Derbyshire 698-6
Kent 271 (Singh 71, Dawkins 61, Morley 5-99, Reece 2-15, Aitchison 2-59) and 136-5 (Compton 55*, Evison 53, Reece 4-33)
Derbyshire lead by 291 runs
Jack Morley was the star turn in the first innings, claiming five wickets, two of them sharp caught and bowled efforts. Martin Andersson also held a screamer to dismiss the unfortunate Curtiss, and despite resistance from Singh, Dawkins and Evison, the home side were all out for 271, 427 runs behind.
It didn't get much better for them in the second innings, as Reece followed on from his first innings figures of 2-15 by taking the first four wickets in the second. After his monumental 211, it is fair to say that he has been man of the match here by some considerable margin. A fifth wicket tomorrow would put him in a very elite club, I suspect, but he has finished top of both batting and bowling averages.
It is similar to when Les Jackson topped the national bowling averages in 1958, with 143 wickets at under eleven each, despite suffering a very bad groin strain early in the summer. Luis has been hampered by an ankle injury that will require winter surgery, but has managed to average 64 with the bat and taken 49 wickets at less than 19 with the ball. Phenomenal...
The stoic Ben Compton staved off the threat of three-day defeat in a partnership of 90 with Joey Evison, but one sensed it was resistance as ultimately futile as that of King Canute, fighting against the tide.
Bad light towards the end of the day meant we saw the rare sight of Messrs Came and Madsen bowling their gentle off spin without success. Next year we will have Matt Montgomery in this situation, another sign of progress.
But with reasonable luck with the weather Derbyshire should wrap up victory and seal third place in the table sometime tomorrow.
Which would be fully deserved for a display of total dominance here.
Very well played again. A great finish to the season. You’re correct about Reece a magnificent largely unsung county cricketer. Kent are lucky to have Compton and I think Dawkins will be a good player. But they look like they could be stuck at the bottom of division two for a few years
ReplyDeleteLuis Reece is as good an all rounder as any who have played for Derbyshire. A few years ago before his injury he scored a very good hundred in a 50 over game which was on sky the commentators were full of praise for him until someone suggested he should be in the England ODI squad and suddenly they started to pick him apart ,Mark Ramprakash who at the time I think was apart of the England coaching setup dismissed his chances while he played for Derbyshire ,some things never change !
DeleteYes, Ian from Suffolk is right. Reece has been an unsung here. Two or three seasons ago he opened both the batting and bowling, and did incredibly well. His performance at Canterbury has been outstanding. Downthewicket.
ReplyDeleteI'm hopeful of a decent red ball season in 2026, although we still rely heavily on Reece and Madsen. We could do with a decent part time spinner, which hopefully Montgomery will be. I thought he had an injured hand in the 50 overs, but someone told me his action was under scrutiny? I'm afraid the T20 side needs major surgery and I question resting Reece and Dal in 50 overs, when the amount of red ball we've payed in September has been minimal. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, of course...Kris
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard about Montgomery's action being under scrutiny. It is unusual, but looks legit to me. Thing is with any chance of going up they needed Reece fit and his ankle has been a real issue. Nuj was given time off because of a personal issue and we all need that from time to time in our lives...
DeleteInteresting comment about Matt Montgomery's bowling action. Having looked at some clips on You Tube of him bowling, I have a question: What's the difference between a player "bowling" a ball and a player throwing a ball if both run up to the wicket? I honestly don't know.
ReplyDeleteThe elbow needs to be straight, with a limited tolerance for a bend. It's actually very difficult to throw from a side on balling position and while his action is unusual, I have never felt that he threw it.
DeleteThen again, I was always convinced Murali did. And no one can convince me otherwise...
Murali was a chucker, unless you choose to disbelieve the evidence of your own eyes. DM.
DeleteIIRC the degree of bend allowed in the arm was increased (to 15 degrees?) around the time Murali came to prominence. Therefore, by the laws of the game, Murali wasn't a "chucker"
DeleteSome years l
I know a few bowlers who would have fancied taking a lot more wickets with such latitude, Jasper..
DeleteYes, they did change things, but no one will ever convince me that Murali was not very fortunate...
Oops! I meant to add that some years later he did a session on camera to 'prove' that he couldn't straighten his arm.
DeleteWe're the rules changed to accommodate him? who knows? Well, bowlers are allowed that degree of bend and none have matched his returns 😉
Anyhow, we've wrapped up victory, congratulations to Luis Reece, what a performance 👏
**bowling, not balling
ReplyDeleteHopefully get this wrapped up long before tea and finish off a much improved red ball season on a high.
ReplyDeleteAs I see it there is a common denominator between us and Kent. I thought Kent relayed too much on Stevens and once he retired they have gone downhill, I worry as we still rely too much on Maddo and therefore when he goes will go the same way and be back to square on.
ReplyDeleteI hope my worries end up being unfounded.
Martin
A fair point, Martin. I think Montgomery ery good replacement for Madsen,, but of course it is unlikely he would offer the longevity of the maestro.
DeleteIt is up to others to up their games and the collective to make up the runs of Wayne.
But what a big job to replace him!