A Bigger Challenge: Derbyshire County Cricket Club

[MateGaming]

After I foolishly messed up the difficulty with my Hampshire save, and taking an interesting suggestion into account, I have decided to take on the role of coach at Derbyshire.

Founded in 1870, the Club has won a single County Championship, in 1936. Only four trophies have followed since then, including Division Two in 2012. Having had varying low finishes since their immediate relegation in 2013, they've finished as low as 18th in 2016 and, most recently, 15th in 2018.

They seem to have a relatively small squad with a distinct lack of batsmen, so I have decided to re-sign 21-year-old Callum Brodrick, after he was released by the Club at the conclusion of last season, who signs a two-year deal. With the remaining budget, we also signed veteran spinner Monty Panesar, to play First Class cricket only on a one-year deal. With that, our budget was all gone, so this is the squad we begin the 2019 season with:

Batsmen	Openers	Wicketkeepers	All-Rounders	Bowlers
Leus du Plooy	Billy Godleman (captain)	Harvey Hosein	Matt Critchley	Sam Conners
Alex Hughes	Luis Reece	Daryn Smit	Anuj Dal	Alfie Gleadall
Wayne Madsen			Logan van Beek (overseas)	Mattie McKiernan
Callum Brodrick				Tony Palladino
				Hamidullah Qadri
				Ravi Rampaul
				Billy Stanlake (t20 overseas)
				James Taylor
				Mark Watt
				Monty Panesar

It seems that we will rely heavily on our opening pair of Godleman and Reece, as well as on Kolpak batsman du Plooy and vice-captain Madsen. Palladino and Rampaul look to both be important with the ball, as we'll potentially try and push for promotion - barring that, we are at least attempting to be competitive within the division. Limited overs cricket should be interesting, with nearly all of our front-line batsmen tending to bat rather defensively. How we could do with Aiden Markram now! Our first fixture is at home to Durham, before travelling to Gloucestershire and then into the One Day Cup.

[MateGaming]

5th April 2019: Derbyshire vs Durham
Specsavers County Championship Division Two
Durham won the toss and elected to bat first.

With no University match for Derbyshire, I'm forced to enter blindly into the opening Championship game, selecting my team based loosely on the game's suggestion. In an attempt to introduce a youthful core to the team, Harvey Hosein takes the gloves. Leus du Plooy and Logan van Beek both make their first appearances for Derbyshire.

Derbyshire: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy, Alex Hughes, Harvey Hosein+, Matt Critchley, Anuj Dal, Logan van Beek, Tony Palladino, Ravi Rampaul
Durham: Cameron Bancroft, Alex Lees, Ned Eckersley, Michael Richardson, Cameron Steel, Gary Wilson, Ben Raine, James Weighell, Mark Wood, Chris Rushworth, Matt Salisbury

Durham 1st: 418 (127.2 overs - Steel 77, Richardson 70; van Beek 4-75, Reece 4-99)
Derbyshire 1st: 169 (74.4 overs - Madsen 36; Wood 5-42, Rushworth 3-50)
Derbyshire 2nd (f/o): 164 (79.3 overs - Hughes 44, du Plooy 33; Raine 3-18, Wood 3-36)

Durham won by an innings and 85 runs
Points: Derbyshire 2, Durham 23
MOTM: Mark Wood (Durham)

This game served as a not-so-gentle reminder of how difficult this is going to be. The bowling was generally economical, but lacking in penetration, though the batting was nothing short of very ordinary. Batsmen got starts consistently, but got out soon after, and two needless run outs at the start of the second innings summed up our game perfectly. On the bright side, at least we can't get relegated!

[MateGaming]

11th April: Gloucestershire vs Derbyshire
Specsavers County Championship Division Two
Toss uncontested, Derbyshire elected to bowl first.

We elected to bowl first without a toss, and look to take advantage of the cloudy conditions. Callum Brodrick replaces Anuj Dal in an attempt to strengthen the batting from the last game.

