When I visited Derby last September the county was on the verge of clinching promotion to the first division which they duly did the following day, the same day as Yorkshire with a crushing victory over Essex, booked their place in the top tier. As we reach the midpoint of the season and the championship is about to move aside to make room for its noisy neighbour how contrasting are the fortunes of the two counties.
On Friday I was part of a bumper Headingley crowd enjoying seeing their team as championship leaders welcome Surrey for the first time since 2008 and, dare I say, taking some pleasure from the visitors' lowly position which earlier in the week had led to the dismissal of Chris Adams. Derbyshire's position offers a sharp contrast to that of Yorkshire for they are winless after seven matches and at the foot of the table.
Yesterday I took the train to Derby arriving in plenty of time for the second day of the match with Somerset, another side whose achievements this season have so far fallen well short of expectations and who also still have zero in the win's column. The gatemen at the County Ground could not have been more welcoming even to the man in front of me who thought a twenty pound note might be enough to secure him and his wife admission. 'Just another twelve pounds, sir'. The chap who dealt with me told me that this was 'a result wicket' with the groundsman acting on instructions to ensure that the game would not meander to a draw on Monday.
Despite a short shower about fifteen minutes before the start, play got underway on time and although there were further interruptions including one when the strong wind blew over the sightscreen, by dint of taking early lunch and good work by the ground staff only ten minutes of play was lost in the first two sessions of the day. The on field events confirmed the gateman's assessment of the wicket for Palladino in particular got some steep bounce. For much of the afternoon I sat amongst some Somerset supporters who, as their side's wickets fell, became less and less hopeful that they would escape relegation. They even began compiling a list of players who might be shown the door if they return to the second division for the first time since 2007. Come on gentlemen, surely things aren't that bad.
I left at tea but in the event missed very little play for the weather that had sent the players from the field at 3:50 kept them in the pavilion until 6:20 and by stumps only a further fourteen runs had been added and despite the groundsman's best efforts today's forecast suggests a draw as the most likely result. Unless of course the captains feel that it is time to throw caution to the wind, and there was no shortage of that yesterday, and risk the three points a draw offers in pursuit of a win.
On Thursday I took in another of my listed matches by visiting Old Trafford where there was no shortage of talking points. Readers will probably be well acquainted with the on field events and Northamptonshire's dismay over the wicket that produced a red rose victory in two days. It is thought that the strip, which has been cleared by the pitch police, is the same one on which Lancashire were skittled out for 63 by Worcestershire last year and for which they narrowly escaped a deduction. On that occasion it was spin that caused the problems, this time the outstanding bowler was Kyle Hogg whose 7 for 27 on Thursday was a career best.
No comments:
Post a Comment