Sunday round up

Small margins.

Those words are used regularly in connection with success and failure in T20. I used them in Friday's radio interview with Matt Rhodes of North Derbyshire Radio (which is a long listen, split over two parts from 21 minutes) 

The difference between the middle of the bat and anywhere else sees sixes become boundary catches. In his two match-defining innings of this weekend, Nye Donald was probably doing little different to what he was when he got out early, but now he is a hero. I suppose we have to accept with such a player that when it is his day he will win matches; when it isn't, he will frustrate in equal measure. 

Think back to the Northamptonshire game. Martin Andersson held a boundary catch but lost his bearings and stepped over the rope, conceding six. That was the eventual margin of defeat. Before that, at Leicester, Sol Budinger escaped a very close lbw call and went on to play the innings that decided the match. 

We were poor in other games and got what we deserved, but those small margins are probably the difference to our currently being 2-5 and not 4-3. As I said on Friday, we need most of the team to play well to win matches. We're not a team of superstars - if you have one or two of those, you don't necessarily need the whole team to pitch in. But we cannot afford five or six to have a bad day. 

This weekend has been great. There are still concerns over the seam bowling and we are missing prime time Zak Chappell, just as Pat Brown is only now coming back to his white ball best. But we have discovered our best 'fit' eleven, even if the batting order is subject to discussion. The spinners are bowling beautifully and we are fielding better.

After the start we had I still don't expect to qualify from the group, but we are fighting and now playing some very good cricket. With the pressure largely off, we can give it our best shot and hope that some of the big guns underestimate us. Never say never and while it remains 'unlikely' and not 'impossible' the fight goes on.

Moving on, it was nice to see Devon Malcolm awarded the OBE for services to cricket in the King's Birthday Honours. While your opinion may have been different from 22 yards away, Devon is one of the nicest men in the game and his time at Derbyshire was one of our best periods in recent history. Like any other player, he had his good days and bad, but it was one of the great sights to see him running in and bowling at full pace.

Congratulations, Devon! 

Next, I read that Blair Tickner will be flying out to Guyana with the Central Stags for the Global Super League T20 in early July. The competition runs from July 10-18 and I assume Blair will fly out to join the squad after the red ball game against Lancashire at Chesterfield. 

We play four T20 matches in that period, but the only issue would come should either Caleb Jewell or Mohammad Ghazanfar be injured. No doubt this was factored into his signing. 

Among their opponents will be the winners of the Big Bash, Hobart Hurricanes, but Caleb Jewell moved to the Melbourne Renegades in February, so will not be required.

That's a relief! 

Finally today, thank you all for your continued engagement. There were over ten thousand views after the Nottinghamshire game and in the next couple of weeks the blog will reach an astonishing five million views. 

Your comments and input are a major part of its success. Do please remember to add a name to your posts - I will always reserve the right not to publish a critical, anonymous post. It doesn't need to be your own name, just one that you prefer to use on here, if you wish. 

Enjoy what is left of your weekends and, for some of you, Father's Day. As part of my gift I have a ticket to see Scotland play The Netherlands in Glasgow on Wednesday, an opportunity to see Derbyshire old boys Mark Watt and Safyaan Sharif. The latter is now Scotland's most prolific wicket-taker, with 261. 

Good effort, that!