Friday 29 May 2009

No need to be downhearted

Tonight's loss was not entirely unexpected as Nottinghamshire have a habit of giving us a doing in these games at Derby. Yet the performance was far more encouraging than those in seasons past and only a couple of fine knocks by Adam Voges and especially by Graeme Swann took the game away from us.

It was good to see others step up to the plate tonight when Chris Rogers failed for once. Greg Smith and Wavell Hinds did an excellent job of restoring the innings, putting on an excellent century stand before Hinds was adjudged caught on the boundary when some fans thought the fielder's foot was either on or behind the line. Not having seen the incident I'm in no position to judge, but any fielder in a big match watched by a large crowd would have to be stupid to claim a catch that was not legitimate. If the Nottinghamshire man did cheat there can be no excuse...

Anyway, a break for bad (sun)light also disrupted the innings but Derbyshire must have been happy with 158 after a slow start that saw Ryan Sidebottom bowl two maidens. That must be close to unprecedented in this form of the game.

After the quick dismissal of Ally Brown, Derbyshire fans could be forgiven for thinking that this would be our night, but Swann took the game away from us in an audacious display of pinch hitting that saw his side win in a canter. Still, there is no disgrace in losing to a good piece of cricket by the opposition. The fact that Hinds was dismissed in full flight perhaps cost us a further 20 runs, but no one could claim that the result would have been any different.

And so to Chesterfield on Sunday. Yorkshire don't strike me as a great side this year and if we can bowl accurately and bat as we have been doing it should be a great occasion. With a decent track and short boundaries this could be a fine game of cricket. Another win would set us back on course and tonight's loss will be quickly forgotten.

2 comments:

  1. DerbyshireForever30 May 2009 at 00:45

    1: We didn't get out of the blocks quick enough tonight - not enough runs scored early on, therefore on the back foot as a result.

    2: Notts certainly bowled better than us. Wagg 4 overs, 40+ runs says it all (not that I'm blaming him exclusively) as the others failed to bowl much better.

    3: Good innings from Greg Smith and the Caribbean Cavalier, Wavel Hinds - should he have been given out? Definately not!! We were not too far from the 'incident' and clearly the Notts fielder had his foot on the rope, and his hands behind the line when he caught the ball. As you say - No excuse, very poor show Notts!!!! The player must have known what he was doing.

    Having said that even another 30 runs from Wavell would not have saved us the way we bowled, and the way Swan and Voges batted.

    4: Dropped catches, some very difficult admitedly - but the one that Wavel dropped, well, what can you say?

    5: Sure we'll bounce back but tonights performance emphasises that we still have a way to go. We were beaten far too easily and I stongly suspect that John Morris will be none too happy!!

    6: Apart from the cricket, the overiding memory of the night was that sitting just in front of the Gateway Center we had the pleasure of sitting next to Jamie Pipe's mum, Jamie's auntie and his father-in-law. My friend had his young son with him, and it was a truly wonderful evening if only for the fact that we had met these delightful people. When the game ended, Jamie's father-in-law insisted on taking young Timmy down in front of the pavillion, and he was able to get his scorecard autographed by nearly every player,and also obtain the autograph of West Indian Phil Simmons. Well done the Pipe family, truly nice people.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the detailed comments which are great to see!
    Lovely story to end with and its refreshing to see youngsters interest in the game being stimulated in such a way. Derbyshire's players are a good bunch and while there is still some way to go, I feel that John Morris is doing a good job and we're seeing better players now. Let's hope we beat the Yorkies tomorrow!

    ReplyDelete

Please remember to add your name. Avoid personal comment at all times. Thanks!