Sussex 607-8
Derbyshire 290 and 258 (Came 79, Madsen 77, Carson 6-67)
Sussex won by an innings and 59 runs
Mr Fletcher, my English teacher used to tell us to do a story in a MINIMUM of 2 pages for homework and often he would call me to the front of the class after he had finished the marking.
'The first page and a half was terrific' he said, 'but why did you ruin it by wrapping it all up in half a page?' He had a point, but I had other homework. Two pages was two pages...
So it was with Derbyshire today. At 204-2 there was genuine hope that we might at least make Sussex bat again. Yet 54 runs later we were on our way north, having collapsed in unseemly fashion to the off spin of Carson, who bowled well here, after Unadkat made the pre-lunch breakthrough with a quick one-two of Madsen and Lloyd. Again, he did what you want your overseas player to do, opening the door and allowing his team to push it wide.
But it was poor from Derbyshire. I felt for Madsen, who made over 200 runs in this game but got scant support. Harry Came battled for 95 overs for his 79, but there was little else of substance and it was all rather grim.
So too were the after match comments of the Head of Cricket. Apparently, if we had bowled better the result could have been different. Let's not forget that they went in at 161-0 on that first day. Would it not have been fair to comment that we misread the pitch (again) and that the opposition feasted like trenchermen at an all you can eat buffet? They scored 600, so that decision was not the wisest, in consigning ourselves to the final innings on a late summer pitch that was always likely to turn, as well as declining to take first use of what appeared a pretty decent track to most people watching.
Much the same happened at Chesterfield. On a pitch of similar hue to the rest of the ground, we opted to bat first when everyone else was inwardly screaming 'BOWL'. It beggars belief that a coach of international standing and reputation can so misread pitches then throw his team under the bus after the match.
After the last match he claimed that we had 'found our method'. To be fair, that was really not much more than winning the toss and making the right decision. Enjoyable as the victory was, few were naive enough to think that we would have come out on the right end of things if the toss had gone Glamorgan's way.
There is a soft underbelly to the Derbyshire batting. I don't currently watch and feel we will get 400 very often, well aware that one wicket often brings two, sometimes three. No one outside the top four averages better than mid-twenties and until that is addressed, or the top four score like Bradman, we will continue to under-achieve in this format.
Not much more to say, really.
One step forward, two steps back.
Agree totally with your comments regarding the coach. His after match interviews have become very predictable and rather an insult to we diehard supporters.
ReplyDeleteI think he should count himself lucky that he's returning for a fourth season in charge.
This match illustrates why Sussex are top of Div 2 and we are in familiar territory at the bottom. Their overseas players contributing fully to the result.
Madsen and Came apart, the Derbyshire collapse is what we've experienced for much of the season. All very disappointing.
Ian. S.Africa.
After the latest nonsensical ramblings of Mickey Arthur I have come to the conclusion that his tenure has been an unmitigated disaster and he should have his contract terminated. It may be costly but we know for sure there will be no improvement next season because there has not been one iota of progress in the last 3 Mickey Arthur seasons !!
ReplyDeleteExcellent summary thanks Steve. As you say, just before lunch we had well founded thoughts of both Madsen and Came batting all day and saving the match. Then Wayne departed and the rest collapsed like a pack of cards. Lloyd contributed virtually nothing in both innings and Donald yet again made a quick 20 odd and was then out. This really isn't good enough. We can't go on relying on a 40 year old to show the rest how to apply themselves and our crying need is for an overseas batter to prop up the middle order. Can we win another couple of games from the remaining three CC fixtures? On this showing the answer must be no. As for MA''s post match comments, words fail me!
ReplyDeleteCame, Madsen, Guest, Chappell and Dal are the only players we have who are steady county level performers. Reece perhaps also though he is waning.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the squad are make weights who are fine if you're playing one or two of them but can't be relied upon as the balance of the side. They're not bad but they're not good enough to play every week and be important players either - ask yourself whether other counties would look at Lloyd, Donald or Brown as more than squad players or white ball options.
Arthur must carry the responsibility of consistently appalling overseas recruitment too. Better effort there would be bringing the ratio up by two and we'd be far more competitive as a result.
