Lancashire 351 (Harris 125, Bohannon 73, Jones 44, Bashir 4-76, Aitchison 3-57)
Derbyshire 0-1
Derbyshire trail by 351 runs
After winning the toss and putting Lancashire into bat, Derbyshire were immediately rewarded with the wickets of both openers, the 'A team' of Abbas and Aitchison taking one each.
Thereafter it was a struggle, largely due to an excellent century by Marcus Harris, well supported by Josh Bohannon. They shared in a stand of 146 for the third wicket, before the latter was bowled by Shoaib Bashir. The latter should have gone on 29, when he was put down by Martin Andersson, a very sharp chance at third slip.
Michael Jones then played a fine supporting role to the the Australian, before, on the stroke of tea, Aitchison induced an edge and Montgomery at slip took a very good low catch, down to his right.
It started a procession, as Lancashire fell from the heights of 252-3 to 314-8. There were a few injudicious strokes, but also some clever bowling by Bashir, who ended up with four wickets. They were well-deserved and he showed his mettle, on a day when there was little support for his style of bowling in the pitch.
Aitchison also bowled well, although Abbas was a little out of sorts today. The pitch seemed to be a good one on which to bat and the way in which Coughlin batted without too many concerns towards the end of the day suggested that Derbyshire had, in fact, done well to end the day with maximum bowling bonus points.
There was just time for Derbyshire to face two overs before the close. Came survived against Anderson easily enough, but Jewell played on with an unnecessary shot against Stanley to end the day. Good as Caleb has been for Derbyshire, his record against Lancashire is wretched - 16, 12, 9, 4 and now 0. At least it wasn't to Anderson, who got him every time last year.
Having said all of that, it is still hard to see anything in this game other than a draw. The forecast for the next two days suggests that there will not be too much cricket for the early season devotees to enjoy.
I was a little surprised that Lancashire were not more proactive in the evening session. With the forecast as it is, the best chance of a positive result would appear to have been their declaring and making greater inroads into the Derbyshire batting tonight.
Perhaps they know the local weather and its foibles better than we do, but I would be surprised if there was more than a draw at the end of this four days.
Giving Derbyshire have started the season against two of the better-rated sides in the division, I doubt they will have too many complaints at that.
Lancs fan here. I felt you bowled well and I also think our batters gave your very decent attack the respect it is due. Both As were excellent - I perhaps feel Abbas was better than you think but that might be just batting side nerves. Bashir, I thought, was very good where l and already looks a good piece of business. Think we're slightly, but not much, below a par score on this track, but I think we treated you like fellow promotion contenders today (which you are) and were perhaps a bit cautious. Will be very interested to see how your batting does tomorrow, you're well capable of a first innings lead but I suspect the margin won't be great and this will be a draw that will leave both sides reasonably satisfied.
ReplyDeleteBut great to see a Derbyshire side competing on equal terms with Lancs, let's hope that continues at the business end of Division 1 next term 😉
Thanks Lancs fan. Yes, Abbas didn't bowl badly, but as yet he isn't standing out as many expected he would. But he hasn't bowled since January so needs to get his rhythm as anyone would.
DeleteBashir looks a fine signing, as you say. And on his England deal is costing us nothing this year, anyway
The ECB made a rule change for this season stating that if a wicket fell in the final over the remaining balls would still be bowled. There were still 3 left when Jewell was out. Umpires mistake ? Or mine ?
ReplyDeleteNo, it is my understanding too that the over is completed, Simon
DeleteBeing without our best bowler and best batter from last season, is hard. Reece also gives a left arm option, while Madsen could be missed, in this one. Bashir and Aitchison were the best of the bowlers. It's wasn't a pitch for Dal and Chappell was inconsistent. Abbas looks a little rusty, so far. Kris
ReplyDeleteYes, we missed Luis' variety. You need something different in an attack, as Bashir offers and certainly he does
DeleteEven first day, for me. I think Lancs were 30 runs short of par, but the early loss of Jewell evened that up. This looks like a draw to me, but it's so refreshing to feel competitive. Still feeling excited!
ReplyDeleteA word for the Lancs live stream on YouTube too; I don't think I've seen a better one. Almost Sky Sports standard.
ReplyDeleteIt was excellent, Ant. A very high standard, although they've put a lot of money into it, of course!
DeleteBashir was playing very well, full of energy and confidence when he took his fourth wicket. Had I been captain I wouldn't have taken the second new ball immediately, but instead given him another couple of overs to try to complete his 'five-for'. It would have done him the world of good. He had just bowled Bailey and the tail was very much wagging. Curious to know what others think. PJS
ReplyDeleteI suppose it's a balancing act. I thought the same, but Coughlin was starting to give it the long handle and maybe taking him off while his confidence was high was the right thing. 4-76 is good, 4 for over a hundred would look less so
DeleteNot sure why we chose to put Lancs in tbqh. Every pitch nowadays is primed for batsmen to flourish and Harris made it look like a doddle, it's a fine batting track at Old Trafford. We did this a lot last season won the toss and made the incorrect decision, we don't seem to be learning
ReplyDeleteI think those at Chelmsford might argue, CB! With rain about, perhaps the rationale was pick up maximum bowling points (which we did) and go away with the best we could.
DeleteConversely, if there is a last day run chase, they can effectively control their own destiny. I suspect they hoped for more early wickets and had they split the third wicket partnership, Lancashire might not have made 250..
I understand that there are strict regulations regarding pitches, based on what I’ve read in previous blog comments. Does anyone have a link to the official rules on pitch preparation and standards?
ReplyDeleteLooking at yesterday’s County Championship matches, the conditions seemed quite inconsistent. Out of the 10 matches played, four saw as many as 14 wickets fall in a single day, while two matches produced over 400 runs with fewer than three wickets lost. This suggests that some pitches heavily favoured bowlers, while others were clearly more suited to batting. Only around four pitches appeared to offer a fair balance between bat and ball.
From a Derbyshire perspective, it feels like this season could suit a strong bowling unit. However, the pitch in the first match did not seem to play to those strengths, which is a little frustrating.
https://www.ecb.co.uk/about/policies/regulations/professional-county-cricket?_gl=1*1j619c2*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTk0MjQxMzMxOC4xNzQzNTExMTYw*_ga_RB2BVD5EKH*MTc0MzUxMTE2MC4xLjAuMTc0MzUxMTE2MC4wLjAuMA..*_ga_E3D3L0MGDX*MTc0MzUxMTE2MC4xLjAuMTc0MzUxMTE2MC4wLjAuMA
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DeleteI guess you can never ignore the fact that teams can bowl or bat badly in conditions that should suit them. But I do feel that the pitch standards as they are make for some fairly dull cricket.
DeleteThere's an article on that in the not too distant future...