Excellent day for second eleven

Another excellent day for the second team at Belper, as they racked up an impressive 398-3 against Leicestershire.

Harry Came top-scored with 150, before being dismissed in the closing overs, while Anuj Dal made an unbeaten 137. Matt Lamb earlier made a run-a-ball 76, after Mitch Wagstaff went earlier. 

The visiting attack was of a decent standard, with both Josh Hull and Matt Salisbury in it, as well as Roman Walker, but Derbyshire scored at a steady four an over throughout the day. 

I wouldn't read too much into the team, in so far as the Northamptonshire might be. Chappell, Brown and Conners were in the side, as well as the returning Nick Potts and Alex Thomson, but the eleven that finishes this game will likely be very different to that which started it. 

It is good that those who needed it got good time in the middle today. Hopefully those bowlers can get into a nice rhythm over the next day or so. 

Northamptonshire were beaten today, so this weekend's game will see two sides struggling for wins competing. Hopefully the weather allows a good game to take place. Although Derbyshire sit bottom of the table after this round of matches concluded, we could easily move up with a win. 

The main difference between us and the rest is that we have so far only accumulated four batting bonus points in five matches. 

Room for improvement and hopefully we see that this weekend.

The Peakfan County Championship!

Steve Jr, below the previous post, asked what I would do were I the supremo of English cricket. It goes without saying I would get rid of The Hundred at the earliest opportunity, but I would also trying to make long-form cricket more appealing.

The way that the game is now being played largely negates the need for the county championship to be played over four days. My preference would be to see a return to one division, everyone playing everyone and matches played over three days, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. People could then realistically watch a full game of cricket by taking one day off work. That would be 51 days of first class cricket per summer, a reduction of five days on the current situation. Over the course of two years you would host every side in the country, fixtures reversing each season.

There are 27 weekends between the end of March and the end of September. That would leave ten more to play other competitions, a T20 on a Friday evening and Sunday afternoon, a fifty-over competition in the gaps or in midweek in high summer.

In the long-form I would limit the first innings to a hundred overs per side (that being the overs required per day) but if the side batting first was bowled out inside that time, the one batting second could bat to a maximum of 200 first innings overs across the two sides.

Bonus points would be awarded for 200, 250, 300, 350 and 400 runs - a maximum of five

And for 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 wickets - a maximum of five.

There would  be fifteen points for a win and NO points for a draw. 

Sides would have every incentive to go for a win and be creative with declarations to facilitate this. They would also be more willing to chase a target, rather than taking a 'second prize' of decent draw points. If it is a draw, so be it, but you only get the points that your batting and bowling earned you. 

I have lost count over the years of the number of people who are puzzled by cricket and cannot understand how a game can be a draw after playing for three, four or five days. I would like to think this would encourage greater positivity. 

My preference would be three days, but if it was decided to stick with four and two divisions, the same principle would apply. After two days the game has moved on and the last two innings would be played on a worn pitch, with more variable bounce and ideally spin. It would make for a greater level of entertainment than is currently on offer, with too many high scoring draws. 

There you have it, always happy to hear your thoughts! 

Weekend thoughts

There is a certain irony in the fact that the first real weekend of summer weather has seen Derbyshire without a fixture. Five rounds of nigh-winter weather and then glorious weather all weekend, while our players had to content themselves with league cricket yesterday.

The star turn was Tom Wood, playing relegated Ticknall. Skippering the side, he made an unbeaten 152 as they won easily. There will still be those who could have seen a T20 contract for Tom and I am one of them, but I suspect that boat has sailed.

Samit Patel turned out for Cutthorpe against Dunstall and made 36 opening the innings, before taking 3-14 in 12 overs, a level of parsimony we would gladly take in the fast-approaching Blast. Meanwhile Barbadian fast bowler Chemar Holder continues to cut a swathe through batting line ups for Ockbrook and Borrowash, taking 6-32 in an attack that also features Sam Conners and Dustin Melton. Josh Lacey's spin must seem like a pleasant relief after that!  Holder looks quick and very useful...

I have dipped in and out of the county matches, but I have to say I find some of the 4-day cricket on offer increasingly dull. Glamorgan have done well, trouncing Sussex who beat us last time out, of course. It is no surprise to me, they have a very good coach and they will be there or thereabouts at season end. 

But again, there are matches where at the end of day three they have still to complete two innings. For me, there are too many games where one result has been eliminated after the first day and a half. With the number of points for a draw too high, teams are banking on scoring 500 then bowling out their opponents twice. 

When that doesn't happen, the remaining days of the game become little more than a glorified net.

Anyway, we will see what happens when Derbyshire return to action this week.

Second Team cricket

An interesting question from Essex fan last night, asking my opinion of second team cricket at county level, whether it was worthwhile and if the standard was especially good. 

I think that the answer is yes. It gives a natural conduit to senior county cricket and gives players an opportunity to get an idea of the demands of the game at that level. To go straight from league cricket to county first eleven would be a big jump, the biggest of all. 

I won't pretend that it is a very close replication of first team cricket. Quite often you will find senior bowlers looking for rhythm at that level but not necessarily bowling flat out. To risk injury in doing so would be silly, unless of course the county fitness staff want to test an injury under an appropriate workload. 

