Thursday, 2 May 2024

Derbyshire v Sussex preview

After receiving eight stitches in his right hand, following the injury sustained while fielding in the slips against Yorkshire, Wayne Madsen scored a magnificent century and is probably an early contender for the Eddie Barlow Inspirational Performance Award at Derbyshire this season. 

He has also been passed fit to take his place in the 12 against Sussex, starting at the Incora County Ground tomorrow. Quite the warrior, is our Wayne..

Harry Came is omitted after a tough start to the summer and will benefit from a second team game to get the ball in the middle of the bat again. Skipper, David Lloyd will likely move up to open alongside Luis Reece, with Matt Lamb coming into the middle order. Logically that will mean Brooke Guest moves up to number three, where he batted last season.

Daryn Dupavillon is in the twelve for the first time, as is Blair Tickner and it would be good to see Derbyshire unleash both of their overseas bowlers for the first time. Most other counties are fielding two  in every game, so this would be an ideal opportunity for them to work together. 

Alex Thomson is also rested and Jack Morley is the sole spinner in the twelve, suggesting that he will play. The other place I would assume to be between the fit again Sam Conners and Zak Chappell, although the omission of the latter would see the tail worryingly long.  It may be that we go with an all seam attack, but I would think a variation is needed from what would otherwise be seven seamers. 

Ten days off after this game, so no real need to rest anyone, for me

Derbyshire twelve:

Reece, Lloyd, Guest, Madsen, Lamb, Donald, Dal, Chappell, Conners, Tickner, Dupavillon, Morley

Sussex have made a solid start to the season, or a solid as the weather has allowed any side to make. Cheteshwar Pujara returns to his old county, as does Fynn Hudson-Prentice. With John Simpson scoring runs for fun after moving from Middlesex - and with the bowling led by West Indian Jayden Seales and England man Ollie Robinson - this will be a stern test for the home side. Former Lancashire man Danny Lamb returns up north, another very good cricketer for who I have considerable time.

Squad: Simpson, Haines, Pujara, Robinson, Seales, Carter, Hudson-Prentice, Alsop, Carson, Clark, Coles, Karvelas, Lamb

However, yet again the weather looks set to interfere with proceedings. Tomorrow's forecast is not very promising and much will depend on the volume of rain that falls as to how much cricket takes place over the rest of the weekend. It is quite extraordinary how much rain continues to fall around the country and is desperately disappointing. 

That being the case, I am happy to call this as yet another draw. 

For those who would like to hear my thoughts on the last two matches, against Leicestershire and Yorkshire, as well as a look ahead to this one, I will again be on North Derbyshire radio tomorrow evening from 6:30 p.m. 

I hope that you tune in and have a listen - I will put a link up tomorrow night when the show has aired and it is possible to hear it on catch up.

Fingers crossed for the lads tomorrow! 

9 comments:

  1. Congrats on the four million visits. Richly deserved

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  2. Thank you, I really appreciate that. The counter is out of synch at present and it is on my to do list! But I am proud to get there..

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  3. Shocked to hear about the death of Worcestershire's Josh Baker aged 20. I saw him at the County Ground in 2022 where he was hammered to all parts of the ground but admirably held his nerve to take 3 late wickets. RIP Josh.

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    1. Desperately sad, Simon. No age to die and my thoughts are with his family, friends and teammates. Rest in Peace

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  4. Four million steve I can't quite get my head round that enormous number.Cant believe that when you set the blog up you could ever have dreamt of such an astounding success. You've certainly left your mark on the game of cricket. What an achievement.
    Steve jr.

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    1. Thanks, Steve. I had no idea and merely hoped to find a few people who might be interested in what I had to say.
      I am eternally grateful to those who regularly check in and for the many friends I have made along the way!

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  5. Yes Steve, congratulations.
    What a feat for you, and for cricket generally.
    Living over here I've not picked up North Derbyshire radio so looking forward to hearing, as well as reading, your comments

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  6. Well done on achieving such an impressive milestone, Steve. Turning to the Sussex game, I'm concerned that we are likely to have a long tail. Chappell showed that he can bat in the Yorkshire game, but I'm not sure if he's a genuine all-rounder. Time will tell. Connors, Ticket, Morley, and Dupavillon are unlikely to score many runs or hang around for long.

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  7. Mikey Arthur appears to have assembled a team of journeyman it's not going to end well.Mikey Arthur is the cricketing version of Pochettino everybody says what a great coach they are but in reality what have they actually achieved?

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