There was no real surprise at the SWALEC when Glamorgan won the toss and opted to bat in a game they need to win to ensure promotion to Division One. Draw points will probably do them, unless Worcestershire do something special in their game against Sussex, which would seem unlikely.
By lunch their supporters will have been far from amused as they had collapsed to 71-6 with only Mark Cosgrove suggesting permanence against a hostile Derbyshire attack. There was no Jake Needham, although the rationale was probably that Smith and Peterson could handle spinning duties between them and the wicket was more conducive to seam. As I suggested last night, there was a recall for Tom Poynton, no doubt relishing a return to senior duties.
There was little play after lunch, though sufficient for the home side to rally to 120-6, with the dangerous Jim Allenby at the crease. Derbyshire can be pleased with their days efforts though and will hope to bowl out their hosts for under 200 tomorrow morning – weather permitting.
Elsewhere today, Worcestershire released Pakistan-born fast medium bowler Imran Arif who now has a British passport. Arif’s first-class record suggests a bowler of talent, but something hasn’t worked out for him at New Road after an excellent start there. He could well get another chance elsewhere as on his day he is a good bowler. Whether someone can harness that ability into a seven-day-a-week cricketer is another thing.
Meanwhile Middlesex picked up erstwhile West Indies and Sussex seamer Corey Collymore to bolster their seam options for next year, having lost Pedro Collins to the new visa regulations and looking like they’ll do the same with Iain O’Brien. It is a mystery why the southern county have been lingering in the doldrums, especially when their resources (see T20 income last week) outstrip most of their rivals.
What Derbyshire could do with such money! If we could bring in Usman Afzaal to bolster the batting, Makhaya Ntini or Ross Taylor as overseas player and Roelof van der Merwe as a Kolpak we would do well next season, but such players will probably be way outside our budget.
For that matter, they may not be in John Morris’ plans…
Arif is, perhaps, the best of the affordable seamers currently on the released lists. He is not a bad age and could offer decent value over a number of years.
ReplyDeleteI would tend to favour Taylor over Ntini personally if we were looking for a full season's contribution. van der Merwe is another one I would endorse, as previously raised, if we (Morris?) opts for an overseas twirler.
I keep scratching my head to think of any half decent WI seamers, who might do a it of a Collymore job for us. Although not quite of the same quality, I used to think Rampaul had a bit about him. He seems to flit in and out of WI favour. If I recall correctly, he did very well in the A squad for them.
Morris may still need to offload a couple more to generate sufficent funds for, say, another four decent additions beyond Sutton, who he has already in the bag. If Rampaul was taken on, would that be a case from a payroll point of view of Robin Peterson to pay (for)Rampaul?
On that note, I thank you and goodnight!!
MASTERVILLAIN