Gloucestershire: Chris Dent, Miles Hammond, James Bracey, Gareth Roderick, Graeme van Buuren, Ian Cockbain, Jack Taylor, Ryan Higgins, David Payne, Dan Worrall, Stuart Whittingham
Derbyshire: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy, Alex Hughes, Harvey Hosein+, Matt Critchley, Callum Brodrick, Logan van Beek, Tony Palladino, Ravi Rampaul

Gloucestershire 1st: 500 (141.1 overs - Roderick 105, van Buuren 77; Rampaul 4-92)
Derbyshire 1st: 229 (104.5 overs - Brodrick 59, du Plooy 44; Payne 6-42)
Derbyshire 2nd (f/o): 152 (82.2 overs - Madsen 68; Whittingham 4-40, Higgins 3-32)

Gloucestershire won by an innings and 119 runs
Points: Gloucestershire 23, Derbyshire 3
MOTM: David Payne (Gloucestershire)

I knew this would be hard, but this is something else! Another generally poor performance overall; bowling was disappointing considering the overhead conditions being in our favour, but to be fair to the batsmen, the clouds were still present during our innings. Overall, the batting was slightly more encouraging, with one or two decent individual scores; however, it is never going to be easy to block out three sessions to save a draw when only two batsmen reach double figures in the second innings! Onto the One Day Cup now, with the hope that things may start to improve - they can't get much worse!

[MateGaming]

19th April 2019: Derbyshire vs Northamptonshire
Royal London One Day Cup North Group
Northamptonshire won the toss and elected to bat first.

In a format I have traditionally never been any good at, we put all our eggs into one basket and prepared an absolute road for this game. Unfortunately, we lost the toss and can expect to concede about 500. Mark Watt makes his Derbyshire debut.

XI: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy, Alex Hughes, Matt Critchley, Harvey Hosein+, Logan van Beek, Mark Watt, Tony Palladino, Ravi Rampaul

Northamptonshire: 285 (48.5 overs - Cobb 83, Wakely 73; Critchley 3-50, Watt 3-63)
Derbyshire: 289-2 (42.5 overs - Reece 121, Godleman 113)

Derbyshire won by 8 wickets
Points: Derbyshire 2, Northamptonshire 0
MOTM: Billy Godleman (Derbyshire)

That was unexpected! Two substantial partnerships headlined Northants' innings, but the spinners both bowled well and took regular wickets, before an unbelievable all-time record opening partnership worth 232 inside 34 overs all but won us the game, Madsen and du Plooy finishing it off without much trouble. A great start to the One Day competition, and we'll be looking to continue this sudden run of form.

[MateGaming]

21st April 2019: Derbyshire vs Nottinghamshire
Royal London One Day Cup North Group
Nottinghamshire won the toss and elected to bat first.

Derbyshire are unchanged from the win against Northants, as they take on Notts, a team widely considered to be the strongest in the North Group, who have many international and high-quality players available for selection.

XI: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy, Alex Hughes, Matt Critchley, Harvey Hosein+, Logan van Beek, Mark Watt, Tony Palladino, Ravi Rampaul

Nottinghamshire: 290-8 (50 overs - Clarke 61, Patel 61; Palladino 3-33)
Derbyshire: 264 (47.3 overs - Madsen 107, Godleman 47; Broad 4-28)

Nottinghamshire won by 26 runs
Points: Derbyshire 0, Nottinghamshire 2
MOTM: Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)

No need to be too disheartened after that. We bowled well overall to restrict them to below 300, Palladino, in particular, was excellent. Madsen struck a century to take us close, but had little support from anyone else, and we unfortunately fell short, England international Broad starring for Notts with the ball. We sit in mid-table, still well in with a chance of qualifying.

[MateGaming]

24th April 2019: Leicestershire vs Derbyshire
Royal London One Day Cup North Group
Leicestershire won the toss and elected to bat first.

