Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse ……. Another lamentable batting display by Derbyshire. We are probably stuck with this batting lineup at least until the end of next season. At that stage Reece , Came and Guest are all out of contract. If fitness is proved Reece on the back of his figures is probably deserving of a short extension at age 36 Came 4 hundreds in 100 FC innings average 31 and Guest 8 hundreds in 124 innings average 31 are certainly not. They need a really good season for it to be even considered. Came has never really kicked on with his figures always much the same, often looking like being ready to be dropped but then pulling out a decent score to save himself. But how long can we persist with this mediocrity? Guest in many ways is more worrying. Four or five years ago he looked a decent number three but since then he has been in a slow decline culminating in him being correctly dropped down the order. Amazingly there have been calls for him to go back up to number 3! When I played cricket you earned the right to go up the order by weight of runs. You certainly weren’t rewarded by averaging 20 like this season. If Derbyshire and MA are serious about being competitive we cannot expect to progress with batsmen who have had many years at the club with figures such as these. Paul
I would argue for Guest at 3 personally. I understand your point entirely about his more recent statistics but my counter would be that when he was at 3 he did score plenty of runs. Despite contributing his fair share, he got moved down. To my eyes, he wasn’t moved for under performance.
You wouldn’t play Harry Kane at left back and expect him to score 50 goals in a season for you. You also wouldn’t stick him there if he’d scored 50 goals in one season. Brooke scored runs and got moved down.
I’m not saying I’m right and you’re wrong, just offering a different perspective. I do agree with Came, although to me he seems to be being groomed as the next 4-day captain. I’d keep Reece as long as his body lets him carry on.
Chris, I tend to agree with you on Brooke Guest. He was better at 3, probably because of more pace on the ball. Coming in later against slow medium pacers and spinners, he looks uncomfortable when starting. Maybe he can't do it anymore at 3 but worth trying.
People rightly criticise very high scoring bore draws but county cricket really needs to do something about most teams preparing so called result wickets. Plenty of counties are now preparing extremely green seam bowler friendly wickets which makes for very unskilled cricket. 70 mph seamer runs up batsman plays and misses or edges to slip. Repeat almost every ball all day long. No spinners and not many cover drives in sight all day. Having said that our batting does look abysmal
20 wickets in a day. Presumably a 27 point deduction for Worcestershire then or do Leicestershire operate under different rules? Anyway, abysmal batting display by Derbyshire after a 5 for for Abbas at last. New batting coach next season? Probably not. More excuses from MA? Probably. Derbyshire winning? Long odds. Game lasting until Sunday teatime? Very, very long odds. Something miserable to keep us going until April 27? You bet!
After a win over Kent and then a draw against Northants it looked as if we had turned a corner at last. And now this. An abysmal batting display with Wayne showing yet again that he is in a different class and that God only knows how we will replace him. I can see no way we will escape defeat and therefore, as has been said already, a miserable end to the season. Chapel Guy
Abysmal yet again, Wayne scores 40 and 5 extras, so the other nine batsmen contributed 43 runs between them, beyond pathetic. I know I'm a broken record but the whole coaching staff and MA need to go now
The problem with professional cricketers is once there is nothing to play for they instantly lose interest , the number of times I’ve heard players say they can’t wait for the season to finish, we can all argue the rights and wrongs of that but that’s been the attitude of players I’ve spoken to over the last forty years
Consistency is one of the problems with Derbyshire. They did well to skittle out Worcestershire, but then collapsed, yet again, when batting. There are serious questions about the batting of Came, Montgomery, and Guest. All three have talent, but haven't shown much of it this season. I'd like to think if Guest returned to batting at three, he would recover his previous form.
How on earth can this coaching regime be allowed to continue after yet another capitulation ? If there is likely to be little change to the playing staff next season there has to be a change to try to get improved performances. Ollie
At the game today , we bowled well but let their tail waggle too much tbh . Our batting is frail and if you sum up our career averages we would get 255 . Factor in a difficult surface and a fragile confidence level and parity would have been a challenge . As stated before we are desperate for 3 openers at 1,2,3 and I’d have sent Reece in to open and use his experience to bat the session .The budget needs shuffling to prop up the batting for next season in my view .
