Derbyshire 315-5 (Guest 108*, Jewell 84, Madsen 39, Douthwaite 3-66)
Glamorgan 271 (Horton 81, Hassan 61, Hope-Bell 48, Potts 4-39
Derbyshire won by 44 runs
It wasn't always plain sailing against a young and fairly inexperienced visiting eleven and the game perhaps produced as many questions as answers. Only during a fourth wicket stand of 117 in eighteen overs between Caleb Jewell and Brooke Guest did Derbyshire really kick into gear and their final total of 315-5 was not huge on a small ground. It was tribute to some tight bowling and fine fielding by the visitors and largely to two good individual innings.
Jewell batted well on his return to the side and his 84 was a well-compiled knock, if not in his very best form. While we know he wasn't contracted for the competition, the question remains as to why not, when it represented a chance of silverware? And if, as the story went, he 'made himself available' for the game, why didn't that happen earlier? I get it to some extent if the money saved from him not playing is going towards a replacement for Mohammad Abbas in red ball cricket, but a side missing several players with injury, as well as two to the other competition, really needed strengthening.
Brooke Guest was the best bat on show and the most fluent. His unbeaten 108 from just 82 balls steered Derbyshire to a defendable total and contained 5 sixes. The irony in his not being in our Vitality Blast side, supposedly because he can't hit, was not lost on me. He also clearly illustrated the importance of having someone who runs like a gazelle between the wickets, he and Dal putting on 34 in the last three overs with mainly good running, as the death bowlers found the block hole cleverly.
Glamorgan battled hard and Hassan followed a canny spell with a good knock, before being caught on the reverse sweep. Jack Hope-Bell, just 19, played a nice hand of 48 before becoming one of Nick Potts' four victims, while Alex Horton played brilliantly with 81 in 57 balls, before Guest held an edge, again from the bowling of Potts.
I thought Potts was again excellent today and he has become a very handy cricketer in the white ball formats. Andersson also mixed it up well and it will have been a relief for the players to get one in the win column.
It needs to be said, of course, that this was a much-weakened Glamorgan side, but any side can only beat what is in front of them on a given day. The Welsh side can return home with heads high and with pride in the performances of some talented young players.
As for Derbyshire, there will be a weight off their chests tonight and they return to the Our Co-op County Ground on Sunday, for the game against Sussex, having got off the mark.
I won't see that one, as I will be driving down for Edwin Smith's funeral on Monday. I will create a page for your comments, as usual, and add my own thoughts when I am able.
Average age of our top 7 was 32. Glamorgan's was 23.
ReplyDeleteEmbarrassing that we're going full strength when everyone else is playing young players.
Great to see a win. Best one day innings from Guest i have seen him play. Bowling unit up to it for once. A bit concerned with Hayden injury hopefully won't be too bad. My next game will be at Scarborough.( Always a great place to visit)
ReplyDeleteMagnificent by Guest. He is a player who can always keep the scoreboard ticking over and find boundaries.
ReplyDeleteJewell also batted well. If he had been more expannsive in the latter part of his innings, he's have scored a ton.
Our bowling was tight, and kept the pressure on Glamorgan.
If we win on Sunday, we are still in the competition.
Good to get a win. But like you have said it does leave a huge question mark about the policy of the club in this competition. It’s now unlikely that any of the promising younger players other then Hayden are going to get a game now but also highly unlikely we will qualify for the quarter finals. There will be a time in the last 6 championship games when we have a few injuries or players out of form and the excuse will be we had you use inexperienced players. But Mickey Arthur has created that problem by never using second team or academy players unless he absolutely has to
ReplyDeleteBut you moan when we lose games of cricket ! The Glamorgan team was very young but I guess their priority is staying in DIV1 so that is why. Their results in the ODC prove that .Some of the younger guys for us have come in and not performed in 1 day cricket that tells you a lot. Jason
DeleteAgain though. Jason, as I said to Kris below, neither Naeem nor Basra have batted where they are used to doing. Batting 3 and 7 are two different roles in a side and I wouldn't regard either as having had a fair crack of the whip.
