I was surprised - you could make that disappointed - to see no one commenting on a good effort by Derbyshire yesterday.
There were plenty of nay-sayers on Twitter and elsewhere suggesting that the wicket would 'change' when we batted on it, but I maintain that our batting is a decent unit this summer.
We were awful on the last day against Worcestershire, but we have produced some good batting efforts and the crux of our current woes is a weak attack, for reasons well documented.
Fair play to Billy Godleman for leading from the front and to Shiv Thakor for showing that he can produce the goods at number three. Mind you, there's a big difference in batting three after a decent first wicket stand and going in early, something that I still think will take a lot of doing. If you get a chance to get your mindset right at three, it is a heck of a lot easier than going in 15 minutes after being in the field for a day and a half and bowling twenty overs.
Gary Wilson again showed that he brings an ebullience and swagger to the middle order, something that was needed after a couple of quick wickets, while Daryn Smit's composure helped to stabilise things. Both will be annoyed at getting out to shots they didn't need to play, or executed poorly, but Derbyshire are still in the game and all three results are possible ahead of day four.
I will keep an eye on it while on the daily hospital visits and hope that we don't do something silly to throw the game away having worked hard to get back into it.
All comments welcome later, when I am likely to be busy.
Postscript - thanks to all for making this the busiest-ever May in the blog's history. There's already a 20% increase on last year, so whatever the on-field travails at times, off field interest remains as strong, if not stronger than ever.
Thank you.
I sometimes wonder where we get our bowlers from.. pie throwers are us!
ReplyDeleteOur batting isn't bad .. the first match I saw wAs the great LesJacksons last season! So I was spoilt we could bowl then
Iwas a member through the 1970 s when we a had bad years but at least we could bowl!
I pray we do
Something in t20
great effort from the team sat
ReplyDeletechasing down..a seemingly
impossible 600 odd runs.
composed..durable batting by billy & shiv..and wilson and smit contributing as well,
soo difficult trying to win these
matches without youre 2 key "strike bowlers"
viljoen/ wood ?
its like arsenal trying win
without ozil/ sanchez.
flippin hard toil.
c'mon you falcons!.
davis ..not wood of course!
DeleteMartin says
ReplyDeleteIn the end a commendable performance especially from the batters on what must have been the sort of track Boyc's granny would look to bat on all weekend.
Still think getting the 3rd WK is a debatable decision given the state of the bowling.
Bore draw, but it stops the rot.
ReplyDeleteDerbyshire of all counties and Derby of all places, to avoid defeat we have to produce a wicket like that. I can't imagine what Walter and Les would make of it.
ReplyDeleteSome very good fight shown well done lads. However, pitch a complete joke not impressed and we badly need Viljeon Davis and Tahir then we might actually win a game
ReplyDeleteSuch pitches and final days kill the game mate. We could have had any world bowling combo on there and struggled.
ReplyDeleteNeed to get pitches right, but as Walter Goodyear said to me, there's no such thing as exact pitch science...
This was deliberate Steve,you couldn't possibly get our pitch like that by accident.
DeleteYes, you are perhaps right Knack. While our batting can go head to head with most sides in the division, the bowling struggles on any surface right now.
DeleteSo draws, dull as they are, may be the summit of ambition until we get bowlers back.
Full credit to the whole team, after Leics 1st innings it was all about saving the match and we did that quite comfortably in the end - I would like to think that if it was Derbys who racked up that massive 1st innings total we would have tried to tee up a challenging last inning score to try and force a result, thoughts?
ReplyDeleteThe batting proved that the Worcestershire game was a one off and that such collapse's will not regularly re-occur. However, I do think that we need to rethink about the type of wickets that we play on. Ideally you want pitches that enable matches to last four days but there has to be more assistance than what the bowlers could get out of last week's surface. There was nothing for the spinners even on day four, Mendis deserves credit for his 6 wickets in the first innings, even more so when Rob Sayer for Leicestershire bowled 0 for 142 in our innings. It was pleasing to see Will Davis bowling during the lunch intervals of the match and his and Viljoen's return cannot come quickly enough.
ReplyDeleteIt was very disappointing to see the time wasting tactics of both sides on the fourth day, which almost descended into farce with players standing around, the 12th man constantly coming on the field of play and the umpires seemingly having little control. I understand that the wicket and the match situation was frustrating for all but nevertheless people had paid money to come and watch and some consideration should be paid to them. The umpires could and should have done more to ensure that the game was played in the right spirit. It was not pleasing to witness home supporters shouting and slow hand clapping their own team but I understand why they were upset.
Yesterday's final session highlighted why it was right where possible to try and set up a positive result wherever possible, such as we did against Northamptonshire in the first game. Little was learned from a bland last day, whilst we may have lost against Northamptonshire but the players would have taken far more from a competitive day that ended in the last over.
Ash, I don't think that we would have done any differently if we had batted first, partly because we lack the bowlers at present to defend any challenging total and secondly I do not think that we are that adventurous when it comes to setting games up. According to some reports it was Alex Wakely who sought out Billy to arrange the chase that Northamptonshire pulled off in the first game, hopefully when he has greater bowling resources Billy will be more willing in this respect.
