Sunday, 14 June 2026

Durham v Derbyshire day 3

Durham 377

Derbyshire 118 and 237 (Came 105*, Potts 42, Potts 8-66)

Durham won by an innings and 22 runs

As everyone expected, Derbyshire lost to Durham today, by an innings and 22 runs. Yet in the process they found some self-respect, which in itself was frustrating. 

Had similar application been shown in the first innings as Harry Came and Nick Potts displayed today, the result might not have been as clear-cut as it eventually was. 

When the time eventually comes for Harry Came to put away his bat for the final time, this will be the innings for which I will remember him. We all know that he has the strokes and sometimes his willingness to play them gets him into trouble. Today, despite thirteen boundaries, he eschewed risk and played almost a lone hand against a keen home attack. A broad, straight bat that could scarce have been more resilient had he had a 'no entry' sign on the front of it. His feet moved well, his concentration never wavered and it was the sort of knock I once enjoyed by the likes of Alan Hill, Ian Hall, Steve Stubbings and a few more. 

Every team STILL, even in this era of Baz ball, needs such a player, one who sells his wicket dearly. The pitch was never easy and the occasional ball still kept horribly low, as Brooke Guest found second ball. But Harry came well forward or went right back, played it late and delivered a truly outstanding innings. Six and a half hours of resistance and he carried his bat. Magnificent.

Nick Potts lent staunch support as the two got through the morning session unscathed. He is proving himself a good cricketer and it just shows what a good coach and people having confidence in you can do. 

After Callum Parkinson got him out with one that turned, the end wasn't long in coming. Andersson resisted for a while, but an uppish cover drive in the direction of the tallest man on the pitch wasn't a recipe for success. Guest got that low one, Aitchison decided that he was going to go down flailing and expectancy of runs from Bashir and Abbas will usually result in disappointment.

So the end came, just before tea. Matthew Potts returned the outstanding figures of 8-66 and bowled really well with the two new balls. Ben Raine is always a challenge but it Derbyshire had handled their first innings better, this could have been a more competitive game of cricket 

Chesterfield next and the visit of the 'other' Roses county on Friday. 

I will be talking about that between times, around getting my bag packed for the journey down there..

5 comments:

  1. A magnificent innings from Harry Came. While he and Nick Potts were batting, I thought that we might get a decent score and set Durham 150 to win, which would given us a thin chance of victory. Potts continues to impress, with both bat and ball. He is taking his opportunity to shine.

    My concern about Caleb Jewell's form continues to grow. He's scored 277 runs at 23.08 in the CC, and 132 runs at 26.40 in the T20. As an overseas batsman, who is on a good contract, more is expected. He doesn't seem as fluent as he was last season, when he played some sparkling knocks. Perhaps that form will return at Chesterfield.

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  2. Fortunately I was unable to watch play today as we had a wine tasting (understand "drinking") day in Tuscany. However the result (of the game) was never in doubt. Durham are the better side, but not to the extent the scores lead one to believe. We didn't perform, Messrs Came, Aitchison and Potts excepted. Four scores over 20 in two innings while 9 Durham players scored over 20 in their only innings.

    Our main problem is our overseas players not performing. At least we didn't sign Duane Olivier which is a small mercy!

    As you say Peakfan, Montgomery is not a number 3, at least at the moment. Like we have a few number 11s, we also seem to be replete with number 5s. I wonder whether Andersson is worth a try at 3 with Dal coming in to reduce his bowling duties.

    In any case, serious improvement is needed before the next match. Let's hope lessons are learned, and the the poor shots we saw in this game do not repeat themselves.

    Adrian

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  3. We are still in June and a season that started with such optimism is quickly falling apart. So disappointing but I have seen it so many times before so no surprise really. One positive is the resurgence of Potts, so well done him. Grant from Telford

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  4. Tim, Chesterfield14 June 2026 at 20:45

    It's coming to something when I'm thinking we could improve the side by dropping both overseas players.

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  5. What a mighty effort from Harry Came.
    It reminded me of Geoff Boycott at his belligerent best.
    If the other batters had shown similar commitment we may have got something out of the game.
    It was clear that the Durham players had more determination to go with their skill.

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