Sun comes out in Derby
Stats | Spotted | Quote | Six Sense | Turnfurlong 4ths
Derby – This ground, and it's home team, have long been considered a symbol of all that is wrong with county cricket, but things are changing around the finish post of what was once a mile-long racecourse. Bowlers no longer join the attack from the Grandstand End, in front of the derelict carcass of a structure that used to be the only shelter for paying supporters when it rained - and in Derby it always rained.
These days, with the sun parching the New Zealand tourists, bowlers run in from the Gateway Pavilion End, home of a £4.5m edifice of wood and metal. Inside is a new five-lane net facility, offices and catering for a row of corporate hospitality boxes, fronted by some expensive-looking leather seats. It looks across the outfield at an outdoor net facility opened last year. At some Test grounds, the only nets available are on the outfield before play begins. Following Chelmsford and Hove, permission has also been granted for permanent floodlights.
There are complaints. A lot of the cash has been raised by selling chunks of the ground – a gym and a hotel now cramp the car park. The new pavilion dressing-rooms are reportedly too small and need to be revamped before the first XI move in. With the corporates in residence there is still very little cover for the masses when the clouds break, but the view from under the umbrellas is better these days.
Unfortunately, the team is less exciting than pragmatic, a line-up of foreign mercenaries collected by new director of cricket David Houghton. The resulting league position has not been helped this year by a spate of injuries. Meanwhile, former Derby golden boy Dominic Cork is on the TV in the bar, smacking 54 from 20 balls for his new Lancastrian paymasters.
But Derbyshire have done well on the pitch in the past without reflecting that prosperity across the boundary rope. This county would never admit they could be the first to go if there were any contraction in the number of first-class sides – why would they? But after years of gloom and getting by, there are some concrete indications of their hopes for the future.
Stat of the week
Warwickshire pinch-hitter Neil Carter's 28 in a single over from Steffan Jones of Northants – 4,4,4,6,4,6 – in Wednesday's quarter-final is the most expensive set of six balls delivered in the history of the C&G Trophy.
Spotted
New Zealand opening batsman Mark Richardson at Trent Bridge sporting a Cathy Freeman-style hooded cat-suit, in the colours of the Beige Brigade, for a running race against the slowest member of the England team. Ashley Giles gained the verdict by a head on this occasion but explained "I have got a big head". Pakistan's Danish Kaneria is the only man to have been out-slowcoached in New Zealand's traditional end-of-Test-series event.
Quote of the Week
"That is final proof those suits don't work"
Richardson's excuse for his defeat.
Six sense
1. Just when you thought some maturity was seeping into the row between Muralitharan and the Commonwealth of Australia, Shane Warne piped up. Aussie crowds, some Aussie players and the Aussie prime minister call Murali a chucker; Murali declines to visit. Fair enough. Then Warne describes the man who beat him to the previous record of 519 Test wickets as "thin-skinned" for being unable to deal with the criticism. This isn't the same as crowds making references to nurses and pies and too many cigarettes, or even that banner at a ground in New Zealand that pronounced "Warne is a homo!". This is a debate about whether someone deserves his stature as one of the world's finest spinners or whether he should still be playing club cricket in Kandy. Forgive him for feeling mildly offended.
2. England's selectors obviously didn't read last week's submission, perhaps because it was filed too late on Friday night with their decision due the following morning on the make up of the one-day squad. Had I realised the consequences I may have got my copy in earlier, and added a caution against choosing Rob Key, who lacks improvisation skills and could be difficult to hide in the field. Ian Bell is a similar batsman but more agile. I'm surprised by Anthony McGrath's inclusion but perhaps his drinks-carrying ability was proven to be beyond reproach in the Caribbean. And the call-up for Sajid Mahmood was a bit of a shock – I hope it wasn't done on the back of his 94 with the bat in the Championship the other day.
3. There was one statement not widely reported in Chris Read's understandable Saturday lament after Geraint Jones moved into Trent Bridge, drank his booze and shacked up with his girlfriend. Asked if being dropped strengthened his resolve or just made him angry he said: "My resolve's always been strong." This is a man who has been cast into the wilderness before, after the 1999 experiment, and came back stronger. It's not difficult to envision another return, although that will only be if Jones makes a massive error with the gloves.
4. Derbyshire gain hearty applause for making it a policy to field a full-strength side against New Zealand in a one-day tour match. They also gained a moral reward, gaining their second win over the Black Caps in the last three attempts, by a four-wicket margin and spoiling what Stephen Fleming's men had hoped would be a smooth warm-up for the NatWest Series. But that is their only reward. No sponsor has offered prize money on tourist matches for several years so it is no wonder most sides only bother to put out their second team.
5. Michael Vaughan scores a brilliant century for Yorkshire, Ian Bell thrills Edgbaston, Sajid Mahmood proves the selectors are on the right track and Aussies Darren Lehmann and Brad Hogg sing for their salaries by taking county attacks apart. If only every week could be C&G Trophy quarter-final week.
6. A question of Pakistan Cricket Board mathematics: How long is it to the next World Cup? Well Bob Woolmer has been handed a contract to coach the national side until then, and in my wildest dreams I can't imagine him being in the job for longer than 12 months. No disrespect for Bob but I can't see anyone coaching Pakistan for longer that a year. I'd better book my tickets for the Caribbean.
Turnfurlong 4th XI update
Almost won this week, and it cost most of us a day off work. Once or twice a year Gary brings his South African mate Marius along and he gets us out of a hole. Smashed 84 from 32 balls – would have faced more if Derek hadn't insisted on opening and making Boycott look like a ballerina – took five wickets with the new ball, kept wicket through the middle of the innings then took a couple more with some left-arm slow. Not enough, thankfully. Chips on shoulders were already so big that half the boys stayed at the club until three in the morning to make sure they out-drank him. Imagine if he'd won the game for us.
Back to top
