Derbyshire 189-8 (Reece 50, Donald 44)
v Sussex
To be fair, the Sussex attack is a good one. England man Robinson, West Indian Seales, the excellent Danny Lamb (who I wish we had gone for) and Fynn Hudson-Prentice, who we know all about. One of the better attacks in the division, especially when they are all available.
They bowled steadily today, but Derbyshire didn't bat very well. David Lloyd looked good but made an error of judgement and played no stroke. Brooke Guest got a good one, but Lamb and Dal did themselves no favours by playing across the line at the start of their innings. Lamb played three poor shots in four balls and looked out of nick, to be honest, while Dal is yet to find his 'engine room' mojo this year.
Madsen was caught down the legside and although Reece and Donald batted well, Donald looking especially good, both fell without going on to an innings-changing score. Nice forties and fifties are fine and dandy in T20, but you won't win many four-day games if that is the best you can offer collectively.
Before bad light and rain took the players off, Tickner struck some lusty blows, but the innings so far looks woefully inadequate, the tail far too long. It wasn't helped by Chappell calling for a single that might have tested a pad-free Usain Bolt, the fielder running him out at the bowler's end when he could have had Tickner even more easily at the other.
Maybe Tickner and Dupavillon (spelt incorrectly on the club scorecard all day) will run through Sussex tomorrow. I really hope so. But I can't help but think that in going for two non-batting quicks as overseas picks we have heaped additional pressure on a batting line up that is far from reliable.
If you look back over county overseas players since the game opened up for them, I can't recall many times when a side went for two out and out bowlers, neither with no real pretensions to batting. There was Greenidge and Roberts, Procter and Zaheer, McEwan and Boyce, Turner and Holder, Mushtaq and Sarfraz. Sussex had two serious quicks in Imran and Le Roux, but Imran batted four and Le Roux was a pretty decent bat too!
Even this year, our opponents have Pujara and Seales, Gloucestershire have Bancroft and Zafar, Leicestershire have Harris and Handscomb but will also have Mulder shortly. OK, Hampshire have Abbott and Abbas, but they are proven performers over many seasons, while they have a pretty solid batting side too. Our two are relative unknowns, which can be an asset but can also be a challenge.
It means that those overseas picks have to take wickets as there's no back up plan. I remember when we had Venkat as our overseas, a lovely bowler who would have been devastating in a good batting side with runs to play with, but we were far from that and seldom gave him much to work with.
In a side where the batting is erratic, only one bowler averages under 50 with the ball (and he isn't playing here) and we aren't catching very well, it is easy to see why we have struggled to fire this summer. It has to improve, no doubt about it.
Food for thought and just my opinion. But the one-day form has to be much better than this or September won't see an especially happy fan base.
For what it is worth I think it will be, but there are a lot of people need convincing right now.
Self included...
Well this has to go down as a disappointing day, even allowing for a bleak damp day with overcast conditions and light drizzle. Running out of things to say about our batting. Is it poor shot selection good bowling or something else . I'm beginning to think it's a lack of real self belief and confidence.Is their a built in inferiority complex that runs right through the playing side of the club. Because something clearly isn't right and hasn't been for years. If Sussex make 375 then they'll probably win the game. Having said that we batted better in the second innings to savage draws against Glamorgan and Yorkshire.But thats not going to keep happening eventually we'll lose for playing so poorly in the 1st innings of matches.Very disappointed but we'll see what happens when we bowl.
ReplyDeleteSteve Jr.
Well, another thoroughly disappointing day this time with the bat. We've just not got going so far this season and we're now five games in, things have to start picking up asap. I can guarantee that the Sussex batsmen won't struggle to rack up a big first innings total, but it will probably be to no avail as the weather will save us again
ReplyDeleteI echo your thoughts, Steve. You hit the nail on the head when you said our batting is "erratic". That perfectly sums it up most of the time. In addition, our top order has been shaky. Here are the runs added for the first four wickets the three games prior to this one:
ReplyDeleteFirst: 1, 56, 2, 7, 14
Second: 11, 15, 76, 36, 1
Third: 0, 7, 22, 36, 8
Fourth: 31, 11, 20
Not great numbers by any stretch of the imagination. If your top four are not posting decent scores, and you have a long tail, that spells only one thing: trouble.