Next season we need to keep the 5 named players and ensure we have two proper overseas players for all four day and t20 games. If we can sign another decent bat and a couple bowlers or Aitchison is fit then we may have a chance of being competitive.
And yet again we've nothing to play for and Potts, Wagstaff and Bin Naeem are consigned to the seconds instead of getting valuable exposure to first team cricket.
A decent punt on an overseas player you say? DD not really worked this season as an overseas signing? I note a previous signing, who played like a donkey for us, winning a match from a really tricky position against Essex today. So take a bow faux Dutchman Logan van Beek!
ReplyDeleteThe point being some players work, some don't. Just feels like a lot over the last few years, with the odd honourable exception, don't seem to play well for Derbyshire. That has to bring the management into question doesn't it?
Made the same comment to a friend, Dave. I think LVB has improved with international exposure for Netherlands, but yes, wasn't great for us.
DeleteOdd. Wrong players, wrong time?
Came and Madsen batted superbly, and it looked like we might save the game. But Madsen's departure just before lunch triggered a collapse. It was so predictable.
ReplyDeleteLike you say, it's mind boggling that an experienced coach like MA can misread conditions so badly. However, I would agree with him about our bowling in that first session, make no mistake, it was dire. There is no way we would have been 160-0 at lunch if we had chosen to bat.
ReplyDeleteFrom the wreckage of 29-4, I thought we then showed plenty of grit and determination, but were always fighting a losing battle once there was increasing turn on offer. As you say, another reason to bat first 🙄
Again, this game has highlighted our lack of quality overseas input, but also that several are capable of white ball 'cameos' but not red ball consistency. But according to MA, we are not focusing solely on white ball success.....
I would also agree with a previous comment, we should be looking at Potts and Wagstaff in the remaining games, and I assume Moore will feature in at least a couple.
I watched some of the stream until the expected collapse. The shot by Donald was severely lacking in planning. I know that's how he plays, but surely you play the circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThere’s certainly a soft underbelly to that batting lineup and I think the averages this season show that. Weirdly Matt Lamb leads the way with 49.28 but 207 of his 345 runs came in one innings.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Madsen is the true leader with 753 runs at 44.29. Guest on 32.47 is solid for a wicketkeeper, I just don't think he should bat at 3. Came is at 31.50 which is on the rise since he returned to the team but everyone else is below 30.
Donald has been frustrating getting in and getting out to often, often with shots more akin to a T20 game. Lloyd has probably been the biggest disappointment the captain seems to be really struggling in the red ball format
Is the interview with Mickey Arthur from yesterday available on YouTube?
ReplyDeleteNot to my knowledge
DeleteLook for it on The Comedy Channel 😉
DeleteMisreading the pitch, in our defence I must say that the Sussex commentator did say he had spoke to at least one Sussex player who stated their intention was to do the same.
ReplyDeleteNow he might have been pulling the commentators leg, but then again he might have been saying it has it was!
After a real fight and only 80 in deficit, with 6 wickets in hand, a minimum expectation was that we would make them bat again. The collapse was of biblical proportions and must have hurt Came & Madsen watching on.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAs a long standing watcher of Glamorgan, Lloyd’s appointment as captain was met with disbelief and astonishment, especially as he wasn’t worthy of his place in red ball cricket and was underwhelming in white ball also. Donald was only ever a one trick pony, totally unable to adapt to match situations. Not the finest Welsh exports, sadly.
ReplyDeleteBuxton Lad
No doubt in Mickey Arthur's mind that one championship victory this season will constitute success. If only we could afford to part company with him I feel he'd be a goner, he would at any other county with far bigger budgets. It has been nothing short of another woeful campaign and the fault lays firmly at MA's door, mainly due to the garbage overseas recruitment.
ReplyDeleteWho's to say he will get it right this winter, I definitely don't!
MA aint going anywhere just yet, just like The Hundred, which people keep bemoaning. I do take some solace from the certainty that he will be trying all he can to bring some consistency to our performances.
ReplyDeleteMistakes have been made, and I have reservations about his methods, but we have to hope he can bring improvement. He's clearly passionate about doing so.