Worcestershire 475-7 (Clarke 194, Leach 107 not, Cotton 3-63)
Derbyshire 15-0
Derbyshire trail by 460 runs
Last night I suggested that Derbyshire needed an early breakthrough this morning. As it turned out, we never got one until the home total had passed 400 and that was all we managed in a tiring and largely fruitless session. It is, indeed, a game that appears to have 'end of season' emblazoned across it.
With two days to go, batting would not appear especially problematic, though there is considerable difference between the experience of the two sides. The ease with which Billy Godleman and Ben Slater began the reply suggested that the ball was coming on to the bat well enough and we must hope that continues into the third day.
Billy needs another 85 runs to reach a thousand in the County Championship, reaching which would be just reward for a steady summer. There's the nucleus of a decent batting side at Derbyshire, which needs augmented elsewhere to become a competitive outfit next summer.
More tomorrow.
September is normally a sad month with the prospect of no more cricket and a long winter ahead. This year it has not come soon enough for the Derbyshire supporter and the Worcestershire match has confirmed all that is currently wrong with the side with yet another opposition batsman scoring nearly 200 and another making a career-best century. Our bowling is unbelievably weak, hence our inability to win a single first-class match for the first time in the modern era. At least in less successful seasons in the 1960s and 1970s we were regularly facing many Test-class players and overseas stars, not just Division 2 sides.
ReplyDeleteOur batting has been fitful and has suffered from some strange selections. It really is indefensible that a player averaging over fifty and with every chance of scoring a thousand for the season can be ignored with no explanation from the club, unless I have missed it. As Tim pointed out, our tail in this match arguably begins at seven. I would have thought that for the sake of pride alone - avoiding a winless season - Derbyshire should have selected the best available players for this and previous matches.
Obviously we urgently need new bowlers, one from overseas, and a coach who can ensure that promising young players are nurtured and given sensible opportunities. I certainly don't want to be watching Harvey Hosein playing for Lancashire or Surrey in a couple of years.
Incidentally, when did Derbyshire last use seven different bowlers before lunch on the first day of a match?