Looking at when Masood was batting for us, this seemed a mini golden era. And his mastery at the crease seemed to rub off on other batsmen.
Derbyshire are consistent - at being inconsistent.
On a positive note, it was good to see Donald attacking the ball. This augurs well for the T20, which, like you, I think we will perform well in.
Guest and Reece were bowled neck and crop but the other dismissals were cheap through a combination of judgement ,shot selection or playing straight . Will need a number of good sessions to achieve parity …and it was cold !!!
ReplyDeleteSo has the Derby pitch suddenly become bowler friendly? Or is it our batsmen who are making the Sussex bowlers look good?
ReplyDeleteLuis Reece said they had been trying to get more life in them at the end of the day. So we will see how our seamers do on it. And if we are holding our catches this time!
DeleteRespectfully disagree on the overseas point. I’m fine with signing two quicks. Our bowling has been our weaker suit tor a while. There is enough skill and experience in our top and middle order to do much better. If anything the problem is we’ve signed too many white-ball-only players
ReplyDeleteEveryone is entitled to an opinion, Oliver. If they take wickets through the season there will be no complaints. But they need to, as there is no obvious second string to the bow. Just as a batter who doesn't bowl has similar pressure
DeleteSome very poor cricket yesterday. It's fine to be got out when the delivery is one that deserves it, but with us too often that's not the case. Donald does what Donald does - I can accept that and generally he'll slap a few boundaries first. Not sure about bringing Lamb in to replace Came; both have technical deficiencies around their front pads but with Lamb he doesn't even seem to bring the bat down straight so he's in a whole heap of trouble and his knock yesterday was a pure horror show.
ReplyDeleteI just feel currently the batting unit putting us on back foot in all the matches. I looked at that numbers for the batting 1st innings in the first 30 overs and shows pattern.
ReplyDeleteAgainst Glamorgan 80/2
Against Leices 98/6
Against Yorkshire 88/3
Against Sussex 104/4
We average loss 3.75 wicket in that 30 overs. I feel playing to attacking need to strike more of a balance. Yesterday we should have gone in at lunch with 2 wickets down
Not sure Luis Reece verdict on the days play is mine. Yes in cricket usually the last thing you want are overcast conditions if your batting. But as reguards " We're nearly their " as regards positive batting and scoring speed, sorry Luis we're miles away. Had we finished at 260 for 4 at 3pm as opposed to 189 then your comments would be valid. But 200 all out for example is rarely going to win a four day cricket match.But I accept we haven't bowled yet so if we get get Sussex out for under 250 then your comments look more accurate. And the " We just need to do it for longer " Well Luis never has a truer word been spoken.
ReplyDeleteSteve jr.
Yes, it looks like we're going to be under par, and we gave at least 2 wickets away unecessarily. Let's see how they go. With the overnight rain I can't see it being any easier.
ReplyDeleteI've felt for a long time that signing the right overseas players is crucial to Derbyshire's success or failure in four day cricket and therefore to the county's likely survival. Yes, I know it's very difficult in the modern age, but recruiting players who can win some matches, assuming the pitches allow that, needs to be a key focus. This is because, even though the players in the four day squad are capable county pros, with all due respect to them, nobody other than Wayne Madsen is close to Test match standard. Losing du Plooy did not help. Having the chance to sign two overseas players makes it possible to introduce players who are capable of winning games and inspiring colleagues to do better. Personally I'd favour having a fast bowler and an all-rounder for the reasons Peakfan has mentioned. Certainly the idea of rotating overseas players, as was mooted with Amir and Tickner, would be a strategic blunder, and a waste.
ReplyDelete