I went to what little play that there was today, there was some impressive stroke play from the South Africans and we would have almost certainly have been chasing a large total. I felt a little sorry for Hamidullah Qadri who was very keen to bowl his first over in list A cricket, he managed to bowl a respectable first ball when the heavens opened and despite him being desperate to bowl one more he didn't get chance.
Blame the uncontested toss rule change for pitches like this.You are not going to produce a competitive pitch,when you know that you will end up batting first on it,when its likeliest to be at its most spicy.
ReplyDeleteWhat is wrong with being allowed to produce a pitch designed to help your own bowlers,and then leaving it the chance of the toss as to who gets the choice over what to do.
Pitch may have been designed to be turning more by day 4 then actually happened,but the sooner the uncontested toss is consigned to the knackers yard,the better.
This was a good fight back after poor batting performances against Kent and Worcestershire but it has to be kept in perspective. Apart from the benign pitch, Leics are a side we should be competitive with, who haven't had a good start themselves, and had almost as threadbare an attack. The pitch wasn't quite the road the scoreboard suggests, as it had good pace and carry, and there was movement at times. Palladino on the first morning, Mckay throughout, and Taylor and Chappell in patches all caused problems, but in general, it was poor bowling as much as the pitch that caused the high scores and the stalemate.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, Godleman, Thakor and Wilson were outstanding in the context of the scoreboard pressure they were under. Having commented last week about Godleman's modest run of scores since the middle of last season, it seemed to me that he went back to first principles here, building on his natural strengths rather than throwing his arms in an attempt to play more positively, but still scored at a good pace. I'm not convinced that Thakor’s at his best at 3 but it’s hard to argue with results like this. Wilson came in when things were as close to tough as they got, with the ball moving about, Mckay bowling superbly on the back of three quick wickets , and Godleman becalmed, but his air of authority and measured belligerence quickly shifted the momentum back towards Derbyshire. The shot he got out to wasn’t as reckless as it looked in the highlights, as Chappell was getting steep bounce and this one kept much lower. He might be heading for a bizarre record having now been out for 97 in successive championship innings.
The rest of the batting is a concern, though. Madsen, Hughes and Smit are all averaging around 20, and Reece isn’t doing much better without the declaration century against Northants. Slater is struggling as well, despite making some runs here. He was really troubled by short balls, which I don’t recall seeing before, and was being put under real pressure by the Leics bowlers. Smit helped to steady things after Godleman was out, but for a batsman with his record, he seems to have very few scoring shots, mainly behind square which makes it easy to set fields to him and forces him into trying one-day shots like the one that got him out. Wilson says that he will be back keeping wicket against Notts, which means that Smit has to justify his place with his batting and is a long way off doing it. He was badly missed at first slip, however, and the game might have taken a different course if he’d been there to catch Cosgrove in the first innings.
It was very encouraging to see Taylor showing signs of getting back to form. His spell after lunch on the last day was quick, straight and aggressive, and seriously troubled Horton in particular. Four wickets for plenty in the match doesn’t look great, but he had catches put down and looks like a wicket-taking prospect again. His batting is also continuing to improve, and certainly justified him batting higher than Mendis. It’s fair to remember that he is still recovering confidence in his body and method after a serious injury and long lay-off, and if can build on his progress in this match, we will have a serious pace attack when Viljoen and Davis return. It was encouraging to see Davis bowling on the outfield at lunch, running in off what looked like his full run-up. I was also interested to see a gangly young fast bowler I didn’t recognise bowling on the outfield – I presume Alfie Gleadall since he was in the squad – and he looked seriously quick in amongst a tangle of arms and legs. His second XI figures suggest someone who hasn’t got much of a radar yet, but it would be interesting to hear from anyone who has seen him whether my impression of real pace is correct.
Hello all
ReplyDeleteBears fan in peace, my Dad and I came across on Saturday as we wanted to see some county cricket whilst Edgbaston was being used for International warm ups. And I would much rather support yourselves with my admittance money than Nottinghamshire!
Whilst we didn't see the bowlers, your batsmen did look quite comfortable for the majority of the day. I know it appears to have been a bit of a batsman wicket but there still needs to be some application. It would have been very easy to have folded under the scoreboard pressure and credit to the majority that they didn't! I was particularly impressed with Thackor who seemed to have something about him.
I definitely feel for you with the loss of your two main strike bowlers, however it is good to see you using players who have come up from the seconds and academy. I had a good chat with one of your members (apologies I didn't catch his name) and I could sense the frustration with how things are going.
All the best for the rest of the season, the way things are going with the bears at the moment you may well be playing us next year in the CC!
Welcome Andrew and please don't make this a lone visit! You said the right thing in giving us your money than those whose name we shall not speak...!
ReplyDeleteHope things pick up for you at Birmingham..but not when we meet in due course!
Anybody going to trent bridge? I really hate giving them money but have a free Saturday, Anyone know if its more on the gate than if you buy beforehand, I've looked on their website but alas there doesn't seem to be much info
ReplyDeleteI think it is £17 at Trent Bridge regardless of whether you pay in advance or not, luckily I won some tickets from the Specsavers website. It is always worth checking the competition sponsors website in any sport as there are usually a good chance of winning tickets at the start of each season.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about giving Notts money, they are a very friendly and welcoming club. I did the Trent Bridge tour a couple of winters ago and I was the only person to show up. They still gave me a 2 hour tour of the ground, a free booklet on the history of Trent Bridge and it only cost me £3.50!