Lancashire 367 and 406-6 declared
Derbyshire 261 and 251 (Madsen 95*, Guest 46, Balderson 4-54)
Lancashire won by 261 runs
Truth be told, Derbyshire lost this game two days earlier. They didn't bowl especially well after the first session on the opening day, while the batting was indisciplined on the second, meaning they didn't get close enough to parity on the first innings.
They got a rude awakening, from a Lancashire side that won its first red ball game of the summer. They played as a team, with most people contributing, while Derbyshire relied on the efforts of only two or three players to take the game into the final afternoon.
Standing like a colossus above them all, once again, was Wayne Madsen. He made 70 in the first innings, which he followed today with an unbeaten 95. It takes his season tally to 97 runs short of the thousand in red ball cricket, at an average of just under 70. Quite what we do without him is something that will occupy minds in the winter ahead, when plans need to be put in place for his eventual retirement.
As it stands, there is little diminution to his powers and the pity is only that he didn't get the support he needed. Brooke Guest batted with good technique for over an hour, but when he was dismissed, the rest folded somewhat abjectly. It was understandable, on a pitch showing increasing signs of wear, but that is two successive years where Derbyshire have disappointed at Chesterfield.
It doesn't make any difference to their second place in the table, but they cannot afford many more performances like this one.
The worse news today was that Harry Moore will play no cricket this season, having been diagnosed with a stress fracture of his back. I suspected as much and he will not be the last to find the demands of full-time cricket on a long back a challenge. He will get good advice from Ben Aitchison and Pat Brown, both of who have faced similar challenges. The support will be there for him, but he will miss out on his Hundred gig and Derbyshire are now a confirmed seam bowler down for the rest of the summer.
It is why I have been reluctant to build him up too much at this early stage in his career. He could be our next England player, but he will need good luck and a willingness to work hard on his fitness in order to do so. The difference between talented teen and successful professional is considerable and the path strewn with challenges.
Naturally, like all of you, I wish Harry the very best of luck in his recovery. I hope we see him back on the field in 2026.
It crossed my mind yesterday, when Rory Haydon was fielding as twelfth man, that he might get a contract for the fifty over competition. With Pat Brown at the Hundred, Derbyshire are down to the bare bones and Haydon, who has taken wickets consistently in the second team and for Staffordshire this summer, would be one worth having a look at.
We will see, but for now, attention returns to the white ball and initially, the game against today's opponents on Saturday.
Performance levels need to increase considerably, to avoid a repeat of this result and the one last time out at Derby.
Postscript: in his post-match interview - and it was good to see him fronting up after a defeat - Mickey Arthur revealed that he hopes both Luis Reece and David Lloyd will be fit for the next red ball game, against Leicestershire at the Central Co-op County Ground.
That is good news!
You've summed it up well, Peakfan. In all cricket this season we have four wins and seven defeats. The big plus is the increased resilience shown in four day cricket, which is good to see. But two fundamental problems remain. First, we are massively over-dependent on the great Wayne Madsen. Second, the team still does not - as a collective - have a winning mentality. I'd love to see us winning promotion, not least because that gives us the best chance of hanging on to promising young players. It's certainly not impossible to achieve promotion, but to do so requires a ruthless focus on converting opportunities to succeed (as in the previous four day game) into actual success. My question is: can the coaching team instil that into the players?
ReplyDeleteI think we all new Derbyshire aren’t a team of world beaters and every team is allowed one or two bad games. It will be interesting to see how we bounce back in the next championship match in a few weeks. I think this match did prove that we need a well organised and fighting team each game because madsen aside we haven’t got many individual players who would walk into anyone else’s team
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a sub optimal performance Steve.
ReplyDeleteThe who could replace Wayne conundrum is something that should have been under consideration for a good while now. A long term injury could leave us in real trouble. I love seeing him play but he's carried us far too often and others simply aren't stepping up as needed.
I watched the video link a while today. It's excellent and another example of great work outside the boundary rope.
We go again but need to do better and take more personal responsibility across the board
Andy
File this one away as rubbish and totally outclassed by Lancs just as we were in the T20. This squad isn't strong enough for promotion and we're punching well above our weight in this division 2. Totally expecting a big collapse from here on in
ReplyDeleteWhile it was unlikely we would save this game, what's disappointing is the manner in which we lost. Madsen and Guest batted well for an hour and 10 minutes, and looked as if they could get to lunch and continue batting on. But when Guest was out at 198-3, once again, we collapsed. We did the same in the first innings, losing the last four wickets for 20 runs. And in the previous CC game, against Gloucestershire, we slumped from 301-2 to 320-7 in the first innings, and in the second innings went from 177-0 to 283-8.
ReplyDeleteI know that all teams have collapses, but Derbyshire specialise in doing it. It has become predictable.
It was a pity Madsen couldn't reach his hundred, which would have been his fourth this season.
