There is an obvious talent there and for those of a certain age those figures are reminiscent of what a certain KJ Barnett produced in his salad days. If Mitch becomes half the player that Kim was, we wouldn't complain.
It appears that Derbyshire is becoming the leg spin capital of the world, with Wagstaff, like Critchley, McKiernan and Marshall, a purveyor of the darkest bowling art. We should sign Ish Sodhi for next year and have dry bouncing tracks prepared...
Wagstaff gets his chance as Billy Godleman is out of the Royal London Cup with a pulled quad. Alex Hughes will again captain the side but isn't yet fit to bowl, while Michael Cohen's season is over with what sounds like it may be a stress fracture in his lower back. With Messrs Scrimshaw, Melton, Conners and Potts all recovering from injury, so too Wayne Madsen, and with Harvey Hosein seeing a specialist after two recent concussions, the named thirteen are effectively the last men standing. The squad reads:
Came, Wagstaff, Wood, Guest, Hudson-Prentice, Hughes, Dal, Thomson, McKiernan, Priestley, Marshall, Aitchison, Rampaul
It is our first List A game against Glamorgan in twelve years and they have the excellent Billy Root in their side, as well as former Derbyshire overseas player Hamish Rutherford. There are plenty of young guns in their side, so it may be a more even game than some this summer.
Their squad:
Carlson, Carey, Cooke, Cullen, Gorvin, Hogan, Pearce, Reingold, Root, Rutherford, Salter, Selman, Weighell.
Here's hoping that we can find a performance or two to get us on the right side of the line.
No chance Peakfan, another thrashing on the cards here
ReplyDeletePriestley and Dal to miss out
ReplyDeleteI think our best chance of winning is by batting second and chasing as we seem to be struggling to judge the right tempo batting first.
ReplyDeleteWagstaff looks a prospect, especially as a batsman. I hope we bring him through and he can become a heavy run scorer in all formats.
ReplyDeleteI'm not convinced the likes of Priestley and Marshall are any different than Dal, Thomson, McKiernan or Hughes, in that they're not bad players but they're not really going to threaten to score heavily on a consistent basis nor be frontline bowlers. Those lads have their place but you need specialist batters and bowlers.
Something needs to change at the club we love. The standard of play is possibly lower than at any time I have watched the team in 50 odd years. Treading water is not an option. We desperately need some fresh ideas/ on and off the field. This might require uncomfortable decisions and casualties both on the field and within the coaching set up. I am very sorry I had to write this but feel at an all time low watching unacceptable cricket, we are not even competative in most games.
ReplyDeleteWell, we weren’t beat, Steve, which is the best we can hope for in the current circumstances.
ReplyDeleteSomething that’s been on my mind is how good our academy system is. For example, take a look at Mitch Wagstaff’. The club website says:
The top-order batsman, 17, has been in good form for the Cricket Derbyshire Academy, in partnership with the University of Derby, having scored 597 runs, including four half-centuries and one century.
Yet his stats for the seconds are not impressive for a batsman: 227 runs in 10 innings over the last 12 months. I know he’s only seventeen. But there’s nothing to suggest he could be a great batsman. He might well be in the future. However, currently there’s nothing pointing in that direction.
We’ve let so many young players go in recent years - Callum Brodrick, James Taylor, Alfie Gleadhall -, and at one time or another they were all touted as individuals who were destined to make an impact.
In our current first team squad we have a number of players who, let’s face it, are average, although we always think they’re going to produce a match winning performance. They might shine in the Derbyshire Premier League, or elsewhere. but they don’t have what it takes to succeed at a higher level.
Unbelievable. Mitch hasn't set a foot on the pitch for the first team yet and is already being criticised. In an ideal world he would be continuing his development outside the first eleven. Unfortunately, the Hundred doesn't give us an ideal world.
DeleteThe lad is 17. How about giving Mitch and the rest of the young lads some encouragement. First class cricket is difficult enough to break into without your own supporters negativity.
Spirit of 93 (Jeremy Taylor)
I’m not sure it’s a talent issue as I’ve not seen any of the players without talent. I’m concerned that these players are not being prepared correctly for the higher standard of the game. We are playing a very much under strength team in this comp due to the 16.4. Add to that the ridiculous number of injuries to what is already a finance lead small squad and we find ourselves in a position of weakness that is always going to be hard to compete in. I don’t really blame the training practices for the injuries. They happen to all clubs at all times especially to young bowlers. Not sure you could stop Billy’s , Mads and Yozzas injuries. All incredibly fit players and will be managing their own fitness to a large extent. The overseas or lack of is the clubs fault to a large extent. Stan lake was a stupid signing at best. McDermott unfortunate due to a late organised international schedule. Vanbeek and Ravi a last ditch attempt neither of which as worked. A top overseas is key to the performance of our team based on the players we can and more relevantly can’t attract . We do have players in the a squad who I believe can grow into good county pros but they need the correct coaching and support. My concern is it appears to an outsider looking in that they are not receiving good support. In answer to the people who say all our players are rubbish. That’s not helpful ! Some Young players are fighting for contracts snd their professional careers and probably read this. They are playing in a comp with very little experience trying to find their way in the game self learning on the job. I for one think they deserve a bit more of our support than the constant rubbishing on line. This is after all been labelled as a development competition. Quick stat to finish. Wood was eventually selected to play what ended up being the last 4 of the blast games . I see he made the top 11 nationally in the averages for this comp with an average of 47 and a strike rate of 126. If you put the 1 game he played last year into the stats it jumps to above 52 with a strike rate around 130. My main concern is that whilst the management could just about raise an argument last year for his lack of inclusion. The fact that it took 8 games to get him in this year for me shows a total lack of judgment and puts into question many other questions regarding the management and decisions that are being made. 90% of people on these forums could see the sense in his inclusion based on what he was able to achieve in one attempt. Why was that decision so hard to see for management. All these questions can be argued away with twisted logic but the fact remains even when we had all our top players in place we still were performing awfully. So in short we need a change in management and sooner rather than later
ReplyDeleteWood doesn't have the technique to survive in red ball cricket. A salivating slip cordon would see to that.
DeleteIn 50 over and T20 he would have more success, is that enough to warrant a contract? For a club with limited finances my answer would be no.
Plenty of people advocating changes in "management" but not many alternatives being mentioned....