Thursday, 22 August 2024

Seconds do well at Chesterfield

Time has overtaken me in the last couple of days, finishing off what has been a lot of worthwhile work in the house, but I didn't want not to mention an excellent performance by the second team at Chesterfield. 

After winning the toss Yorkshire were asked to bat and bowled out for 245 on the first day. There were three wickets each for Manraj Johal, previously on the staff at Warwickshire and for Rory Haydon, who has been playing with success for Staffordshire after leaving the academy at the same county. 

Derbyshire were in early trouble, with Mitch Wagstaff, captaining the side, out for nought, but Will Tarrant started the recovery with 46 before an outstanding stand between Yousaf Bin Naeem and Ajay Khunti added 259 in 65 overs. Naeem made an excellent 123, while Khunti, a left-handed bat and leg spinner scored 173 with 29 boundaries. He has been trialling with both Leciestershire and Northamptonshire this summer and could hardly have done more to impress on this occasion.

Derbyshire ended on 470 all out, going into day three of a four-day game. While both sides were fairly young, Yorkshire's attack featured both Dom Bess and Matthew Fisher, as well as Dom Leech, who this morning it was announced was moving to Northamptonshire on a three-year deal. So it could hardly be claimed to be weak.

A good effort by the young Derbyshire side and I will report back on their efforts at the end of the game.

5 comments:

  1. I think Ray Toole may have impressed too with his 5-for in the second innings. A FC bowling average of 26 isn’t too shabby and he has experience with Essex.

    Hopefully he continues to impress and we can add the left arm swing bowler to the seam bowling ranks and add variation for next season, especially since he has a UK passport.

    https://wsxcricket.com/client/ray-toole/

    As you say, there may be a few from this Second XI who could impress themselves and may be of interest for a contract next season. Have you heard anything about next season’s squad or potential additions? I know we have a limited budget but we may need a larger squad than this year and we have to be planning for when age finally catches on Madsen, Patel and Whiteley.

    Keep up the great work!!

    Gareth

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    Replies
    1. Good stuff, Gareth. I spotted that about Toole earlier and the British passport is especially interesting.

      I'm always wary of getting too excited at second team performances, but his variation alone would make him worthy of further investigation.

      I have no idea about the budget next year, or who is being offered a new deal/released. But there needs to be changes and I suspect they might keep a close eye on Toole. If there is money, maybe engage him until the end of the summer and see what he's got?

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  2. I assume it's the same Ajay Khunti that's playing at Swarkestone this year?

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    Replies
    1. 👍 173 runs should at least enable a few more opportunities to impress. Good luck to him.

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