Much will depend on the size of staff that the county carries. With the current discussions on the workload of professionals, you aren't going to see players in contention for the senior team playing in the seconds too often. If you consider a staff of twenty, with perhaps three people injured, 12 or 13 might be involved in the senior squad and the balance will play in the second team to keep their eye in, or maintain rhythm. 

A look at the Derbyshire side that played and beat Durham yesterday is interesting. There were four who you would consider established senior players, a couple of trialists and the rest academy players. But in the previous game, against Nottinghamshire, the side was primarily made up of trialists. It was a massive mismatch against a fairly strong Nottinghamshire side, most of them players on the staff at the county. 

It depends who is on trial, of course. I am old enough to remember when Derbyshire fielded Peter Kirsten, Allan Lamb and Garth Le Roux in their second eleven. Eventual international players all and they would have represented a challenge for those tasked in bowling to them or batting against them!

So the standard can vary. Yet it offers an early glimpse of real talent and it is possible to see the wheat that will rise from the chaff. Two of the most memorable centuries I have seen were in second team games. I remember seeing Ian Blackwell at Chesterfield score an incredible century against Yorkshire that marked him as a serious talent. Likewise an innings by Aneurin Donald at Belper, when he hit the Derbyshire attack to distant lands. 

The second question was whether it should be regionalised to save on money. In the case of Derbyshire, it is. The furthest they go this summer are away games in Sussex and Gloucestershire, but most of them are fixtures against other northern counties. T20s are often played at two a day to save costs and it is unrealistic if the side is likely to feature a number of trialists to do otherwise. 

In short? I like county second team fixtures and I love the grounds that they are normally played on. I have met some lovely people wandering around the boundary and had an opportunity to chat to others where that might not ordinarily be possible.

They are an important and necessary stepping stone on the way to first class cricket. Some will fall by the wayside at that hurdle, but others will take it in their stride, perhaps after a period of transition. 

Long may it continue!

Second team win thriller!

What a fabulous game of cricket at Repton over the past three days, which ended with Derbyshire completing an excellent chase in pursuit of a target of 293 and winning the game by two wickets.

Seventeen year old Harry Moore showed he is more than just a very talented opening bowler by making an impressive 64* from 68 balls, with nine fours and two sixes.

Earlier Mitch Wagstaff made 63 and Alex Thomson 44, while there were thirties for Ross Whiteley and wicket-keeper Jack Carney.

At 230-7 the game seemed to be slipping away from Derbyshire but Sam Conners (18) helped Moore add 58 for the eighth wicket, before being dismissed just before the target was reached.

Earlier Sam Conners took 3-18 and Alex Thomson 3-50.

It was a terrific effort by a young team and welcome good news.

Scorecard and video highlights can be seen here

Second Eleven update

An enterprising declaration by captain Ross Whiteley set up what looks to be an enthralling final day against Durham Seconds at Repton.

Replying to durham's 300, Derbyshire declared on 226-5, with Harry Came top-scoring with 67 and Wagstaff, Bin Naeem and Whiteley all making 30s, the skipper unbeaten.

They then reduced the visitors to 98-6 in their second innings, with Harry Moore and Manraj Johal taking two wickets each. The giant Moore is limited in the overs he bowls, as he returns to fitness after a back injury, but looks a terrific talent whenever I see him. He just seems to have a rhythm, an ability to find the line and length required and by all accounts a shrewd head on his shoulders. He won't want for sage advice either, his Dad having been a very good club bowler for many years.

I will be keeping an eye on that one tomorrow.

Book Review: From Azeem to Ashes - English Cricket's Struggle With Race and Class

Having read them back to back, there is a certain similarity between this book and Ben Bloom's Batting For Time that I reviewed a few weeks ago. Having said that, the authors approach the subject of the modern game of cricket from different angles and both are very much worth reading. 

Jon Berry has an engaging style of writing and way with words and there were several points in the book where I either smiled or laughed out loud. It is a book where the author's love of his subject shines through, very much for a cricket lover, by one.

The title might give the impression that it is only a look at the recent racism controversies that have enveloped the game, specifically that at Yorkshire, were in-fighting is hardly a new phenomenon. Yet had the book focused solely on that it would have been to its detriment. The forthcoming biography of Azeem Rafiq by George Dobell will cover that story in all of its (very gory) detail.

Berry looks at the modern game of cricket and questions participation at all levels, including the women's game. Access to the game is looked at too, with the best facilities and coaches very much the preserve of those with the wherewithal to access private education. There is also a look at the global game of cricket and the numerous franchises that make it a 365-day a year business, or global circus, if you will.

I especially enjoyed the chapter on the Strauss review. The author makes some very good points and what I found telling was the reference to the modern game as opposed to that after the Second World War, compared again  to the grainy footage of WG Grace. Were one to watch these in chronological sequence, back to back, they would appear very different games. 

But then the game that I grew up with, loved and cherished is in danger of disappearing altogether. For all of its supposed advances, cricket today, for this writer, isn't as enjoyable as what I watched thirty, forty years ago. But it wouldn't have got here without those players and their earlier counterparts.

As I said after reading Ben Bloom's book, it is a shame that such books need to be written, as it highlights a game that is failing to learn from past mistakes and is advancing like a juggernaut towards an out of order stop light. 

