I exchanged texts this afternoon with a friend who was as pleasantly surprised by our steady second innings as I was.
"If these two see it through to the close" I wrote, as our score sat at 70-2 with Wayne Madsen and Shivnarine Chanderpaul well set, "we could yet get a draw. But if one goes, we could be five down by the end of the day".
I take no pleasure in my Nostradamus-style powers of prophecy, but the slump from 107-2 to 139-5 was the latest in a season that has seen too many already. If county cricket were accompanied by the music to which we are subjected in T20, perhaps Paul Simon's Slip Slidin' Away might be appropriate.
The fight will continue tomorrow because that's what this team does, but the loss of Shivnarine Chanderpaul to a ball that he felt brushed his thigh pad triggered a mini collapse. It was good to see Wayne Madsen grafting his way to runs and he deserved a fifty, but Ross Whiteley went quickly to a good catch and we're left looking at rain dance options for tomorrow. Good as our lower order is, even optimistic old me can't see us lasting much past lunch time - though I hope I am wrong.
There are a few things concern me at the moment and they are indicative of players who perhaps are low on self-belief. Three dropped catches again today is one of them. Last year we held more than most sides and some were barely chances, yet that has not been replicated so far. It has to be, if we are to compete, as the opportunities are not coming with anywhere near the frequency of a year ago.
Tony Palladino and Tim Groenewald were a major factor in our promotion last summer, but in three matches so far the former has three wickets at 72, the latter four at 42. Both have bowled tidily enough, but the early inroads into innings haven't happened on wickets that have offered assistance. Maybe, as Paul mailed me this evening, we need to see if Mark Footitt's greater pace is a better bet, but we could do with our two main men returning to former glories before much longer.
Then again, the batting averages bear little study either. Take away Chanderpaul's 65 and Mark Turner's 40 (seriously...) and only Tony Palladino with 27 averages more than 20. I take no pleasure from recounting these statistics, but it illustrates that the issue doesn't lie only with the batsmen. We are struggling as a side right now.
I'd love to see us battle a draw tomorrow, but that would not and should not mask shortcomings at this early stage of the summer. The New Zealand game to come will take on added significance, with several players very keen to establish some form ahead of the next championship game, at home to Sussex.
I will be down for that one myself. Let's hope things have improved a little by then.
I think Derbyshire's batting can be summed up with one statistic. No Derbyshire player has hit a first team century at Derby in a competitive match since May 17th last year. Barring a miracle tomorrow, the earliest they'll get another chance will be on May 15th. It would be quite an achievement, and somewhat unprecedented, to go a whole year without a century at our main home ground?
ReplyDeleteNot unprecedented by a long way. I know that no Derbyshire player made a ton ANYWHERE in 1919 and there will have been other seasons in between times where that probably happened.
ReplyDeleteI take your point though mate. Not one of the better stats...
I think we'll add another 60 runs today, and Notts will knock the remaining runs off losing no wickets. Ten wicket defeat coming up, not at all good for confidence and we'll rightly get labeled with the whipping boys tag this early in the season.
ReplyDeletePerhahps confidence is a factor leading to all these mistakes we keep making, though it has to be remembered thing began to unravel right from day one.
ReplyDeleteWe did our confidence no favours with the unwise choice of friendlies,which I mentioned at the time. The general idea is to play teams who are weaker than yourself,not the best in the land.
I can,t imagine Derby,s friendly list including Man U,Man City,Arsenal and Chelsea,especially if they were going to meet them in the league.
Some people might say we need to practice harder. I would take the opposite view at the moment and give them all a few days off until we play Yorkshire. Get them all as far away from cricket as possible and give them time to get their minds sorted out.
As for today it looks like an early finish. Could be a very early one. Madsen and Chanderpaul were the only ray of light in another gloomy batting performance,and even the bowling is now showing signs of wilting under the pressure. It,s not good,not good at all.
Hmmm, back to the drawing board then as we suffer another heavy defeat. How can we change it round though?. Which batsman or batsmen are waiting in the wings?. Shocking start to the season Derbyshire, to lose is one thing but to not be particularly competitive is inexcusable.
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