Derbyshire are again unchanged as they take on Leicestershire, who sit top of the table, having won all their games so far.

XI: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy, Alex Hughes, Matt Critchley, Harvey Hosein+, Logan van Beek, Mark Watt, Tony Palladino, Ravi Rampaul
?
Leicestershire: 267-9 (50 overs - Dexter 52; van Beek 3-55, Palladino 2-47)
Derbyshire: 194 (44.3 overs - du Plooy 46; Klein 3-41, Griffiths 3-49)

Leicestershire won by 73 runs
Points: Leicestershire 2, Derbyshire 0
MOTM: Gavin Griffiths (Leicestershire)

A decent bowling performance was overshadowed by the poor performance at the death, costing us at least an extra 30-40 runs. That may have made all the difference as we fell short due to the need to increase aggression during the chase: after a decent start, we collapsed and fell way short of Leics' total. With the top three all on six points, we need to start winning again soon to maintain our chances of qualifying.

[MateGaming]

26th April 2019: Yorkshire vs Derbyshire
Royal London One Day Cup North Group
Derbyshire won the toss and elected to bat first.

Derbyshire make two changes in the need of winning this game: Daryn Smit and Callum Brodrick replace Harvey Hosein and Alex Hughes, who have both struggled in the early season. The bowling attack, which has generally performed well so far, is unchanged.

XI: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy, Daryn Smit+, Matt Critchley, Callum Brodrick, Logan van Beek, Mark Watt, Tony Palladino, Ravi Rampaul?

Derbyshire: 246-8 (50 overs - Godleman 98, du Plooy 38; Olivier 3-42)
Yorkshire: 185 (37.5 overs - Fraine 73; Rampaul 3-34, van Beek 3-42, Watt 3-59)

Derbyshire won by 61 runs
Points: Yorkshire 0, Derbyshire 2
MOTM: Billy Godleman (Derbyshire)

After a relatively poor batting performance, we limped to 246-8 off our 50 overs, Godleman falling agonisingly close to a century. Yorkshire were reduced to 106-8, but a ninth-wicket partnership of 79 had us slightly worried, before Rampaul wrapped up the game by taking two wickets in three balls, to earn us our second win of the season and a much-needed confidence boost.

[MateGaming]

28th April 2019: Durham vs Derbyshire
Royal London One Day Cup North Group
Derbyshire won the toss and elected to bat first.

Derbyshire make one change - Hughes in for Brodrick - as they seek to gain revenge on Durham for the opening day's events, as well as boosting their chances of qualifying for the knockout stages of the tournament. Durham have struggled so far and are bottom of the table.

XI: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy, Alex Hughes, Daryn Smit+, Matt Critchley, Logan van Beek, Mark Watt, Tony Palladino, Ravi Rampaul

Derbyshire: 237-9 (50 overs - Godleman 119; Raine 3-45, Rimmington 2-59)
Durham: 238-7 (48.4 overs - Pringle 103*, Bancroft 54; van Beek 3-39)

Durham won by 3 wickets
Points: Durham 2, Derbyshire 0
MOTM: Ryan Pringle (Durham)

A disappointing performance with the bat again, Godleman aside; no one seems to be providing him with any support in the last few games. We took early wickets with the ball, reducing Durham to 61-4, but Pringle played superbly to see his side home. Derbyshire sit seventh in the table, though only two points separate them from Northamptonshire in third, so they are still well in with a chance of reaching the knockout stages.

[MateGaming]

30th April: Derbyshire vs Warwickshire
Royal London One Day Cup North Group
Warwickshire won the toss and elected to bowl first.

In a must-win game, Derbyshire host Warwickshire in the One Day Cup, making one change to their lineup: Hosein returning in place of Smit.