But Jon Berry has written a book that is at times uncomfortable, yet entertaining and thoroughly readable.

Highly recommended.

From Azeem to Ashes: English Cricket's Struggle With Race and Class is written by Jon Berry and published by Pitch Publishing

Second XI update

Ross Whiteley took 4-16 as Derbyshire bowled out Durham for 300 at Repton today.

Haydon Mustard (son of Phil, should have been called Dijon, really) made his second score of 99 for the visitors, before being caught at slip by Harry Came.  Manraj Johal, formerly on the Warwickshire staff, took two wickets, as did Pat Brown.

Three of Ross' wickets were caught in the deep, but four are in the scorebook, so no complaints there. 

Derbyshire had reached 13-0 at the close, with Came and Wagstaff at the crease.

Further thoughts on Derbyshire and Arthur

There have been a lot of comments, understandably, after the debacle of the Derbyshire defeat against Sussex yesterday. 

In the years that I have been doing this blog, comments have always been greater in number after a poor performance than after a good one. Perhaps it is human nature, but it is certainly an observation substantiated by checking back in this instance. 

One thing I would like to say is in response to assertions that Mickey Arthur 'doesnt care'. 

I disagree with that, entirely. 

He is an international coach of high pedigree. He has been in charge of the national cricketing fortunes of Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, with varying degrees of success. 

Like a number of you. I had my concerns last year, when the club agreed that he could do our job as well as that of the Pakistan national side. I was quite clear in my assertions at that point that it was unsustainable and unfair on both the club and the country. It is impossible to serve two masters and to give equal time and focus to two jobs of such high profile. 

However, at no point have I felt that Arthur didn't care about Derbyshire, nor that he knew nothing about the club. On his arrival, he told of his long- time interest in county cricket and ever since has been one of its strongest advocates, when others have been quick to drag it down. Equally, he spoke with passion about Eddie Barlow and Fred Swarbrook, the tales they had told him and his long-time interest in the county for which they played. 

His arrival was much heralded and rightly so. His first season offered a glimpse of what might be, with players galvanised by his reputation, perhaps by his approach. But we see that all the time in sport, a new coach with fresh ideas brings a previously lacking impetus to a side. 

Last season was different. There was a clear and obvious decline, heightened by the absence of Shan Masood, a talisman of the highest order in that first summer. His Sri Lankan overseas pick, Suranga Lakmal, was an abject failure, seldom fit to take the field and underwhelming when he did so. Haider Ali was easy on the eye, but his loose technique and his being told to open the batting early season was always going to fail. There was a decent run in the T20, partly because of Zaman Khan and his toe-crushing yorkers, but the Head of Cricket was consistent in claiming that next year he would have HIS team.

Perhaps his plans for that team took a hit when the Pakistan role disappeared before the season, his services no longer required in the latest of many power shifts in that country. We don't know if he had people lined up, but it seems a strong possibility that his early knowledge of who would NOT be going to the T20 World Cup might well be to Derbyshire's advantage.

It is too early to know if Blair Tickner and Daryn Dupavillon will have the requisite skill set to inspire a fine one-day summer. But the sad news about Tickner's wife yesterday suggests that his availability may be limited, depending on her treatment and the needs of the family, which obviously come first. 

I will admit to having several concerns. One is that recruitment appears to have been lop-sided. The batting, while individually not short of talent, tends to misfire without a consistent someone to bat around. There are players capable of individual brilliance, but not necessarily used to being the focal point of that side. Perhaps a gritty batsman at the top of the order would have been beneficial,  someone like Marcus Harris, Dean Elgar or others. A di Venuto or Rogers in this side would be gold dust...

The seam bowling now has plenty of options, but if he plays both overseas then domestic talent is squeezed out. If he doesn't, then it rather ignores the point of having two overseas players, when everyone else is fielding them. An overseas player should be better than what you have and should fill a gap. I'm not yet convinced we have done that, but I will maintain optimism. 

Spin? Alex Thomson was given a 2-year contract and grounds for optimism that he realised with a 12-wicket haul in the first game. But then he is omitted, despite being the leading wicket taker and a player who offers balance, in favour of a loan player who, talented as he is, isn't as far on in his cricketing development. 

For me, the greater need was for a spinner who could bat, or a batter who could offer a spin option. It would have given the team balance, as at present it isn't. Yesterday's eleven offered little prospect of runs after number seven, Zak Chappell's cheerful occasional clumping not yet warranting my regarding him as a genuine all-rounder. 

It will be the same for T20. To accommodate two non-batting overseas quick bowlers, as well as Pat Brown who is a T20 specialist, Chappell will need to bat at eight. Unless Thomson plays as a second spinner to Samit Patel, in which case Brown or Chappell would miss out.

Maybe the hand will be forced. Another overseas may need to be engaged to allow Tickner down time with his family, but I am sure the imbalance isn't only obvious to me. He cannot really play Jack Morley either, because you have another bowler with few pretensions to batting. You could argue that if the top seven fail, there should be no expectations of the rest changing the game, but it would be nice to have that option and with the greatest respect to those concerned, I don't see it. We have all seen enough T20 to know that we are as likely to be 60 for five off 10 overs as we are 100 for one...

