Derbyshire 270 and 128
Worcestershire won by 23 runs
Nothing much to say right now and family issues don't allow me the time while down at my parents.
Suffice to say that things need to change soon for Derbyshire.
I have a lot of time for Dave Houghton as a man who is unfailingly courteous and approachable, as a batting coach of renown and as a man who has brought stability to Derbyshire cricket after a period of challenge.
However, we are fast approaching that point again. I know from messages and comments that a lot of people are not happy and they cannot be, after a third poor performance in four games.
I am some way removed from those who enjoy the revolving door of sports management, but someone has to be responsible for the current situation.
On paper, this isn't a bad squad, but the reality is that it isn't performing as it should. As in all sports, the buck stops with the coaches in such situations. Players take responsibility too, but I cannot help but think that many of them will be as baffled as supporters by events and decisions of this summer and the winter that preceded it.
I would welcome all comments, but a continuation of such poor results and specifically performances is unacceptable.
Members and supporters deserve answers
And soon.
Derbyshire have been here before with Dave Houghton and it didn’t end well last time, worrying times for the future of Derbyshire CCC as a first class County
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ranger's view re the future. This is simply not good enough and I would like to see some sense of intent and urgency from the top. I'm afraid the current management regime has to change, and quickly. We can only hope for better things in the t20 but change is the priority now. This is an embarassment.
ReplyDeleteA county with limited resources like Derbyshire can punch above its weight and achieve success, but only with high-calibre management. The current problems haven't come out of nowhere. There hasn't been much evidence of quality management in our four day cricket for years. It's not just the strange batting orders and haphazard team selection. It's not even expecting far too much of Reece (and now Guest - who at age 24 has a career record of one first-class 50, yet is asked to open and keep wicket). Recent recruitment and retention has seen an over-dependence on inexperienced players and a similar approach to the admittedly tricky task of bringing in quality 'overseas stars' - an area which is vital to a team like Derbyshire. It's reminiscent of the days when Di Venuto was replaced by Travis Birt, which wasn't exactly a masterstroke. Dave Houghton knows a great deal about cricket and is very good at spotting young talent. But that isn't the same as being suited to top-level management. Wishful thinking is fine for fans but not for the people who make key decisions. All managers make mistakes, but what separates the good managers from the rest is that they recognise those mistakes and learn from them. I'd like to see signs of this happening, but no luck so far.
ReplyDeleteDiVenuto was according to the Durham book I read released because "the club wanted to get the right overseas player to compliment the young players" That worked a treat didn't it...
ReplyDeleteA long time lurker here but avid follower of your excellent blog.
ReplyDeleteSadly I am thinking of turning off my Derbyshire updates at the moment as they are depressing me too much.
I agree with the general sentiments. I suspect followers of Derbyshire like me are conditioned to cope over the years with adverse results but I find the current capitulations difficult viewing and I am interested to read into your insights to the cause. All I know is what would happen in football when a similar top to bottom 'reset' is required.
My hope at the moment is a change in format will lead to this 'reset' and an improvement of application and results. Is anyone else as doubtful this will happen as I am ?
Dropped catches are costing us dear. Worcs should have been 21-3 - all 3 to Conners - and then Haynes dropped later. Durham could easily have been 18-4, one of those reprieved going on to score nearly 300. You just can't afford to do this and expect to have success at this level.
ReplyDeleteOf course none of this excuses some of our batting with too many out of touch and no viable quality options to replace them...
Personally I'm confident things will improve and calls for changes in management are ridiculous at this stage in my opinion. Don't they say form is temporary......
If Derbyshire want to keep the vultures away from ending our first class status things have to change quickly. Speculation is required on the playing budget, being debt free is all well and good but showing a bit more ambition is our only option short term.
ReplyDeleteNot posted on here for a while . I have watched bit and bobs on the live stream plus I have away days planned in commencing at Trent Bridge in early July. The team looks woefully short in confidence particularly the top order.
ReplyDeleteThis hasn’t been helped with the selection policy and the fact that we don’t really have a proper opener or number 3 that can just bat time .Dal,Reece,Guest ,Wood would NOT bat 3 in another county but also the chopping and changing in selection can’t help ..
We also need an experienced bowler that can lead the attack and share expertise and guile ..Unsure of the budget post Stanlake but I’d go for 2 loans another bat plus an opening bowler from one of the bigger clubs to get some county cricket nous on the pitch as the squad looks lost!! .Surrey, Warwickshire,Lancashire tend to have larger squads so might trade
Well done to Critchley , Hosein ,Connor and Aitchinson thus far in an otherwise poor show.
June could be a defining month for D Houghton ,need to act now in terms of personnel .
Firstly this season has been tremendously disappointing but let’s not forget at the end of last season we were being lauded as one of the successes of last season and a win away from the final of the Bob Willis trophy.
ReplyDeleteSecondly it’s pretty clear our batting has been poor. To have Godleman, Du Plooy, Reece and even Madsen struggle to get substantial scores has really hurt us and probably couldn’t have been foreseen. Barring Critchley and Hosein our batting has had no consistency and not helped by random position changes and ill thought out plans (the earliest one was Dal batting at three and then jettisoned after a game). If that was the plan over the winter then give him half a dozen games rather than one or two and start from scratch. The random treatment of Alex Hughes is another as batting at 8 and hardly bowling is just bizarre
Thirdly for our bowling it’s fine to go in with young bowlers as Houghton has mentioned (and they haven’t performed badly) but you really need your overseas to fire if that’s the plan either through a bucketload of runs or a lot of wickets. This clearly hasn’t happened and our selection of overseas player is clearly up for discussion for the 4 day game as they were highly likely to be unsuccessful to me.
Based on all this we really need a decent T20 / one day period of the season otherwise the pressure really grows