Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire preview

I am back from a few very busy days at my parents and ready to watch some cricket tomorrow. Gulp...

The local rivals come to town and even optimistic old me struggles to see where a win is coming from. When you neither bat nor bowl well, the result is only going one way  and the Derbyshire players who have done well in this competition can be counted on two fingers.

Mattie McKiernan and Ravi Rampaul return after illness and George Scrimshaw is also available, as a fourteen - man squad has been announced as follows:

Mitch Wagstaff, Harry Came, Brooke Guest, Tom Wood, Anuj Dal, Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Alex Hughes, Alex Thomson, Connor Marshall, Nils Priestley, Mattie McKiernan, George Scrimshaw, Ravi Rampaul, Ben Aitchison

No news on the Nottinghamshire squad at this stage, but even in the absence of most of their first team they will give us a stern test.

I don't think that playing for their futures has helped a lot of the Derbyshire squad and it is telling that the only two consistent performers have been FHP, who is leaving, and Brooke Guest, who knows he will be around. Most of the rest have Derbyshire, even first-class careers on the line and the pressure will be considerable.

Yet that is where a good man manager helps, takes the pressure off, inspires. We haven't seen that all season, bar for the usual end of game sound bites that have become irksome.

Yes, I know, as I explained to someone in email the other night, that we have been badly hit by injury, especially to the seam attack. But that was ALWAYS very likely when Dave Houghton rolled the dice and opted to go with young bowlers only this year. 

It was at best naive, but there are other words. Young bowlers unused to a lot of overs in club or second team cricket have broken down. They do, as bodies develop. We have also signed players with a track record of back problems, one of them as overseas who had played ten first-class games in ten years. The need for at least one older seamer whose body was used to the rigours of county cricket was obvious to most, giving us a decent chance. We released both of the ones we had... 

So no sympathy from me. Just ongoing and severe frustration at what I see as mismanagement of resources. That's before I get started on selections, tactics and motivation. 

In my absence I saw a few suggestions for alternatives as coaches. I have my own ideas and will gladly air them, if and when we decide to go in a different direction. Don't hold your breath on that. 

Because I am sadly of the opinion that we have a board that will happily opt for continuity and a quiet life, will accept excuses and will tolerate us being just the same next year. It is less hassle that way. They increasingly remind me of the one man in the marching band who are convinced that they are in step and the rest are wrong. 

If you are reading this and are a Derbyshire member, why not submit a question for the forthcoming members meeting? Ask about the club's direction, query the tolerance of sub-standard performance and ask why all the frustrations that I and others have aired have not been addressed. Don't use it for inane questions on the temperature of water in the toilets, the choice of sandwiches in the ground or the quality of toilet paper in the loos. 

Submit the REAL questions. Let's see if they allow them and will recognise and do something about the deep disappointment among the club support.