Final thoughts on Middlesex

Reece 13, Godleman 25, Wood 11, du Plooy 22, Critchley 41, Hughes 10, Guest 21, Dal 12, Thomson 11, Conners 6, Aitchison 11.

Those are the season batting averages for the side that lost at Lord's. If every man in it batted to his average, we would have made 183 runs.

Yet Dave Houghton chose to pick out the bowlers for criticism after the game, saying they need to learn to keep things quiet when they aren't taking wickets. Valid criticism, were it not for his having released the senior bowler who could do that at the end of last year.

Look around the circuit at county attacks and they all have that 'go to' experienced bowler who can come on when most wanted. Murtagh yesterday a shining example, but it could be Wright at Leicestershire, or Fletcher, Stevens, Bresnan, Leach and many more.

Pre-season, Houghton said the beauty of our young attack was that 'we don't know what they are going to do'. But the thinking money might have been on them breaking down and having line and length issues at times, because that's what young bowlers do.

I think a young attack has done pretty well and taking wickets hasn't been a problem. But just as Kim Barnett, John Morris and Chris Adams came into a side of experienced batsmen who eased their way, young bowlers would get an easier gig if someone was helping and mentoring at the other end.

I saw statistics on Twitter last night that showed that over the season our bowlers were ninth in the country for balls required  per wicket, which is pretty good going for largely young players. Conversely, our batting was bottom for the balls required to get them out by some distance. 

On overall team batting average we were bottom again, on bowling average seventh bottom, giving credence to the bowlers being overly expensive, but again highlighting the team's real issue. 

You can prove any point with statistics of course, but these show clearly where our problem lies. I suspect our bowlers would have done better still had we retained Tony Palladino to help them, but the problem lies in a batting line up that, with the exception of Messrs Critchley, Madsen and Hosein, has under-performed.

I am old enough to recall Venkat coming here, a lovely bowler who took wickets regularly. But the reality was that if he took 6-97 it was too expensive, as our batting was woeful at the time. 

A feature of the best Derbyshire sides has been that they cobbled together the requisite runs to win. They grafted as a team and gave the bowlers something to work with. 

Every manager will remind his charges of what is required at times, but for me, singling out the bowlers when we have failed all season to give them something to bowl at was wrong and counter-productive. Around their injuries, Conners, Aitchison and Cohen have highlighted their potential this year, recording personal bests and having their share of good days, laudable for players of inexperience.

The batsmen are more experienced, therefore there are fewer excuses. Reece is overworked and should be at five or six, Godleman should be allowed to focus on his batting, du Plooy needs to tighten his defence but be willing to play the shots that made him a success on arrival here. They have not become bad players overnight, but the batting needs a reset.

It is as if Houghton is happier criticising young players who are less likely to answer back, or simply flips a coin to see what he will say for each post-match interview. I pine for the honesty and clarity of someone like Paul Nixon, who always fronts up and speaks candidly and clearly, whatever the result.

If supporters find the sound bites of the Head of Cricket so confusing and illogical, it doesn't suggest the players will be getting an awful lot from them either.

No wonder we struggle.