Regarding Harry Moore, he must be gutted. He'll not only miss pushing on with his career at Derbyshire this season, but he'll also miss The Hundred. I hope the young man makes a good recovery. Time is on his side.
A thoroughly dispiriting performance and a return to the bad old days of previous seasons. Lancashire had failed to win a Championship game before today yet we made them look like world beaters. After reducing them to 132-6 in their first innings, we allowed them to recover dramatically and dominate the match. Our bowling went from ordinary to inadequate and several in our team did not look as if they merited their place in the side. Jewel, Dal, Chappell, Tickner and Morley all put in poor performances. And the most damning indictment was the fact that Dal, Chappell, Aitchison, Tickner and Morley all failed to hang around long enough to allow Wayne to go to a well deserved century. In fact these last 4 players mustered just 3 runs between them. Contrast this with Lancashire's tail having no difficulty in scoring freely. If we had players to replace them , I would leave out these 4 plus Jewell who seems clueless facing a bowler of Anderson's quality. As for Morley no wickets and a pair. Hardly the performance to make Lancs regret letting him go.
ReplyDeleteLeave Aitchison out ?? Thought he was our best bowler. I think some of you on here spent too much time in the sun earlier in the week 😁 One defeat in 9. It was not the performance we wanted but let’s get behind them for the Leicester game. That’s a big one now and one we can win it if we get a couple back from injury. 5 games to go and we are up there with all to play for.
DeleteBut we haven't players to replace them CG. And Aitchison was, as Jason says, our best bowler. He isn't there for his batting...
DeleteAs for Jewell... He averages over 50 this summer, which isn't bad going. Yes, Anderson has his number, but how many of his quality are there in the division?
Despite their indifferent start to the season, I thought this was a good team really highlighting our weaknesses
ReplyDeleteUnable to put a team away when bowling first time and then seemed to just go through the motions waiting for a declarions second time around and let them score at will. They'd have batted another hour or so if we kept the score down and had a more realistic chance to save the game.
The batting is over reliant on Madsen and Jewell, and unfortunately a certain Knight of the Realm has had Jewell’s number in both games against Lancs. Andersson first innings knock the only one outside of Madsen of real significance and he got out chasing runs as he ran out of partners. I thought Came looked in good touch again but was out too cheaply.
Reece back for the next game is great news, despite the average, he's not scored loads of runs but he was holding the back end of the innings together. It’s not coincidence we've collapsed in all of the last 4 innings without him.
I hope Wagstaff gets another chance, even if Lloyd comes back in I’d look at dropping Dal, with Reece back we don't need 3 medium pace all rounded, plus 3 front line seamers, a front line spinner and a second spinner (Lloyd/Wagstaff) - its overkill.
There is no point throwing the baby out of the bath water after 1 defeat. We need to make sure everyone is available for Leics. Play the kids in the T20, no club cricket, whatever it takes. Kris
ReplyDeleteTotally agree, Kris. Important to keep a sense of perspective. We have just lost our first red ball game of the summer - at the start of July!
DeleteOur overseas players just aren't doing it for me, the players you expect that bit more from. For all Mickey Arthur's supposed good worldwide contacts his overseas choices for the championship have been disappointing. Jewell started off well but his form has fallen off a cliff, and Tickner really shouldn't have been brought back , I don't think he's anywhere near good enough to be a regular wicket taker. If we ever get the overseas berths right we might become a very good cricket team
ReplyDeleteJewell got 32 and 83 in the last game and a double century in the championship game before that, hardly equals form falling off a cliff.
DeleteHe’s probably thankful he wont be seeing James Anderson again though.
Fallen of a cliff ?? Did you not see his innings at Bristol ? 5th most run scorer in Division 2 with 821 runs
DeleteI disagree. Jewell could convert more of his 50s but averages over 50. Tickner has done pretty well. To talk of replacing him, the question has to be who else is available and affordable? He could do with a few more wickets, but his averages are respectable. Overseas players are a declining market, as a look around the country shows. Sooner have Blair than some other options, but availability for next year is key of course
DeleteI am baffled as to how Lancashire had done so badly prior to this game.
ReplyDeleteThey have plenty of top players.
Maybe they have re discovered their mojo.
Not a great performance from Derbyshire but the end of season table might show Lancashire much nearer the top.
5 games to go and we are second , yes we have had a wobble plus the injury to Moore is a blow .
ReplyDeleteMadsen and Jewell will exceed a thousand runs based on form plus Reece , Came and Anderson averaging 40 plus . Could do with Lloyd , Guest and Dal improving their form but there is little competition for batting roles .
The bowling unit is hard worrking but we don’t have a strike bowler or a point of difference , I’d be tempted to get a Div 1 bowler on loan for the final push to support Chappell ,Tickner and Reece who have all missed games with injuries .