A dead rubber, but even so, disappointing. We let them get too many for the last wicket and miss Aitchison greatly. Basra was hit outside the line and not sure if Potts' one carried. I suppose people can't demand young players like Bin Naeem.and Basra get game time and then complain. They are learning and progress won't be immediate. It's not an important game at all, but hopefully we can regain some resectability. Kris
I noticed some comments about Guest returning to number three in the batting order. And yet, he was likely dropped down the order because he was struggling in this position. This raises the question: why do people still think Brooke would do better in a position where he would effectively be an opener and have to regularly face the new ball?
Stats show this is the very hardest position to bat in. As I previously pointed out, the last time Guest regularly played in this position—in his last seven games of the second half of the 2024 season—he scored just 148 runs across 11 innings, averaging 13.45.
In two of his last three innings, Wayne Madsen could have simply taken the ‘not out’ and significantly improved his average for the season. Instead, he tried to force the pace and get a few extra runs at the end of the innings. On both occasions, he lost his wicket by playing riskier shots. He is a real team player, but he is now getting towards the end of his career. Unless the club finds another player to anchor the innings on a consistent basis, batting collapses are likely to become regular occurrences.
On the stream, why do they keep showing the replays, especially LBW's, from the wrong end and from an angle. There is no way you can judge if the decision is right or wrong from that camera.
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse …….
ReplyDeleteAnother lamentable batting display by Derbyshire. We are probably stuck with this batting lineup at least until the end of next season. At that stage Reece , Came and Guest are all out of contract.
If fitness is proved Reece on the back of his figures is probably deserving of a short extension at age 36
Came 4 hundreds in 100 FC innings average 31 and Guest 8 hundreds in 124 innings average 31 are certainly not. They need a really good season for it to be even considered. Came has never really kicked on with his figures always much the same, often looking like being ready to be dropped but then pulling out a decent score to save himself. But how long can we persist with this mediocrity?
Guest in many ways is more worrying. Four or five years ago he looked a decent number three but since then he has been in a slow decline culminating in him being correctly dropped down the order. Amazingly there have been calls for him to go back up to number 3! When I played cricket you earned the right to go up the order by weight of runs. You certainly weren’t rewarded by averaging 20 like this season.
If Derbyshire and MA are serious about being competitive we cannot expect to progress with batsmen who have had many years at the club with figures such as these.
Paul
I would argue for Guest at 3 personally. I understand your point entirely about his more recent statistics but my counter would be that when he was at 3 he did score plenty of runs. Despite contributing his fair share, he got moved down. To my eyes, he wasn’t moved for under performance.
DeleteYou wouldn’t play Harry Kane at left back and expect him to score 50 goals in a season for you. You also wouldn’t stick him there if he’d scored 50 goals in one season. Brooke scored runs and got moved down.
I’m not saying I’m right and you’re wrong, just offering a different perspective. I do agree with Came, although to me he seems to be being groomed as the next 4-day captain. I’d keep Reece as long as his body lets him carry on.
Chris in Shropshire
Chris, I tend to agree with you on Brooke Guest. He was better at 3, probably because of more pace on the ball. Coming in later against slow medium pacers and spinners, he looks uncomfortable when starting. Maybe he can't do it anymore at 3 but worth trying.
DeleteSub optimal. Again.
ReplyDeleteAndy
People rightly criticise very high scoring bore draws but county cricket really needs to do something about most teams preparing so called result wickets. Plenty of counties are now preparing extremely green seam bowler friendly wickets which makes for very unskilled cricket. 70 mph seamer runs up batsman plays and misses or edges to slip. Repeat almost every ball all day long. No spinners and not many cover drives in sight all day. Having said that our batting does look abysmal
ReplyDeleteThis what we pay Mickey Arthur the big bucks for.
ReplyDeleteGet the team to bat deliberately badly and be skittled out for less than 100.
