By any standards against which you care to judge, this has been a shocking display by Derbyshire. One of the kind that most of us hoped had been consigned to the dump bin of history.
We didn't bowl very well, but the batting was a shambles. From the point at which we lost a wicket in the only over faced before lunch, through an afternoon of horrific batting, this was heavy going. I have enough going on at the moment, without having to endure watching that, so I decided not to bother and go for a nap.
Godleman faced seven balls in total for a pair, Ali doing only one run better. Madsen perished on a flamboyant drive, Lamb on a rushed hook...it wasn't good.
I doubt Mickey Arthur will sleep well tonight and he will have some food for thought. As I replied to a comment on yesterday's play, I didn't think the wicket as good for batting as our bowling made it appear, but nor was it as bad as our batters made it look when their turn came.
Don't get me wrong, this is a good Durham attack. Man for man, given the choice, you would swap each of their three main seamers, with their greater experience, into our side. But the body language of the Derbyshire side has worried me in what I have seen here. I didn't see it last year, but there wasn't the same level of intensity that we came to enjoy and respect last season. Both the bowlers and batters need to get it together quickly, because the optimism of pre-season is dissipating far too quickly for most tastes.
A bucolic last wicket stand between Luis Reece and Sam Conners showed what was possible, but this has to be the nadir of our season's fortunes. Whether it is true or not, such displays will only add fuel to the fire of comments that I have seen, suggesting the Head of Cricket is distracted, the players concerned.
It is now down to all of them to prove such assertions incorrect. We need to bat all day tomorrow and hope that the threatened Sunday rain saves us from defeat. I wouldn't be putting any money on our doing so.
Madsen and Guest resisted for a while, but the former seldom looked comfortable and the end came with an air of inevitability, as he sparred once too often at the hostile Carse, who earlier completed a maiden and excellent century. du Plooy went to a careless shot and lunch tomorrow seems to be the summit of our ambitions. Fair play to Guest, who resisted well, as Reece did earlier, but he too went before the close.
There was no need for some of the knee jerk comments on social media. It is one game and most sides have such a performance in them once a season. These have not suddenly become bad players, but we cannot afford a repetition of this kind of display.
But the highlight of my day, family and dogs aside, was a visit from the district nurse.
Which kind of tells you everything, really.
My district nurse is 21 and looks like Sophia Loren in her prime.
ReplyDeleteFind it difficult to watch Derbyshire at their best when she comes a-knocking. In fairness though would take Hattie Jacques or Belle Emberg over this performance!!
Hattie and Bella would have played cricket better too malc
DeleteShould have put a full stop before my name.malc.I have been a fan even longer than Steve,my first match was on In Les Jackson’s last season.this is the worst showing in my opinion,since early 7o abut not too late ,I think we had such high hopes this year tho.malc
DeleteDave, Wirral
ReplyDeleteThere aren’t like buttons here, but consider that ‘liked’ Dave.
DeleteCraig.
thanks Craig, it came down to laugh or cry..
DeleteI think there are worrying signs so far this season.
ReplyDeleteLast season Arthur had many players playing well above themselves however so far this season it looks like the Arthur effect has evaporated. I think your comment about the comparison man for man is appropriate and I had very similar thoughts regarding each sides seam attack.
We need to turn it around quickly as right now quite a few players are (or are back to) looking sub standard to be frank. For day cricket is ruthless and last season's progress is being reversed swiftly.
I retain faith but I think the squad will need to find something they've lacked since last season. Again I have to wonder how much confidence Masood's ridiculous run scoring early doors last year was able to inject and its that confidence we need again, this time though it will need to be a team effort to step up.
beautifully and very fairly summed up ,Peakfan. It is quite unacceptable and Arthur knows it. His project is imploding in front of our eyes.
ReplyDeleteSome bad LBW decisions haven’t helped our cause
ReplyDeleteDG
Is there disharmony in the dressing room?(not for the first time)are some senior players not happy regarding the appointment of the new captain and therefore not giving him 100% support?is Mickey Arthur 's supposed distractions elsewhere not helping?or is it just simply the team collectively has had a poor start to the season
DeleteI would say the captain has 100% support with no inside knowledge. There will be several issues, lack of pre season which is hindering the bowling mainly and that is putting additional pressure on the batting. Umpiring Decisions always go against the team under pressure and that’s not helping the cause, there is an issue with 3 of the lbw decisions which could have had put a different perspective on the outcome of this game. The difference in this game would be 80 % of the Durham deliveries would have hit the wickets compared with 20 % of the Derbyshire deliveries giving the umpires a decision to make or at least making the Durham batsmen having to make a defensive decision in their stroke
DeleteDG
I still have confidence in Micky, despite the shambolic display, so far, against Durham, where so many players have underperformed. I was surprised, though, that Reece didn't open in the second innings, as he made batting look easy in the first. Part of me thinks we've already lost the game. But, the more optimistic side of me, thinks that maybe, just maybe, we might bat well and long today and get a lead of, say, 220 to 250, and bowl Durham out.
ReplyDeleteI remain confident in Mickey too. But his comments at the end of this game are very important.
DeleteI cannot share your optimism about scoring the runs to force a win. For any kind of pressure to be applied, we would need 350 from the remaining batting. Unless someone comes in to do a 'Ted Alletson', I don't see that happening.
I think you did a wise thing PF in switching off the live stream and having a nap. Some things are more important than Derbyshire cricket and this effort by out team might have given you a relapse. It seems incredible that just a few weeks ago we were all full of optimism yet now our team is being thoroughly outplayed again. I just hope the events of 1996 and 1997 are not going yo be repeated.
DeleteI think it's always wise to wait until both sides have batted in a game before making a judgement, or in this case, until we've batted twice!
ReplyDeleteWow! what can we say after a totally shambolic performance yesterday. The sheer volume of runs Masood scored last year clearly papered over a few cracks. Ali may prove to be an asset in white ball, but is clearly a work in progress in red ball. As I have opined previously, Watt is OK for the shorter formats but I have seen nothing to suggest he should play ahead of Thomson (or McKiernan) in the championship. Not that it would have made any difference in this game.
Worrying signs for sure. This game is lost, no doubt about that. How we bounce back, or not, will show us how worrying the signs are....
For a little context though. Durham look a strong outfit, and IF they retain the services of Potts and Carse for the majority of the championship season they should be promotion candidates. Marcus North doing a good job there.....
I think it's fair to say our focus, even at this early stage, ought to be shifting onto white ball cricket this season, sadly.
Brilliant summary of what was a awful display. The idea that this team considered promotion as a real possibility at the start of the season demonstrates that something is seriously wrong. Micky Arthur should have noted the lack of consistency and threat in the seam attack before the start of the season. Why was Reece not in the first two games; he is one of the best batting allrounders in the county scene. And then why his he batting so low down. Guest last year proved to be a much improved bat, but this season he should have dropped down the order and Reece should be in the top three. The record as a captain of du Plooy is at best poor, maybe that should be looked at. And having a wicket taking bowler in Scrimshaw not used in the 4 day game baffles me. Use him in short spells, say three overs at time. If he only bowled 12 overs a day and took 2 or 3 wickets he would have earned his place. After all he, was asked to bowl 10 overs in half a days cricket for England Lions.
ReplyDeleteSadly it looks like a fight to avoid the wooden spoon this season.
Rob
So so poor apart from Lamb and Reece who come out of the game with some respectability , but otherwise a collective shambles. Worrying we're so poor this early in the season, I can see Mickey laying into them after this capitulation
ReplyDelete