It hasn't been an easy year for overseas recruitment. With the World Cup on and so many other counter attractions around the globe, the challenge is clear. But I can't see how all of our domestic bowlers will get the game time they require to maintain rhythm, especially when Ben Aitchison is fit and I have no idea how Nick Potts gets near this side. Which is a shame, because a Derbyshire side without any home-reared talent in it yesterday is at odds with the investment in and heightened profile of the Pathway. 

Yet for all that I feel that he has made mistakes, I do not doubt for a minute that Arthur wants success at Derbyshire. His pained, stressed expression in the post-match interview yesterday told its own story. I don't know his plans for the future, but if they included a return to international cricket those plans would only be improved by a strong showing by his domestic side. 

Perhaps his approach needs to be considered. You cannot treat good quality first class cricketers in the same way that the elite, the creme de la creme are treated. Any more than you could use those methods on club cricketers or on a school side. The approach needs to be measured, needs to be appropriate to the needs of the individuals concerned. I speak not as an international cricket coach of standing, but as someone who has managed dozens, hundreds of people over many years. 'One size fits all' doesn't work well in management and an inflexible approach to that is seldom the way to consistent success. Nor indeed a happy and productive environment. 

I wish Mickey the very best for the remainder of the season. I hope that he can turn it around, just as I hope that individuals within the team who seem to be suffering from a crisis of confidence at the moment can return to their best days. 

Only by working together, learning from the bad days and celebrating the good ones will they do so.

We must only hope that they return to action after this fixture-enforced break with appetite renewed, bodies restored to full vigour and a desire to succeed foremost in their minds.

Derbyshire v Sussex day 3

Derbyshire 246 and 109 (Seales 5-29)

Sussex 479 (Pujara 113, Dupavillon 3-89, Morley 3-117)

Sussex won by an innings and 124 runs

I predicted a draw in this game on the radio on Friday night, my caveat being that one team had to make a real mess of things, given the weather forecast at the time.

Step forward Derbyshire 

That was pretty awful to watch. On a pitch where the Sussex tail scored runs largely at will in the morning, the Derbyshire batting offered all the resistance of a balsa wood bat in the afternoon, producing another anaemic display that has to make one question the coaching set up.

I don't think these are bad players. In some cases they are very good, but the bottom line is that the level of performance this summer hasn't been close to acceptable from a supporter's perspective. In any sport, that's where you question the input of the coaching staff and there's currently one fundamental question to answer.

Has the current set up improved any player at the club? I am not convinced that they have and after the bright new dawn of the first season under Mickey Arthur, the good ship Derbyshire is in danger of running aground on the rocks. I hope that Samit Patel and Ross Whiteley have got their Superman outfits ready for T20, because we will otherwise struggle desperately at this rate.

One has to question the apparently authoritarian manner of the Head of Cricket and ask if it is working and the answer appears to be no. Harsh questions need to be asked, because this is as bad as I have seen, with a squad that is not the worst we have had by a long chalk. I was critical of Dave Houghton when performances dipped to unacceptable levels and this was every bit as bad. 

One would also question a Derbyshire side that features no player from the county's own set up. I'm not saying they would do better, I'm not claiming the players in the side aren't trying. But if we are going to capitulate in such a fashion, then we could hardly do worse with Conners, Wagstaff, Whiteley and Potts in the eleven.

Wagstaff scored 82 and took 4-29 for Alvaston and Boulton yesterday. Whiteley scored a hundred last time out for the second team. Conners was left out for this one when he is unlikely to play any T20, so I see no logic in the omission from a 'rest' perspective  Instead he took 4-36 for Ockbrook and Borrowash at Belper. I'm not claiming the standard is the same, but these are performances that should justify consideration, at the very least.

After Dupavillon and Morley bowled pretty well in the morning, Derbyshire were blown away in the afternoon by a Sussex side a country mile ahead of them in performance. Jayden Seales bowled fast and straight and the batting did the rest. We bowled short at tail enders, they used the pitch and their heads in equal measure.

Last week I suggested that a first innings limitation of a hundred overs might move four day cricket along. We batted 89 overs across two innings here.

Woeful is an opposite word. 

There are plenty of others.

Blair Tickner

I came across this sad news on a New Zealand news hub overnight.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/2024/05/cricket-blackcaps-bowler-blair-tickner-wife-sarah-dealt-bad-hand-with-leukemia-diagnosis.html

As it is in the public domain I feel others should be aware , if you haven't already picked it up.

I have massive respect for Blair and his efforts in this match and would like to wish he and his wife the very best in the weeks and months ahead.

There are things in life much more important than cricket and all of us need to be sensitive to what is going on just now, which is bound to affect everyone in the dressing room.

Derbyshire v Sussex Day 2

Derbyshire 246

Sussex 357-5 (Pujara 103*, Coles 72, Alsop 64, Haines 58, Reece 2-32)

Sussex lead by 111 runs

Watching Derbyshire this season, I feel that I am stuck in an endless loop. Whether we bat or field first, we are under the cosh and behind the game from the start. The rest of it is then spent playing catch up and trying to save it. 

The weather has helped so far and only the most optimistic could say we have been robbed of victory by the elements. Maybe in that first, washed out game, eh?

