I hope, that when we look back at the season in September, that this game can be seen as a watershed.
Because with the exception of a couple of players, this was fairly horrible.
Alex Hughes is worthy of mention in despatches, for a gutsy and battling personal best that was worthy of a century. He did blot his copy book by running out Wayne Madsen, which is akin to doing a sliding tackle on Lionel Messi in the warm ups to put him out of the game.
We can ill afford such extravagances and despite cameos down the order, the final tally on what was a rather blameless track by all accounts never looked enough.
Of the bowlers, Madsen bowled a tidy early spell and Ben Cotton a very good one, but the least said about the rest, the better.
I am a little short of time tonight, so that will need to do for now. Tuesday's game on Sky against Worcestershire, at the time it was announced a biggie, now carries all the importance, for us at least, of a beer match.
Yet we need more. We need to combine the hitherto excellent batting with bowling of far greater discipline.
To lose is one thing, to do it so heavily against an ordinary side is disappointing.
With that I say goodnight for now.
I was there peakfan. You are spot on this time. Only thing that suprised me is you rated our chances. If I handed you a sheet with our record there and said why do you rate us I would wait with abaited breath for your answer. Leicester don't beat us they thrash us. Cotton did bowl a fluent spell and tied them down and Alex post a very very good knock. Sadly that was about it. Our overseas look quote poor and that is of some real concern. Mendis may be another subcontinent expensive 'gimme da money' flop again. Better looking to new Zealand and Australia generally for comitment and desire in my opinion. Great value at grace road for food and drink by the way. Puts our dismal offerings to shame!
ReplyDeleteThe season starts to nosedive and with it confidence begins to wane- very quickly. In some ways it was inevitable. Eddie Barlow would have been able to control all aspects of team affairs but Billy Godleman is not Eddie Barlow. I will say with discretion that on-field tactics and utilisation of players has too often not been good. Having said that , even to this point performances have lacked consistency and there has to be whole-team responsibility. We could find loads of negatives at this point along with a few positives too but we have to look at the rest of the season.
ReplyDeleteThe league will go on and in Derbyshire's case it will now be an attempt to actually win a couple of matches in order not to finish bottom.
But there remains the 20/20 and therein, a hope for something positive to happen. With a continuation of the present set-up it won't. A radical. totally positive approach will be required to have a chance. John Wright is coming over, along with a bowler, who if used correctly and supported can win matches. I believe there are players on the Derbyshire staff, who are functioning well below their level of capability , sometimes because they are not being used or not being used correctly. I include Wilson, Madsen, Smit, Critchley, Wood, Hosein and Hughes in that list. The latter, who is tactically aware,who is capable of batting very well as he showed today and very economical spells of bowling, as well as being an excellent fielder should be made Captain of the 20/20 side. The batting order needs to be considered carefully and amended to suit each match situation. Above all, the entire ethos and mentality of the side needs to be galvanized from ball 1. As I say, I see the potential in the Club to do well in this particular Competition but other Counties will up their game as well, which is why a much more dynamic approach will be required. Wright/Hughes is our best hope. Nothing against Billy but I wouldn't have him in my 20/20 side. We have hit the buffers already this season but there is a glimmer of hope that something may yet happen to give us some pride, some hope for the future because we cannot change our allegiance.
The team isn't strong enough Peakfan when you compare it to the vast majority of others, and it will continue to be so when you're working with the smallest budget out there. That was pathetic today and a lot of soul searching should be taking place because it's unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteSeason over and it is mid May
ReplyDeleteAt least we have avoided the wooden spoon in one competition, I guess that is progress
Oh, I forgot the 20/20
Ah, my Derbyshire. Welcome back, we've missed you!
ReplyDeleteWorrying thing Peakfan is that we are not really learning anything new about the team and no one has stepped up their performances from last season.
ReplyDeleteWe knew Godleman and Slater are a decent opening partnership and Madsen is a class act and Shiv Thakor is a promising all rounder but who else is consistently looking like producing on a regular basis. Other than the odd cameo such as Hughes's performance yesterday and a couple of knocks from Smit/Mendis I am struggling to see who is going to step up.
