There have been plenty of dogged Derbyshire opening batsmen over the years. Albert Alderman, Charlie Elliott, Ian Hall, Charlie Lee, Alan Hill - they would all have been proud of the application and grit shown by Billy Godleman today.
Without him, we'd have lost, pure and simple. Our batting, without Wayne Madsen and Wes Durston, is inexperienced and brittle in the middle order and you wouldn't catch me putting my beer money on us chasing 300 on a good day right now.
59-3 at lunch, with Dilshan already back in the pavilion, suggested that an early demise may be on the cards, but Godleman and Shiv Thakor did very well between lunch and tea and ensured that we got some draw points at the end of a frustrating game.
It was the sort of effort that one hopes for from a captain and while winning no prizes for flair, it was exactly what we needed in the circumstances. While we look some way off the promotion pace right now, those points may be useful some September.
More from me tomorrow, when I will have a little more time.
Disappointing performance all round Peakfan, hard to defend really.
ReplyDeleteThis wasn,t a game to look back on with a great deal of satisfaction. Too many things went wrong both on and off the field. To hang on to a draw by a thread and finish so far away from what was a very fair target is quite worrying. We were in an awkward position when the fourth wicket fell but there might be a feeling we shut up shop a little prematurely. Godleman came up with an innings similar to his debut when we played Middlesex. You can,t fault him for effort and application and had his wicket fallen anytime during the first seventy overs we would have been beaten but there is just a nagging feeling had he and Thakor been a little more positive,well,who knows?.At the moment we seem grateful to pick up crumbs from the table but if we are not careful we are going to be late for the banquet.
ReplyDeleteI'm not averse to dishing it out when it's deserved, Mark, but I think you're being a bit harsh. This wasn't a 300 pitch, even in 80 overs, and Derbyshire did well to get out of it with the draw. It was right that they made the effort to get a result, but having seen how the pitch continued to play, in retrospect, it was probably an over-ambitious target. There might have been a chance if Slater and Godleman had got away to a solid start, or Dilshan had got going, but there's no blame there - Slater got a poor lbw decision, and Dilshan got a superb yorker from Payne. From there, Derbyshire always had to go with care. There was s short period in mid-afternoon when Thakor started to play some shots that there might have been a brief thought about chasing but Gloucestershire pulled that back. It was a little disappointing that we didn't save it with some comfort, as it looked as if we were heading for a 5pm finish before Thakor was out, and Hosein and Critchley showed their inexperience in dealing with the situation.
ReplyDeleteThere were disappointing aspects to the game. It didn't matter much in the end because of the loss of time in the match, but Derbyshire's bowling and fielding on the first day was pretty poor and surrendered the initiative in the game. It was good to see Thakor get some runs, but Elstone's dismissal was tame again, and I'm afraid that time is running out for him to show that he can score runs when it matters.
Overall, however, this round of matches has shown us that we're competing in the bottom half of the table rather than the top. Gloucestershire, Glamorgan and Northants have all shown that they are at least our equals at the moment, and seem to be playing with a confidence and assertiveness that we've lacked. The return of Madsen and our overseas players finding some consistent form will help us, but we need to recognise that we're a long way from the side that was so dominant in the last half of 2014.
agree with your assessment entirely notoveryet. We are showing few signs of doing anything other than avoiding the bottom two places and it could be even worse. Elstone should be dropped into 2nds and Cotton should feature. He has done very well so far, as has Taylor. Wayne White's performance provided a bright spot but overall we are well short.
ReplyDeleteShaun