All so the ECB pitch inspectors will get interested, and dock Worcester 27 points. Hey Presto, we finish ahead of them in the table.
Not many would be able to deep think a strategy like that, and so far its all coming to plan!
That's not a 88 all out pitch. Lack of application from all but the skipper, and not for the first time.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've come to the conclusion that even at my age, I am a better slip fielder than Matthew Montgomery! 🤦♂️
And I'm probably a better batsman
Delete20 wickets in a day.
ReplyDeletePresumably a 27 point deduction for Worcestershire then or do Leicestershire operate under different rules?
Anyway, abysmal batting display by Derbyshire after a 5 for for Abbas at last.
New batting coach next season?
Probably not.
More excuses from MA?
Probably.
Derbyshire winning?
Long odds.
Game lasting until Sunday teatime?
Very, very long odds.
Something miserable to keep us going until April 27?
You bet!
After a win over Kent and then a draw against Northants it looked as if we had turned a corner at last. And now this. An abysmal batting display with Wayne showing yet again that he is in a different class and that God only knows how we will replace him. I can see no way we will escape defeat and therefore, as has been said already, a miserable end to the season. Chapel Guy
ReplyDeleteAbysmal yet again, Wayne scores 40 and 5 extras, so the other nine batsmen contributed 43 runs between them, beyond pathetic. I know I'm a broken record but the whole coaching staff and MA need to go now
ReplyDeleteThe problem with professional cricketers is once there is nothing to play for they instantly lose interest , the number of times I’ve heard players say they can’t wait for the season to finish, we can all argue the rights and wrongs of that but that’s been the attitude of players I’ve spoken to over the last forty years
DeleteConsistency is one of the problems with Derbyshire. They did well to skittle out Worcestershire, but then collapsed, yet again, when batting. There are serious questions about the batting of Came, Montgomery, and Guest. All three have talent, but haven't shown much of it this season. I'd like to think if Guest returned to batting at three, he would recover his previous form.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't class 214 as being 'skittled'. 80 odd on the other hand...
DeleteHow on earth can this coaching regime be allowed to continue after yet another capitulation ? If there is likely to be little change to the playing staff next season there has to be a change to try to get improved performances. Ollie
ReplyDeleteAt the game today , we bowled well but let their tail waggle too much tbh .
ReplyDeleteOur batting is frail and if you sum up our career averages we would get 255 . Factor in a difficult surface and a fragile confidence level and parity would have been a challenge . As stated before we are desperate for 3 openers at 1,2,3 and I’d have sent Reece in to open and use his experience to bat the session .The budget needs shuffling to prop up the batting for next season in my view .
A dead rubber, but even so, disappointing. We let them get too many for the last wicket and miss Aitchison greatly. Basra was hit outside the line and not sure if Potts' one carried. I suppose people can't demand young players like Bin Naeem.and Basra get game time and then complain. They are learning and progress won't be immediate. It's not an important game at all, but hopefully we can regain some resectability. Kris
ReplyDeleteI noticed some comments about Guest returning to number three in the batting order. And yet, he was likely dropped down the order because he was struggling in this position. This raises the question: why do people still think Brooke would do better in a position where he would effectively be an opener and have to regularly face the new ball?
ReplyDeleteStats show this is the very hardest position to bat in. As I previously pointed out, the last time Guest regularly played in this position—in his last seven games of the second half of the 2024 season—he scored just 148 runs across 11 innings, averaging 13.45.
In two of his last three innings, Wayne Madsen could have simply taken the ‘not out’ and significantly improved his average for the season. Instead, he tried to force the pace and get a few extra runs at the end of the innings. On both occasions, he lost his wicket by playing riskier shots. He is a real team player, but he is now getting towards the end of his career. Unless the club finds another player to anchor the innings on a consistent basis, batting collapses are likely to become regular occurrences.
Dre.
On the stream, why do they keep showing the replays, especially LBW's, from the wrong end and from an angle. There is no way you can judge if the decision is right or wrong from that camera.
ReplyDeleteMichael
Good point. I have noticed the same. Dre.
Delete