I’d have taken a 5 game shoot out when the season started but I think the squad needs a boost for the final push
As I said before the game, Lancashire were due a win, it had been coming and we played them at the wrong time. We need Reece back to add balance and sure up the middle order. We are a strike bowler short too in my opinion. I would give a few players a rest and play some of the youngsters in the upcoming T20 games. Real shame to hear the news about Moore. Grant from Telford
ReplyDeleteIdeally we needed an extra batsman in this match as Zac Chappell is one place too high at 8 but the likely player to have missed out had we gone that route was Ben Aitchison who ended up being our best bowler. Who'd be a selector/manager.
ReplyDeleteIf they see a long term future for Mitch Wagstaff he needs to be eased into the side and start at 5 or 6 and then moved up the order. I was surprised after the partnership last week that Harry Came didn't open especially to keep a left/right hand combination at the top. The other player who could open is Brooke Guest and then bring Nye Donald into the middle order in case we needed to share keeping duties. Though Nye could have had a better week being run out for 0 not facing a ball in the 2nd XI.
Another option for cover for Luis Reece could have been playing Ross Whiteley who would have given us few overs of left arm.
It seems we will have more players available for the next red ball game so I am still positive and hopeful.
An interesting fact I noticed is that both times Pat Brown has played a red ball game this season we have won the game.
Poor decision making and lack of mental strength on the field. Off the field, poor decision making - asking people to pay £20 for entry with 7 wickets down! It was my lunch break from work so I only saw 20 (miserable) minutes and needless to say, I wasn't tempted to part with my money. Come on Derbyshire, you can do better on both fronts. Adrian
ReplyDeleteExactly why I didn't go yesterday. 7 wkts down, little chance of a draw even, overnight rain and mixed weather for the day.
Delete£10 or a free day would have been a good shout.
A mIssed opportunity to increase footfall and have a positive from a poor 4 days for DCCC.
Andy
Regarding our overseas in the CC, I think Jewell has been a good signing, but not so Tickner (who sounds a lovely guy when he has sat in the commentary box with Dave Fletcher). Tickner’s good, but I don’t think he adds enough to our pace attack. Shades of Lackmal.
ReplyDeleteWe have a bunch of players who, individually are very good. The problem seems to be in the team mentality. Mickey has done his best to create a winning mentality, but looking at the last two CC games, plus the T20, it doesn't sen to be working that well.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame Mickey. When the players come out of the pavilion and step on to the pitch, he has no influence. It's down to them.
But this lack of a winning mentality has plagued Derbyshire for years, which is why the trophy cabinet is bare. Why is this? No idea. We have had some outstanding players in our ranks, both overseas and home-grown or signed from other countied. BUt we've never been a real force.
I think the middle order needs some solidity to it. I'd be looking at someone like Billy Root. He's coming up to 33, but he's a decent player and we could offer him a move nearer to home. Kris
ReplyDeleteI have thought the same, Kris. I don't know what has happened at Glamorgan, but he would give solidity to the middle order and we seem to lack that. All comes down to money though...
DeletePutting it into context and considering budgets including squad depth , the following didn’t t play for Lancashire
ReplyDeleteLuke Wiood. England
Saqib Mahmood England
Liam Livingstone England
Phil Salt. England
Marcus Harris. Australia
Tom Hartley .. England
George Bell. England A
Rocky Flintoff .. England A
We have 2/3 injuries and we are scratching around for cover .
Leicestershire have used the loan market wisely taking Div 1 fringe bowlers
Holland and Green in recent times doing particularly well
Let’s hope we can boost the squad for the final push
Just as a random aside, in this age of sexual equality where batsmen have become batters, how long before third man becomes third person !! Trev
DeleteAnd if there's a fine and wide third man, does that become third person plural? 🤣
DeleteLancs fan back again. First, sorry about that, I didn't expect it and you're the last side I wanted us to do that to, I'd love it if you and Leics went up even if it's just to put a thumb in the eye of all those who think counties like Derbyshire are lesser than counties like Lancashire.
ReplyDeleteThe big difference this time around is we played like a team. Jimmy as skipper has made a difference; people like Keats and he's a nice bloke, but Jimmy Anderson is a legend and he's galvanised the dressing room. Second, we have 2 good overseas for the first time in a long time. Chris Green especially is as important off the field as he is on it as he has an infectious, enthusiastic character. We, the fans, love him. George Balderson, a hugely important part of our side, has got some confidence back. Jennings, liberated from the burden of captaincy, has got form back. Still don't think we played the right side (btw if you liked the look of Jack Blatherwick, pretty sure he'll be on the market this summer, very wholehearted, works his socks off, quick, can bat a bit, bowling hasn't come on though, that might be us mind), but we put in something like the performance a side full of international could play. Don't blame your players, they've been great this summer, and it was one or arguably two bad days out of four and Lancs, uncharacteristically, punished you. You'll note you're still miles ahead of us in the table, and that's because I think you have a better team than us. Good luck, hope you go up.