If you look at the bowling averages for the tournament only Thakor is averaging below 6 an over (the majority are heading towards 7 and 8's). I know it is a batsmen's game now but you are going to struggle to win games with those economy rates.
It's a scary thought that we are relying on the T20 to rescue our season!
Come on guys, no one is more disappointed than me in the Cricket over the last few days, not only the defeats but the manner of them both, but lets look where we are coming from and then be positive when looking at the future,
ReplyDeleteLast year we were basically the whipping boys, would we have been able to successfully chase +300 - No! and would we have believed our bowlers could come back and restrict a flowing Warwickshire to under 300 - No! This year we have believed we can achieve competitive scores because the runs have come from everyone down to Matt Critchley at No.8, Godleman, Slater, Thakor, Madsen, Smit, Hughes etc have all got runs, we have not just relied on Wayne Madsen. I admit the bowling has been as expected under par, but it was pleasing to see Ben Cotton come back from a couple of poor performances and bowl well against Leic. Viljoen looks very quick at time, and Thakors bowling has improved significantly from last year, yes may be we should bowl Hughes & Critchley more, but there are positives in there.
We have to remember we are not Yorkshire who can but out a 2nd XI full of internationals, the core of out team is basically the same as last year, Smit, Viljoen & Mendis being the additions (Reece & Wilson not playing at the moment), so why are we expecting to be world beaters this year?
We the supporters should get behind this team, not have rumblings so early in the season (mutterings around the ground when Warwickshire were +150-1), and on this blog, if we are having the same discussion in 2 years time I agree we should moan, but the core of the team are young lads still learning.
I am not a fan of the team managing things, I think particularly at times like this you need a Manager/Coach who can look at things from the outside and may be help Billy develop his Captaincy skills and take the hard decisions to drop someone. Could we persuade John Wright to stay for the rest of the season in all formats?
I'm not as pessimistic as some; the 50-over batting was remarkably good until the Leicestershire debacle but the bowling, notably weakened by Viljoen's disappointing form, is below par in both forms of the game. I'm hopeful that Kim Barnett can effect some improvement.
ReplyDeleteSurely the Worcestershire game, though, can be used to offer a chance to a couple of other players. Macdonnell comes to mind.
And then there's Harvey Hosein.The Worcestershire players will recall his last first-team outing, when he scored 108 and 59 against them to bring his average to over 100. Even if we accept that Gary Wilson is a superior keeper, it's hard to fathom how Hosein. not having been chosen against Loughborough U.,finds himself well back in the selectors' minds purely as a batsman. Time for him to be given a 50-over game and for others to justify their places in the Championship side ahead of him.
Enough said about yesterday Peakfan. Despite the result, I think we have made a bit of improvement from last season. Hopefully, we can finish with a win tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteBack to the red ball stuff at the end of the week, which I for one am really looking forward to.
Will our new strike bowler be a better proposition when the captain can set proper fields for him?
Will the weather dry up,and warm up, so that our leggies can be more threatening?
Can we score 'big runs' up front?
I believe we can.
Let's see how we do in four day stuff before 'wham, bam, thankyou mam' starts in July.
The new structure, seen by some as innovative, might by the end of the season be seen by many more as misguided.
ReplyDeleteWith players responsible for their own development, and ten places becoming the Captain's pick ( the Captain himself being the eleventh), is there not a possibility that team selection can become quite comfy for those in situ, and difficult for those who don't drink at the same trough?
Blind spots can develop for sure. I know, for I once captained a side, and kept picking a hitter because he could win us a game here and there. It took an outsider to point out that I was right, he could, but it was almost two seasons that he had!
The Eddie Barlow comment I've read on this, or another channel, is right. Someone like Eddie could, but those guys aren't seen too often in a lifetime, and anyone who can't grasp the whole by the cream crackers will fail if they prove to be less than that raging fire within the club.
The Hardus Viljoen criticism is very harsh, he is being asked to do his rehab in the first team, not his fault.
ReplyDeleteAgreed Knack. In an ideal world he would have had a game or two in the 2s and got 30 to 40 overs in. Doing it in Powerplays is tough for any bowler
ReplyDelete