It just seems that when we bat we are struggling, with the exception of a couple of players. Then the opposition go in and score pretty much at will. We have three players (Madsen, Donald and Chappell) averaging over 40 with the bat, but only one (Alex Thomson, just) averaging under 50 with the ball, three currently over a hundred. Poor catching hasn't helped, but nor too has an inability to bowl consistent line and length. 

Today was a case in point. Tickner, Morley and Dupavillon battled well to take us near to a batting point, but thereafter Sussex looked in very little trouble as they amassed 357-5 by the close.

Chappell's opening spell was poor and I have no idea why you wouldn't give the new ball to Tickner, who has so far done best with it. He was also on a high after a career-best 47, so it made sense for him to open while still loose. 

Dupavillon took an early wicket, ran in hard but was milked afterwards like the rest on a chastening debut. Yet he wasn't helped by Lamb putting down a routine catch at first slip, the thirteenth we have dropped in the slip cordon this summer. It is quite ridiculous, the sight of Madsen and Lloyd, who would be there but for hand injuries, at mid off and mid on more than a little frustrating.

Pujara looked in little trouble and I wish we had someone like the Indian for the others to bat around. He is a batter of consummate class and grace and Sussex are lucky to have him. 

They look a good team and with the weather forecast largely set fair for the next two days, it will need need a superhuman effort by the batters in the second innings to save the game. 

But sadly, that looks like all we're capable of in four-day cricket, making up the numbers. They are trying hard but at this stage I can see nothing other than the wooden spoon this summer. 

In closing, I am unsure why Luis Reece seems to be overlooked as a bowler, as his angle alone seems to be worthy of greater opportunity. Nor am I sure what the late in the day spat with umpire Tom Lungley was about. It was unnecessary and certainly untypical of a normally genial bloke, but it was disappointing to watch.

A bit like Derbyshire at present, to be fair.

Derbyshire v Sussex day one

Derbyshire 189-8 (Reece 50, Donald 44)

v Sussex

Another home game, another largely disappointing performance by Derbyshire today. 

To be fair, the Sussex attack is a good one. England man Robinson, West Indian Seales, the excellent Danny Lamb (who I wish we had gone for) and Fynn Hudson-Prentice, who we know all about. One of the better attacks in the division, especially when they are all available. 

They bowled steadily today, but Derbyshire didn't bat very well. David Lloyd looked good but made an error of judgement and played no stroke. Brooke Guest got a good one, but Lamb and Dal did themselves no favours by playing across the line at the start of their innings. Lamb played three poor shots in four balls and looked out of nick, to be honest, while Dal is yet to find his 'engine room' mojo this year.

Madsen was caught down the legside and although Reece and Donald batted well,  Donald looking especially good, both fell without going on to an innings-changing score. Nice forties and fifties are fine and dandy in T20, but you won't win many four-day games if that is the best you can offer collectively.

Before bad light and rain took the players off, Tickner struck some lusty blows, but the innings so far looks woefully inadequate, the tail far too long. It wasn't helped by Chappell calling for a single that might have tested a pad-free Usain Bolt, the fielder running him out at the bowler's end when he could have had Tickner even more easily at the other.

Maybe Tickner and Dupavillon (spelt incorrectly on the club scorecard all day) will run through Sussex tomorrow. I really hope so. But I can't help but think that in going for two non-batting quicks as overseas picks we have heaped additional pressure on a batting line up that is far from reliable.

If you look back over county overseas players since the game opened up for them, I can't recall many times when a side went for two out and out bowlers, neither with no real pretensions to batting. There was Greenidge and Roberts, Procter and Zaheer, McEwan and Boyce, Turner and Holder, Mushtaq and Sarfraz. Sussex had two serious quicks in Imran and Le Roux, but Imran batted four and Le Roux was a pretty decent bat too!

Even this year, our opponents have Pujara and Seales, Gloucestershire have Bancroft and Zafar, Leicestershire have Harris and Handscomb but will also have Mulder shortly. OK, Hampshire have Abbott and Abbas, but they are proven performers over many seasons, while they have a pretty solid batting side too. Our two are relative unknowns, which can be an asset but can also be a challenge.

It means that those overseas picks have to take wickets as there's no back up plan. I remember when we had Venkat as our overseas, a lovely bowler who would have been devastating in a good batting side with runs to play with, but we were far from that and seldom gave him much to work with. 

In a side where the batting is erratic, only one bowler averages under 50 with the ball (and he isn't playing here) and we aren't catching very well, it is easy to see why we have struggled to fire this summer. It has to improve, no doubt about it.

Food for thought and just my opinion. But the one-day form has to be much better than this or September won't see an especially happy fan base.

For what it is worth I think it will be, but there are a lot of people need convincing right now.

Self included...

Derbyshire v Sussex preview

After receiving eight stitches in his right hand, following the injury sustained while fielding in the slips against Yorkshire, Wayne Madsen scored a magnificent century and is probably an early contender for the Eddie Barlow Inspirational Performance Award at Derbyshire this season. 

He has also been passed fit to take his place in the 12 against Sussex, starting at the Incora County Ground tomorrow. Quite the warrior, is our Wayne..

Harry Came is omitted after a tough start to the summer and will benefit from a second team game to get the ball in the middle of the bat again. Skipper, David Lloyd will likely move up to open alongside Luis Reece, with Matt Lamb coming into the middle order. Logically that will mean Brooke Guest moves up to number three, where he batted last season.

