With a day to go, it would be a very brave man who suggested anything other than a draw in this game. Surrey, responding to our 452 all out, racked up 362-4 with some Australian bloke named Ponting enjoying his return to the county game, as was always likely.
The Derbyshire bowlers were hindered at various times by a virus that rendered a few of them unwell, but stuck to their task well on a wicket that hasn't offered the expected - or hoped for - help to bowlers. I understand that the wicket that was intended for this game was soaked in the heavy rains of Wednesday's one-day fixture, leaving the two teams playing on the latter pitch, which has turned out to be what Geoffrey Boycott would call a 'belter'. He'd no doubt be preparing for another bat tomorrow with a 'stick o' rhubarb' for a bat...
It has been diametrically opposed to the wicket for the Sussex game, when the bounce and movement was at times worrying and extravagant. While it was good to see the batsmen have a chance to get some runs under their belts and gain some confidence, don't expect to see such a track replicated before the end of the summer.
In short, we need result pitches, the kind that were a part of the Kim Barnett era. Nice as it undoubtedly was for supporters to see living legends Chanderpaul and Ponting get centuries in this game, we need wickets where 250 can put you in control of the game and you're guaranteed a finish in four days, even if there's rain about.
Of course, in doing that there's a risk of losing, or even falling foul of pitch inspectors, but if we draw the rest of our games at home this summer we're going to go down anyway. Better to be damned if you do than if you don't, so I'll wager that Tony Palladino will be working hard to be involved in what are likely to be favourable conditions from now on.
I can't see anything more than a draw in this game as neither side can really afford to lose. Should we do so, there would be a worrying amount of ground between the two sides that I don't see us risking. We have already had a taste of the firepower possessed by the Surrey batsmen in Wednesday's game and I can't see us building up a big enough lead to set them a testing target in the final innings. You can only really do that if the other team HAS to win and will go for anything, or if the wicket offers your bowlers the help they need as batsmen chase runs.
This wicket doesn't, so this time tomorrow I expect us to have some draw points to add to the season haul. We will be no better off position-wise, but a few people will have gained confidence from this game, which will be no bad thing.
What a boring draw this has turned out to be. Probably the equivalent of the worst 0-0 possible in football. I've said it before that the batting and bowling of Derbyshire never work in tandem. One flourishes the other fails usually. I'm putting £20 on that we won't win a championship game all season. Very safe bet.
ReplyDeleteToo negative a response for me, Mark. Its not that our cricket is too bad, overall but we are just not strong or competitive enough to gain any momentum in a match and capitalize on it. Relegation is not inevitable yet but it looks likely. Krikken and Grant can blame no-one but themselves for a lack of judgement.
ReplyDeleteI had my doubts about this pitch from day one. It's wholly unsatisfactory the intended strip was rendered useless for reasons connected to the weather. It shouldn't happen this day and age and follows on from earlier matches where far too much time has been lost while other counties seem to cope much better. What ever the problems are they need to be looked at and remedies found as soon as possible. This was an important game now declared dead because of the pitch. It's not good enough and we cannot afford for it to happen again.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the match is concerned it can offer nothing more than a bit of batting practice, assuming the Surrey innings ends at some stage. One would hope that a few more of the batsmen can make use of the time in the middle. It might not do any harm to push Slater up to open with Godleman and give Durston a chance at three with Hughes coming in at four.
We can only move on to the next game and hope more things turn out in our favour. We are almost at the halfway marker now and still don't look remotely like winning a game. There have been some positives from this game in the shape of Chanderpaul,Madsen and Johnson but without a win or two the chances of avoiding the drop are fast fading away. As far as this match is concerned, the players can mostly blame factors outside their control. Unless we are talking about a dodgy curry or two.
There's a lot of wisdom after the event here. I seem to recall a lot of optimism here and on other forums about our chances this year after the signing of Chanderpaul, which I've always felt was excessive. I've made the point several times this year that our batting failings were perfectly clear throughout the second half of last year, and have simply continued in the first division. The effect has been magnified by the quality of the sides we're playing but the vulnerability isn't new. It's a bit silly to say that this shows a lack of judgement by Krikken and Grant unless you can suggest the (realistic) options that they failed to pursue that would have made a difference.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with the comments about the preparation of pitches either. As far as I recall, the comparisons that Marc has mentioned when play got under way earlier than at Derby were with Test grounds, which have hugely expensive drainage systems paid for by the ECB. Perhaps the real problem with the pitches for this game were more to do with trying to play the one day match the night before, and the difficulty of protecting two pitches in the prolonged downpour on Wednesday.
Finally, I'm not sure I agree with Peakfan either that this is a nailed-on draw. Having not lost early wickets this morning, Surry have the batsmen in and wickets in hand that could get them 150 runs ahead by early afternoon with 50 overs left. With the wicket starting to show signs of wear, it's a brave man who will predict with total confidence that we won't find ourselves in trouble here.
MARTIN GUPTILL - CAN WE PLEASE HAVE HIM BACK. THANK YOU. WHAT A STAR. AND YES I'M SHOUTING.
ReplyDeleteI always look forward to reading your contribution Notoveryet. My point with the pitch is it should have been properly covered at all times apart from the brief time the YB40 match was taking place. What precautions were taken obviously didn't work as the pitch had been ruled out earlier in the day. I know it's not easy for the groundstaff but to have one strip perfectly fit and the four day strip deemed unfit is not acceptable in my book and certainly not for a game of such importance.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's always easier to be wise after any event but as far as our batting frailties are concerned, like you, I had similar concerns last season which I regularly voiced on here. It certainly doesn't come as any surprise to me that we are struggling because I've still got doubts about some of them even at division 2 standard. I think many people tried to be optimistic pre and early season but that was probably more in hope than expectation.
At least we've survived today but as I said previously, draws are of little comfort when looking at the table.