as skill coming back after being hit for 20 in the over and getting his wicket.
I said this after the Warwickshire game:
ReplyDeleteThere’s a pattern in the four games we’ve lost in the Metro Bank competition. Reece, Came, Ali, Lloyd, Guest, and Madsen have put runs on the board, laying the foundation for what should have been a good score. But, as the stats show, we have failed to capitalise on this in the latter part of the innings.
v Gloucestershire: 205-3 to 298-9, 93 runs for six wickets.
v Glamorgan: 241-2 to 298-8, 57 runs for 6 wickets
v Durham: 218-4 to 306 all out, 82 runs for 6 wickets
v Warwickshire: 178-3 to 247-9, 69 runs for 6 wickets
Today, we collapsed from 145-2 to 192 all out: 47 tuns for 8 wickets. Reece batted superbly, and Came also continued his good run of form, passing 1,000 runs in all formats for the season. But that was it. It was good to see Harry Moore make his debut. For a sixteen-year-old, he did well.
Ali turned the game, but, unfortunately, not our Ali, who was out for 0.
There's a major problem when we keep repeating the same mistakes. It's so disappointing.
I also meant to add that Tom Wood, despite scoring two of the fastest hundreds in the club's history. once again failed to impress. I'm not blaming him for the defeat, of course. But the stage was set for him to play a sparkling innings, and boost his chances of a new contract. Sadly, he hasn't impressed this season: 28, 5, and 8 Metro Bank cup; 37, 39, 17,4, 4, 110, and 7 in the T20; and 25 in the CC. That's not good enough if you want to play at the top level. His century in the T20 was fantastic, but, overall, his batting has been poor.
ReplyDeleteQuite a few playing for their futures. I was also struck by how much more dangerous their spinner, Baker, looked. Both Thomson and Watt were dispatched with ease. Spinner situation needs to be addressed in the winter. The wickets of Madsen and Ali in successive balls put paid to any hopes we had of chasing the target down. On the positive side, we have found a good opening partnership.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shambles, yet again. Every single bowler we’ve got has gone backwards this year. Nobody below number 6 seems able to play a serious innings. Potts was meant to be the new great thing - Houghton and Arthur have both said so - yet now he can’t get into the team. But he’s a good player, so what’s going on? Where’s Dal, last season’s stand out player? Wood just can’t get going. Why? So many questions, and so few answers. Sorry, you’ll realise these are rhetorical questions, not aimed at you, Steve, and certainly not personal about the players. But blimey, what a terribly disappointing season. I’m still a fan of Mickey actually, but it’d be good to hear a lot more from him in the way of interviews, etc. Andy T.
ReplyDeleteVery disappointing result from the foundation that Reece & Came had given us, but as noted above this is the story of this season!. On the subject of Tom Wood, I would hope he plays the rest of the season to see how he does, but think he looks very awkward when batting and seems to get his bat and body tucked up, particularly early in his inning so cant get any power and get the ball off the square. If the ball is outside the off stump he is able to unleash the flow of the bat, but if bowled on his stumps he doesn't seem to be able to do what is required and nudge and rotate the strike to keep the scoreboard moving, is it nerves, poor technique, or has he been found out by good bowlers? I still support Mickey Arthur, no doubt he has ideas of who he wants to keep on the staff so let hope he plays them e.g. Dal, for the rest of the season, if only to give them experience, and recruit some decent players over the winter. On the subject of Director of Cricket when Colin Tunnicliffe retires at the AGM, do we not already have the ideal candidates within the Club in either Ian Bell, or Wayne Madsen whilst continuing to play??
ReplyDeleteOpening Bat
Again, I didn't see all of the game, but Wayne's dismissal was the point where the wheels came off in our run chase. With Luis going so well, I thought Wayne could have given himself a little more time, then Ali came and went, which about sealed our fate.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see Harry Moore given a chance. Having played against his Dad, I do now feel old! 😔
With nothing left to play for in the competition, I'd give the youngsters some experience to build for the future. So my eleven for tomorrow would be:
ReplyDeleteReece
Came
Madsen
Ali
Wagstaff
Guest
Dal
Thomson
Moore
Harrison
Potts