XI: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy, Alex Hughes, Harvey Hosein+, Matt Critchley, Logan van Beek, Mark Watt, Tony Palladino, Ravi Rampaul

Derbyshire: 193-9 (50 overs - Godleman 87, Watt 42*; Woakes 4-25, Miles 3-45)
Warwickshire: 194-4 (38.3 overs - Sibley 80; Critchley 2-44)

Warwickshire won by 6 wickets
Points: Derbyshire 0, Warwickshire 2
MOTM: Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)

Our innings summed up our form in this competition so far: Godleman was excellent once again but had no support whatsoever from the middle order. Watt played a useful cameo at the end to at least give us something to bowl at, but we knew a decent partnership would end our hopes. Sibley and Hose combined to see them to 115-2, and from then on, the chase was easily completed. We're now required to win our final two games, against Worcestershire and strugglers Lancashire.

[MateGaming]

2nd May 2019: Lancashire vs Derbyshire
Royal London One Day Cup North Group
Derbyshire won the toss and elected to bat first.

Derbyshire bring in Dal and Smit to replace Hughes and Hosein in a vital game against bottom-placed Lancashire, who have won only one of their games so far in the competition. Derbyshire need to win both their remaining games to have a chance of qualifying.

XI: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy, Anuj Dal, Matt Critchley, Daryn Smit+, Logan van Beek, Mark Watt, Tony Palladino, Ravi Rampaul

Derbyshire: 237-3 (50 overs - Godleman 76, du Plooy 53*)
Lancashire: 238-3 (39.2 overs - Maxwell 97*, Croft 60)

Lancashire won by 7 wickets
Points: Lancashire 2, Derbyshire 0
MOTM: Glenn Maxwell (Lancashire)

Our total didn't seem to bad after a late partnership sped up the scoring rate. We started extremely slowly (Onions went for only thirteen runs from his ten overs), but du Plooy played nicely to get us up to a somewhat respectable total. However, it was more than comfortably chased down by Lancashire as we struggled to keep a lid on the run-rate. The defeat leaves us unable to qualify, but we'll still hope to put in a respectable performance against Worcestershire.

[MateGaming]

6th May 2019: Derbyshire vs Worcestershire
Royal London One Day Cup North Group
Worcestershire won the toss and elected to bat first.

After failing to qualify from the North Group, Derbyshire hand debuts to young bowlers Taylor and McKiernan. Watt has been called up by Scotland and Rampaul is rested.

XI: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy, Anuj Dal, Matt Critchley, Daryn Smit+, Logan van Beek, James Taylor, Tony Palladino, Mattie McKiernan

Worcestershire: 376-7 (50 overs - Wessels 120, Cox 74, Ferguson 51)
Derbyshire: 264 (37 overs - Reece 122*; Parnell 4-45, Brown 3-47)

Worcestershire won by 112 runs
Points: Derbyshire 0, Worcestershire 2
MOTM: Riki Wessels (Worcestershire)

A poor bowling performance from an inexperienced attack was to be expected, as every bowler conceded at least a run a ball, Wessels striking a rapid century. In our innings, we attacked from the start and looked decent, but wickets began to fall consistently. Reece played well as everyone else dropped like flies around him, leaving him stranded to carry his bat on 122*. All in all, our competition performance was disappointing after the start we had, although I didn't expect too much based on our batsmen's aggression levels. We'll look to sign some more aggressive players for next season's competition.

[GrahamB]

Tough going in the OD games. I know how that feels!

Du Plooy has been a beast whenever I've played Derbyshire. I'd love to have him in my Gloucestershire squad.