Daryn Dupavillon is in the twelve for the first time, as is Blair Tickner and it would be good to see Derbyshire unleash both of their overseas bowlers for the first time. Most other counties are fielding two  in every game, so this would be an ideal opportunity for them to work together. 

Alex Thomson is also rested and Jack Morley is the sole spinner in the twelve, suggesting that he will play. The other place I would assume to be between the fit again Sam Conners and Zak Chappell, although the omission of the latter would see the tail worryingly long.  It may be that we go with an all seam attack, but I would think a variation is needed from what would otherwise be seven seamers. 

Ten days off after this game, so no real need to rest anyone, for me

Derbyshire twelve:

Reece, Lloyd, Guest, Madsen, Lamb, Donald, Dal, Chappell, Conners, Tickner, Dupavillon, Morley

Sussex have made a solid start to the season, or a solid as the weather has allowed any side to make. Cheteshwar Pujara returns to his old county, as does Fynn Hudson-Prentice. With John Simpson scoring runs for fun after moving from Middlesex - and with the bowling led by West Indian Jayden Seales and England man Ollie Robinson - this will be a stern test for the home side. Former Lancashire man Danny Lamb returns up north, another very good cricketer for who I have considerable time.

Squad: Simpson, Haines, Pujara, Robinson, Seales, Carter, Hudson-Prentice, Alsop, Carson, Clark, Coles, Karvelas, Lamb

However, yet again the weather looks set to interfere with proceedings. Tomorrow's forecast is not very promising and much will depend on the volume of rain that falls as to how much cricket takes place over the rest of the weekend. It is quite extraordinary how much rain continues to fall around the country and is desperately disappointing. 

That being the case, I am happy to call this as yet another draw. 

For those who would like to hear my thoughts on the last two matches, against Leicestershire and Yorkshire, as well as a look ahead to this one, I will again be on North Derbyshire radio tomorrow evening from 6:30 p.m. 

I hope that you tune in and have a listen - I will put a link up tomorrow night when the show has aired and it is possible to hear it on catch up.

Fingers crossed for the lads tomorrow! 

Yorkshire v. Derbyshire day 4

Yorkshire 450 and 59-1

Derbyshire 447 all out (Madsen 103, Donald 97, Chappell 78, Guest 75 Fisher 4-96)

Match drawn

A little bit of faith was restored in Derbyshire, over the past couple of days. 

Led by the evergreen Wayne Madsen, the county got within three of the Yorkshire first innings score, with Aneurin Donald and Zak Chappell playing fine innings.

I had mentioned yesterday that the first hour could be tricky and Brooke Guest didn't last long, being bowled one that came in and kept a little low. That brought in Nye Donald and he kept Madsen company as the veteran reached his 44th all-format century for the club. This one will rank highly, given the circumstances when he started to bat, combined with the hand injury he sustained in the field. At 40 he remains a tremendous asset to the side and we can only hope he doesn't miss too much cricket as a result of the knock. 

Donald batted splendidly. There is always a chance he could go early, because he goes for his shots, but today he mixed them with sound defence and good judgement. It was disappointing to see him fall just short of his century, edging behind off Joe Root, but by the time he was out, the job was done from a Derbyshire perspective. 

At the other end Chappell indulged himself in 'humpty' of Olympic magnitude. Not too many of his shots would have featured in the old MCC coaching manual, but he hit with remarkable power and considerable skill in making 78 from just 61 deliveries, including four sixes. I am not sure how he managed to keep hitting bouncers over mid-on, but he again illustrated what a fine cricketer he is - and what a very good eye he has. 

Dal, Tickner and Brown also played their part and few would have expected Derbyshire to get within three of the home side's first innings. 

After that it was all largely academic, Yorkshire batting out time with the only novelty value David Lloyd removing Finlay Bean while bowling offspin. 

Looking around the country, there was only one positive result again. For what it is worth, if the 4-day game is to remain confined to the bookends of the season, perhaps we need to do a couple of things to encourage positive results. 

Certainly I feel that eight points for a draw is too many. I'm not referring specifically to this game, but there is no real incentive to risk losing if you can still get eight points for getting a draw. I would like to see them maximise the win and perhaps make it two points for a draw. We might then see counties take a risk in going for a result. 

It might also be worth considering an over limit on first innings, as we did back in the '70s and '80s. Back then it was a hundred overs in the first innings, which was an opportunity to play proper cricket and meant the game could move on in the course of two days. 

If a team bats for a day and a half to make 600, then the weather intervenes as it has this year, there is greater entertainment value in one-on-one basket weaving than the rest of the game. 

My opinion, those of others may differ, but I saw some cracking cricket with such restrictions in place and the way that the game is played today, I cannot see it would be in any way to the detriment of the county or national game. 

Anyway, we move on to the Sussex game on Friday, still unbeaten and in better fettle than we were at the end of the Leicestershire game.

That in itself is progress.

Yorkshire v Derbyshire day 3

No play today at Headingley, which cannot be a surprise to anyone in the north today. Having said that, we had a lovely day up here in Scotland, so them's the breaks, I guess..

