Derbyshire 146 (du Plooy 43 Snater 3-45)
Essex 86-3 (Hudson-Prentice 2-24)
Essex trail by 60 runs
Overcast conditions, green wicket and a batting line-up shorn of personnel and short on confidence - what could possibly go wrong?
I can only assume that there was concern about batting last against Simon Harmer, but we were four down by lunch and gone by tea.
Tom Wood struggles at this level against the moving ball and didn't last long, while Luis Reece should have been caught before he was adjudged lbw. Had Leus du Plooy been caught behind by Wheater soon after his arrival, lunch could have been a very sorry affair.
Guest looked composed in his time, at the crease, but will need to turn his undoubted technique into a greater weight of runs. Critchley looked in decent touch but for insufficient time, while Came straddled only the lunch interval.
When the normally composed Hosein played a shot he will want to forget, another sub-150 total looked yet again on course.
Du Plooy batted steadily, though was more restrained after lunch, before getting a decision from umpire Middlebrook that was questionable at best. The batsman was two steps down the wicket and the ball had a long way to travel, the trajectory seemingly down leg side, but the umpire belatedly gave him out, almost as the leg bye had been completed.
Thereafter the end came swiftly and regardless of the loyalty and duration of your support, it is desperately hard to be a Derbyshire fan at present. I know we have played some strong sides this year, but..
It isn't an easy wicket and Essex struggled at only two an over in reply, but Browne played a dogged innings and, with Neesham, saw them to the close only 60 runs behind. Hudson-Prentice confirmed what we will miss next year, with two of the wickets.
We have much to do tomorrow.
The gulf in quality and experience was plain to see today and so it should be. First division double champions versus a made up team of relatively young and or largely inexperienced players with no natural leader to fall back on. Don’t get me wrong I thought we fought well but we are short of confidence and it shows with the bat most of all, their bowling was excellent. They attacked the batsman and gave them very little to hit whilst making them play far more than we were able to manage. The ball swung more for them also. Probably down to higher levels of skill but also the conditions which improved slowly through the day. I can understand not wanting to face Harmer in the last innings. Fair enough but again our top order was exposed to the severist of tests. A test they struggled to come to terms with. Deploy was the shining light with fast and decisive footwork designed to negate the swing and lengths. It worked well with the exception of a clang to the helmet and also quite frankly a terrible LBW decision that could only be based on pure guess work . He must have been well past the 8 foot line when hit and impossible to say with any certainty that the ball was going to hit the stumps. Not withstanding our poor total I thought we tried hard with the ball whilst not troubling the batsman often. When Crich dropped Cook from a reletavley easy chance I feared the worst but Reece managed to minimise the error not too long after. On the whole we tried hard I thought but the gulf in class was obvious. Not to be surprised considering they are Div1 champions and we are an average Div2 side at best even with Mads and a firing Godleman. Not sure if I’m becoming desensitised too this recurring theme or I’ve just become resigned to the situation. Losing FHP today was a bigger disappointment to be honest. My worry is how many more will want to leave a sinking ship. Affirmative action is required by the board and sooner than later Id suggest . I have no axe to grind with the management but enough is enough. They’ve had a fair crack and have fallen well short of the required results. It’s tough but sport is a results business. Poor results over a sustained period should meen only one outcome. I have lost all faith in the management from poor overseas signings to poor team selections. The team needs new leadership on and off the pitch. It’s harsh but happens to be the truth.
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All become clearer now at Derbyshire. It never rains.....
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