DeleteHopefully Derbyshire will be looking at giving Potts a new contract he’s been so much improved this season and looks a different player under the new bowling coach! So pleased to see him do well.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that Nick will get a contract at season end. He fully deserves it and I don't think I expected to write that at the start of the summer.
DeleteIt just shows the difference that a fresh coach can bring to a player.
Chapel Guy
ReplyDeleteAs has been said already, a great relief to win at last and in the sylvan setting of Repton School. What a pity that, with Chesterfield, this is the only out-ground we use. With attendances at Derby often bordering on the "one man and his dog" situation, why we don't use Chesterfield more or other grounds in the North of the county (Buxton, Glossop for example) is a mystery. Other counties travel to remote locations. Why don't we?
The fact that we have selected a side with first-choice players has been commented on and is worth further comment. The 2013 season was a generally miserable one as we struggled in Division 1 in the Championship after promotion. But in August of that year we played Sussex, the Championship leaders, at Hove and beat them by 9 wickets. I mention this game because, as Wisden tells me, our side contained 5 Academy graduates with just a handful of matches between them. (Slater, Alex Hughes, Poynton, Burgoyne, Higginbottom) and each made a contribution. If MA means to build a side for the future he MUST give more opportunities to our younger inexperienced players. The alternative is to continually recruit other counties' cast offs with mixed success. After 5 seasons in charge, surely this policy can't be beyond our illustrious cricket supremo?
Like you say Steve, you can only beat what's in front of you and we did. But that was a near second string Glamorgan and when you saw the starting elevens you would've fancied us. Everything will be hunky dory again in MA's book, Derbyshire are back, lol
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that some people regard this as a development competition but I see it as something that we could have won. Yesterday showed what the batting is capable of. Guest, who has been criticed by some played a masterful innings. I think that the 50 over format suits his game.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see our overseas man back in form. He could yet make a significant contribution in the latter part of the season.
Also, good to see that the bowling continues to be so much better than in last season's campaign.
Tomorrow might be tough but we have a bit of hope after the first win.
The club receives significant public funding. It shouldn't be getting into bed with private schools. Dave.
ReplyDeleteDon't think they are, Dave. The aim is to take the game to a different part of the county AND to a location that has the requisite infrastructure for parking, travel, food preparation, safety, controlled entry etc. That rules out a lot of places and some lovely grounds
DeleteDave probably needs educating further on the matter whether that be public or private 😀 the club do not really benefit financially unlike when they play at Chesterfield and maybe look at the list of ex players and current players that have come through via Repton it’s an important partnership. It seems we want it all ways Jason
DeleteA lot of negativity on here, even after a win! It was a good day in nice weather. In terms of young players, Bin Naeem has had 3 chances in this tournament. Wagstaff could possibly be playing. I don't think Yorkshire are playing many young lads either, to be fair. Kris
ReplyDeleteTake your point about Yorkshire, but Naeem, a top order bat, has gone in at 7, as did Basra in the Blast. So they had to go in and hit or pick up pieces when more experienced players failed.
DeleteI think the club needs to be clear with supporters whether they plan to use this competition for development or to win it. The process this year, for me, has been muddled and I don't think I'm alone in that.
That lack of clarity has probably proved costly. I am a big believer in setting people's expectations and that would have gone some way towards doing so
I think it’s pretty clear from the selections that Derbyshire ARE trying to win it. The problem is that our best available team at the moment ain’t good enough to win it so MA ( and others ) then try to make out that we are “ developing “ players when we know that’s a load of rubbish
DeletePaul
Can’t win either way last year in this competition Derbyshire got pumped by what was in effect Surrey’s third team, regarding out grounds Derbyshire had some good results playing at Ilkeston in the early nineties including beating Surrey but that’s easy for someone of my age to forget that was thirty odd years ago
ReplyDeleteCome off it. Everyone knows Derbyshire are saving players for the 4 day comp, even if it's a long shot. Kris
ReplyDeleteWho are we "saving?"
Delete