[MateGaming]

Royal London One Day Cup Review:

Form: WLLWLLLL
Points: 4 / 16
Position: 9 / 9

Statistics
Batting/Fielding

Name	Matches	Innings	Not Outs	Runs	Average	HS	50s	100s	S/R%	Ct/St
Billy Godleman	8	8	0	602	75.25	119	3	2	83.1	0/0
Luis Reece	8	8	1	310	44.29	122*	0	2	87.3	4/0
Wayne Madsen	8	8	1	264	37.71	107	0	1	82.2	0/0
Leus du Plooy	8	8	2	239	39.83	53*	1	0	82.4	2/0
Matt Critchley	8	6	1	99	19.80	36	0	0	86.8	2/0
Alex Hughes	5	4	0	64	16.00	24	0	0	58.7	0/0
Mark Watt	7	5	2	63	21.00	42*	0	0	110.5	1/0
Logan van Beek	8	6	0	53	8.83	22	0	0	67.9	0/0
Daryn Smit	4	3	0	35	11.67	27	0	0	89.7	3/0
Anuj Dal	2	2	1	33	33.00	17	0	0	150.0	0/0
Harvey Hosein	4	3	0	31	10.33	28	0	0	64.6	7/1
Tony Palladino	8	6	2	30	7.50	12*	0	0	88.2	0/0
Ravi Rampaul	7	4	3	22	22.00	22*	0	0	50.0	1/0
Callum Brodrick	1	1	0	6	6.00	6	0	0	60.0	0/0
James Taylor	1	1	0	5	5.00	5	0	0	100.0	0/0
Mattie McKiernan	1	1	0	1	1.00	1	0	0	50.0	0/0

Bowling

Name	Matches	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Average	BBI	Economy	S/R	5w
Mark Watt	7	64	391	13	30.08	3-59	6.05	29.8	0
Logan van Beek	8	67	378	12	31.50	3-39	5.64	33.5	0
Matt Critchley	8	51	326	9	36.22	3-50	6.33	34.3	0
Ravi Rampaul	7	59	273	8	34.12	3-34	4.56	44.9	0
Tony Palladino	8	64	291	8	36.37	3-33	4.53	48.1	0
Luis Reece	8	36	236	4	59.00	1-38	6.56	54.0	0
Mattie McKiernan	1	8	65	1	65.00	1-65	8.12	48.0	0
James Taylor	1	10	79	1	79.00	1-79	7.90	60.0	0
Wayne Madsen	8	2	20	0	-	0-0	10.00	-	0

Season Records

Highest Total: 289 vs Northamptonshire, Derby
Lowest Total: 193 vs Warwickshire, Derby
Highest Individual Innings: Luis Reece, 122 vs Worcestershire, Derby
Best Bowling: Tony Palladino, 3-33 vs Nottinghamshire, Derby
Most Runs: Billy Godleman, 602
Most Wickets: Mark Watt, 13

Partnerships

Wicket	Partnership	Batsmen	Opposition	Location
1st	232	Billy Godleman & Luis Reece	Northamptonshire	Derby	(all time record)
2nd	61	Wayne Madsen & Billy Godleman	Yorkshire	Leeds
3rd	96	Leus du Plooy & Billy Godleman	Yorkshire	Leeds
4th	64	Alex Hughes & Billy Godleman	Warwickshire	Derby
5th	40	Leus du Plooy & Matt Critchley	Leicestershire	Leicester
6th	31	Daryn Smit & Luis Reece	Worcestershire	Derby
7th	44	Billy Godleman & Logan van Beek	Durham	Co Durham
8th	24	Logan van Beek & Mark Watt	Warwickshire	Derby
9th	23	Tony Palladino & Luis Reece	Worcestershire	Derby
10th	43*	Mark Watt & Ravi Rampaul	Warwickshire	Derby

[MateGaming]

Tough going in the OD games. I know how that feels!

Du Plooy has been a beast whenever I've played Derbyshire. I'd love to have him in my Gloucestershire squad.

I thought something was off in my Hampshire save! Leus has been consistently average so far (scores of 14*, 29, 46, 38, 29, 0, 53*, 30 in RLODC) but hoping he can have an impact in the Championship.

[GrahamB]

I thought something was off in my Hampshire save! Leus has been consistently average so far (scores of 14*, 29, 46, 38, 29, 0, 53*, 30 in RLODC) but hoping he can have an impact in the Championship.

It can happen.
People told me that James Bracey was supposed to be good, but he's been a disaster for me so far.