Full credit to Derbyshire for turning things around from Sunday´s Lancastrian debacle to convincingly beat Warwickshire last night, a result due to some key performances. Wes Durston´s al-round ability, coupled with the increasingly mature talents of Tom Knight to take Derbyshire clear of the home side and keep our hopes alive of making the final stages.
Of course, we now need to do without Knight and it is tribute to the way the youngster has fitted into the side that we are now pondering what we will do without him.
One option might be to bring back Chesney Hughes, which would give a slow left arm option and a hard hitting batsmen if he rediscovers his form. Another would be to bring someone else in, presumably instead of David Wainwright who appears to be needed at Yorkshire due to a hamstring injury sustained by Azeem Rafiq.
I doubt whether Lancashire, another side in contention, would lend us one from Kerrigan, Parry and Keedy so the only loan option might be to see if we could borrow Ant Botha from Warwickshire, whose defeat last night effectively ended their interest in the campaign. It would only be a stop gap, but Botha is still a steady bowler and might do a job in the last three games. Of course, this pre-supposes that Jake Needham´s recovery is a work in progress and I suspect that it will be until next season.
So the choices are simple, if Wainwright isn´t allowed to leave Yorkshire right now. We could go with the following side and keep faith with the spin option that has served us pretty well:
Guptill, Durston, Smith, Madsen, Park, Whiteley, Hughes, Sutton, Clare, Groenewald, Jones
or perhaps bring back Botha. Any thoughts?
For what its worth, I´d go with Hughes. He would lengthen the batting, is one of our own and could offer late hitting against the seamers. Friday´s game against high-flying Leicestershire is massive and we might then expect to beat Northants and Yorkshire, two sides who have struggled in the competition.
Mind you, nothing can be taken for granted with Derbyshire and we all remember the Northants game at Derby last year that we should have breezed and made a mess of. Not forgetting Worcestershire at home either...you just don´t know which Derbyshire side will turn up.
But if the good one does - well, we´re still in this.
Fingers crossed for tomorrow!
I agree with you about Botha, peakfan. We could do alot worse. He,s still a useful all rounder and i would be tempted to get him for next season aswell.
ReplyDeleteIt was a much better performance last night and once again showed the value of spin bowling in this competition. You can,t have too many in my opinion. Failing any outsiders arriving,the logical step would be Hughes. Im glad you,ve put him at six,which is where he would have been a while ago had i been picking the team.
Let,s hope we can keep this going. Any slips ups now will prove fatal.
Forget Botha. He couldn't wait to get out of the County Ground after we had given him his chance. He is no great spinner anyway and why would we need him next season when we have got Knight? Also, Smith, Durston, Hughes and maybee Needham can bowl spin.
ReplyDeleteYou,re right about the manner he left us previously,but so have others,only to returnat a later date.
ReplyDeleteIm not saying he,s the worlds best spinner,but he,s better than anything else we have at present. Knight has teriffic potential but let,s not forget his age and lack of experience. He needs to be handled carefully and someone like Botha could be of help in his development,both on and off the field.
Durston,Hughes etc are only part timers,useful but hardly players to run through the opposition in championship matches. Smith might not be here next season and i have serious doubts about Needhams ability to make the grade.
Successful counties tend to be strong in the spin department,an area we have been lacking quality for a long time. At 34,Botha still has some gas left in the tank and i think he would be handy for a couple of years. He,s no idiot with the bat and would bolster the lower midddle order,where again,we are not particularly strong. We could do far worse.
Botha never managed to run through sides when he was here anyway. He may be a stop-gap for a month if no one else is available but I see no more than that. I suspect that once the T20 is over our best chance is getting one one of Lancashire's spinners for a month as they have Kerrigan and Parry who wont be playing regularly with Keedy number one. For the T20 I suspect Durston, Smith and Hughes will do the job for the meantime
ReplyDeleteThere may be other options like you say. Dont get me wrong,im not necessarily a big fan of Botha,just that i think he might do a job for us,but as you rightly point out,there are other options if we wish to persue them. If we dont win tonight the T20 is done and dusted anyway.
ReplyDeleteBOTHA couldnt wait to get out of derbyshire when uncle ashley called, surely we dont want ashleys cast-offs.
ReplyDelete