Tomorrow will be a challenge, the pitch having been covered for 36 hours. Madsen and Guest both deserve centuries after their sterling efforts yesterday, but they will need to work hard to get there.

Fisher and Coad will make them work tomorrow morning, no doubt about it. I don't see either side risking defeat and certainly not Yorkshire. It is hard to see how Derbyshire can do anything other than save the game, so logically tomorrow should be a draw and I fully expect that.

We'll see.

Book Review: Cricket in Poetry- Run Stealers, Gatlings and Graces by Bob Doran

I have to admit that I really enjoyed this book.

I admire the author for taking the time to research it and link so beautifully the lives of two well-known 19th century poets and the development of the first-class game of cricket in England.

Two poems stand out from the period: Vitai Lampada by Henry Newbolt (There's a breathless hush in the Close tonight..) and At Lord's by Francis Thompson (O my Hornby and my Barlow long ago). Both men were sons of prosperous families but the former was what one might call a 'toff', while the latter was primarily a religious  writer and at one point a suspect in the Jack the Ripper case, which is discussed in detail here.

They led very different lives and the author has beautifully researched them. Yet, the strength of the book is in the way that their writing is interlinked with the development of county cricket in the 19th century and up to the First World War.

Well-known figures flit in and out of the pages including the Graces and Ranjitsinjhi, but equally fascinating or the more peripheral figures in the history of the game who made a greater contribution in the arts and literary world. Thus we read of Siegfried Sassoon, Kipling, Owen, Graves, Hardy, Conrad and Conan Doyle, all in the circles in which Newbolt moved.

While Newbolt established himself in such circles - but blotted his copy book for this writer with his assertion that his shell-shocked son 'wasn't doing more for his country' - Thompson's life spiralled into one of physical and mental deterioration, solitude and laudanum addiction. 

The book could have finished there, but the author brings the book and cricket's links with poetry and verse of a different kind more up to date with Cricket, Lovely Cricket and the development of Caribbean cricket before and after the Second World War, culminating in the calypso of that name  inspired by the West Indies win in England in 1950.

It is a very enjoyable read, the author rightly points out that cricket poetry can be varied in its quality, some of it moving, others funny, a fair amount clunky, at best.

A celebration of the early days of the game as we know it in the countryside of the south, then the move to the midlands and north, this might not appeal to everyone. 

But as a lover of social history, literature and cricket, it absolutely hit the right notes for me and I applaud Pitch Publishing for getting it into print and also producing it in a type face that was not a strain to read.

With some charming photographs, many of which I hadn't seen before, this is one that is well worth your time. I guarantee that by the end of it you will have learned something.

Cricket in Poetry: Run Stealers, Gatlings and Graces is written by Bob Doran and published by Pitch Publishing.

Yorkshire v. Derbyshire Day 2

Yorkshire 450-5d (Brook 126*, Root 119)

Derbyshire 190-3 (Madsen 88*, Guest 74*)

Derbyshire trail by 260 runs

Well, what a magnificent day of sport that was! 

After Derby County secured promotion to the Championship with a 2-0 win over Carlisle, Derbyshire overcame a tricky start to their innings against Yorkshire to reach the close of play at 190-3. 

That they did so was thanks to a magnificent stand between Wayne Madsen (88*) and Brooke Guest (74*) which added 167 runs for the fourth wicket.

There was an heir of inevitability about the proceedings of the morning, with both Root and Brook proceeding to centuries that seemed on the cards almost from the time that they took guard. Both batted very well, but there appeared little in the pitch for the bowlers and the concern was whether knowledge of home conditions might make Fisher and Coad a different proposition when it came our turn to bat. 

To be honest, the thing they did better than us with the new ball was simply to bowl straight and pitch it up. Harry Came, enduring a difficult start to the season, was soon dismissed, as was David Lloyd, second ball. Though the sight of Madsen walking out to bat was reassuring, if a surprise, Luis Reece didn't keep him company for long, edging a drive to Bean at slip, which brought Guest in at 23-3. 

Thereafter it was relatively plain sailing. Both batted with excellent technique and concentration, not forgetting some very fine stroke play, as befits two very good players. They were quickly into their stride, moving their feet well and with a flurry of boundaries easing the pressure. A six by Madsen over long on, the pose held as the ball sailed away, had this viewer purring with delight, but Guest was equally severe on a bad ball and matched him stroke for stroke.

Later they became a little more circumspect, with the field. Innovatively placed by Shan Masood. I did think they overdid the short ball - or were allowed to - at Madsen, presumably in the knowledge of his injury. There were one or two minor alarms, though the presence of a very fine third man suggested they were hoping he might use his ramp/upper cut shot and hole out. 

But he didn't and both got to the close with their wickets intact and Derbyshire pride extended past the early afternoon football result. 

Tomorrow's forecast suggests there will be little play until, at the earliest, late afternoon so any chance of a positive result here would appear to lie between the captains agreeing on an appropriate last day target. 

With the home attack, something akin to our complaints about Derbyshire - too repetitive and similar, with only Root to offer spin - I would be surprised if anything realistic were to be set. 

We will see, but that was a fine effort today, hats off to Wayne and Brooke for that.

Yorkshire v Derbyshire day one

Yorkshire 276-3 (Lyth 97, Root 65*, Brook 44*, Masood 40)

v Derbyshire

I am trying really hard to be impressed by Derbyshire this year, but I have to admit I am struggling at the moment. 

