Final thoughts on Old Trafford

Amid the fallout from Derbyshire's defeat at Old Trafford, there were many observations, but one stood out for me because it was used by two or three people, in comments and messages. 

On that last day, when Derbyshire batted, they failed to play Lancashire as they had throughout the match. Rather than playing each ball on its merits, they played the 'Anderson' name and the occasion. 

They were found wanting in doing so. 

Jimmy Anderson is one of the greats of the game and has been rightly knighted for his services to it. It must give you quite a boost to run into bowl from the end that bears your name and the Lancashire legend bowled extremely well on the last afternoon. Good as he has been, I'm not sure that a team approaching the very moderate 'run chase' sensibly should have been bowled out by someone who will be 44 years old in July. 

As someone else pointed out, perhaps a better tactic might have been for someone to go in and play a 'Nye Donald' innings. Maybe getting a quick 20 or 30, hitting over the top, top edging, putting the pressure back onto the home side. Plenty of balls were allowed to go through to the wicket keeper, that in other circumstances would have been punished. There wasn't a great deal of clarity in the thinking out there, however, much discussion took place in the dressing room. 

Thinking back, another area where I feel we lost control of the game was in the short-pitched bowling on the third evening. We had Lancashire 23-5 then 78-6, but started to bowl short at Hartley and Coughlin, rather than do what had previously been successful. We leaked too many runs in that final session and sixteen extras were unnecessarily generous, as things got a little ragged.

I don't understand this tactic. There was a time, before the advent of protective gear, that tail enders might have been intimidated, but I can't remember the last time I saw someone back away. I saw that a time or two when Alan Ward was in his pomp and there were plenty didn't fancy Les Jackson when he got the ball lifting. Hardly surprising, when you had cloth gloves with rubber pimples protecting your hands, a box protecting the nether regions and a rolled up newspaper down your trousers for a thigh pad. 

It is a strategy that smacks of desperation to me and for many tail enders the pull shot is one of their most effective run-scoring strokes.

Moving on and to answer questions, of course Wayne Madsen will come straight back once his confidence in the strength of his injured shoulder is restored. He remains the best bat in the side and we missed him in Manchester. It is very handy to have so many all-rounders, but for me the vulnerable one is Anuj Dal. His batting is useful, so too his bowling and he remains one of my favourite players with his whole-hearted approach. Yet I don't see him WINNING matches with either discipline. Zak Chappell is a better bowler, Martin Andersson a better bat, Luis Reece a better all-rounder. 

I did suggest that he and Ben Aitchison were competing for a place, pre-season, but Ben is bowling superbly. He looks to have raised his game this year, now confident in his body and he has been unlucky in both matches. He keeps it tight, takes wickets and is an excellent slip fielder. His partnership with Mohammad Abbas promises to be something very special.

I'm pleased that the players now miss the next round of fixtures, as they have time to digest what went wrong at Old Trafford. There is a lot of cricket to be played between now and the end of September, but key to success will be getting the balance of the side correct. 

It will be interesting to see the team that plays in the 4-day second team game, that starts at Scarborough today. Will Amrit Basra play? If Luis Reece isn't fully fit, might Amrit be an option at six? Or Nye Donald, for that matter?

We must also hope to get pitches like Old Trafford at Derby. We will not get promotion if half of our matches are pre-destined draws. If you knew it was going to zip around, you could afford to play an extra batter, because I would back our main seamers against most sides. 

I hope that Caleb Jewell rediscovers his form for the next match. That final innings cried out for the overseas bat to lead by example, but Lancashire seem to have figured Caleb out.

16, 12, 9, 4, 0, 5 are his six innings against them in red ball cricket. He had a poor winter in Australia (but on their pitches most batters did) and Derbyshire really need him to set the tone and example in the middle. 

As I said to a friend yesterday, players like Shan Masood, Chris Rogers, Dean Jones and John Wright would have seen you to victory yesterday, seeing off Anderson and knocking the others around. I don't wish to be unduly harsh, because that is elite company to be in. Yet as I have written before, the overseas role in any club carries responsibility and pressure. 

Lancashire has a jewel in Marcus Harris

We must hope our own Jewell matches him, as the season progresses.