David Lloyd continues to do the first thing that a captain should and win the toss. Nor can you fault the decisions to insert the opposition on pitches tinged with green and offering more than a little assistance to the bowlers. 

Yet time and again we blow it. Chances were again dropped today, three before lunch, one after it and we didn't bowl especially well. I thought there was too much wide stuff, while the length was a wrong one for this ground. 

It always swings at Headingley, yet we were bowling what John Arlott used to call a 'grudging length'. Twenty minutes before he was introduced to the attack, a sage former professional messaged me and called for Luis Reece to be bowling - and he got a wicket, second ball.

Wayne Madsen took a blow on a finger in putting one down and it didn't look good. I was also puzzled why Jack Morley was in the twelve, yet Samit Patel came on as twelfth man in Madsen's gear. Then Ben Aitchison appeared and it all looked like the Sunday XI at the Dog and Duck

David Lloyd had his left hand strapped, so wasn't in the slips, but  Harry Came went in there with Luis Reece at third, not a common position for him. Meanwhile, Pat Brown, ostensibly the third seamer, didn't get a bowl until after lunch, when four others and the spinner had all turned their arms over. Rightly or wrongly, it didn't suggest a great deal of confidence in him and cannot have done a great deal for the player.

Yorkshire batted quite serenely and easily after that first hour, with all bar Bean looking at ease in the conditions. Lyth will be annoyed at missing out on his century, while Masood played beautifully, if never suggesting permanence. 

Later in the day, before bad light and heavy rain brought a premature close, Joe Root and Harry Brook batted with the class that they have and it is astonishing that two of the country's finest players are in division two. With an incredible feeling of deja vu, Yorkshire look set for around five hundred before tea tomorrow, when we will doubtless face a tricky session against Coad and Fisher (who was fit) who will certainly bowl the right lines and length for this ground.

We might be batting without Madsen too, as I am not expecting good news about the county talisman.

It never rains but it pours.

It might need to do, if we are to escape this game with our 'unbeaten' record intact. Unbeaten, but largely outclassed, so far this year. I can handle Root and Brook doing that, but these catches are SO costly. I know they work very hard at this, but until they start holding on in matches, it ain't worth a dime.

I hope that one day soon we can get ahead of the game. 

But if doesn't look like being in this one.

Yorkshire v. Derbyshire preview

Earlier this afternoon I watched a brilliant century by Ross Whiteley in a losing cause for Derbyshire Seconds. He hit seven sixes in reaching three figures in 92 balls, against what was a pretty decent Nottinghamshire attack. Liam Patterson-White took nine wickets in the second innings for the home side, who won by an innings and plenty after three players, including Tom Moores, made centuries. 

The only other Derbyshire to score runs was Savin Perera, who made a good fifty before being undone by one that kept low. Some might remember him playing for the South Asian Cricket Academy at the start of the summer and looking an organised bat. It is nice to see him being given an opportunity, so it is up to him what he makes of it from here. 

But Whiteley showed his talent and his power, which will obviously come into prominence in T20 and 50 over cricket, but could easily do a job in the longer form, based on what I saw today.

I am always wary of putting too much on second team performances, but Ross looked in good fettle and he did what none of the first team have done this season and went on to three figures. Perhaps he will be in contention for the Sussex game, as will Daryn Dupavillon, who will arrive  from South Africa in time for that one.

So as we go into the game against Yorkshire at Headingley tomorrow, the top six know that they are under pressure to perform. We know they

can do it, as they have done so in the past, but it would be nice to see them show their best games against the white rose county over the next four days.

Zak Chappell is back, at the expense of Sam Conners (groin issue) and the final selection would appear to be between going with two spinners or the extra seamer. That being the case, Jack Morley and Pat Brown would appear to be competing for one place in this twelve:

Came, Reece, Lloyd, Madsen, Guest, Donald, Dal, Thomson, Chappell, Tickner, Brown/Morley

There is no news as yet about the Yorkshire squad, but they have injury problems with three bowlers struggling - Fisher, Milnes and Edwards. It puts a lot of weight on Ben Coad, a very good bowler, but he is going to need support. 

The batting is no problem. With Harry Brook and Joe Root available, their top five with Bean, Lyth and Shan Masood is very strong. Yet this is the sort of game where Derbyshire can come into their own. The talent is there, we just need to see it produced to the best of their ability.

There has been talk this week in the comments about Aneurin Donald, who I think looks a terrific player. Yet to some extent he is like a latter-day hero of mine, Chris Wilkins, because it is wonderful while it lasts, but you aren't sure how long that will be. 

At 27, he needs to be looking to push an average just north of thirty towards the 35/40 mark. He has the game, he certainly has the strokes, but it is choosing the right ball to play them that is his problem. On his day, like Wilkins, you wouldn't want to miss a delivery. 

The challenge he has is in making those special days are more common occurrence. If he can do that, in conjunction with the coaching team, he can be a very special player. 

Sadly, the weather forecast does not suggest. We will get a win on the board in this one either. Tomorrow and Sunday look like fairly wet days and any possible results will need to arise because one side has had a nightmare or the two of them manufacture a finish.

We will see. Fingers and toes crossed...