A Bigger Challenge: Derbyshire County Cricket Club

[MateGaming]

Well done Mate, you are showing great resilience, I've just started a save with Durham so I'm expecting a lot of pain too!

Haha I tried that the year they started on negative points, gave up after about two games!

[MateGaming]

18th August 2019: Derbyshire vs Gloucestershire
Specsavers County Championship Division Two
Toss uncontested, Gloucestershire elected to bowl first.

Copperfield and Qadri come in for Brodrick and Rampaul from our previous Championship XI.

XI: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy, Alex Hughes, Daryn Smit+, John Copperfield, Logan van Beek, Tony Palladino, Monty Panesar, Hamidullah Qadri

Derbyshire 1st: 304 (113.3 overs - du Plooy 123*, Reece 61; Higgins 5-56)
Gloucestershire 1st: 202 (46 overs - J Taylor 70; van Beek 5-51, Qadri 4-37)
Derbyshire 2nd: 213 (68 overs - Madsen 54, Smit 47*)
Gloucestershire 2nd: 71 (46 overs - Panesar 3-3, Palladino 3-14, Reece 2-16)

Derbyshire won by 244 runs
Points: Derbyshire 22, Gloucestershire 3
MOTM: Leus du Plooy (Derbyshire)

Comfortably our best performance in recent memory. du Plooy finally scored his first century for Derbyshire and was well supported by Reece. van Beek and Qadri then bowled well to dismiss Gloucestershire cheaply, before we put the pressure on again with the bat. Palladino struck twice early on to put us in a fantastic position, and we took the final four wickets early in the final session of the match to win by 244 runs, finding ourselves sixth in the table (one point ahead of Nhants, four behind Durham).

[MateGaming]

Final Three Vitality Blast Fixtures:

23/08/19: Derbyshire 127-8 (20 overs - Reece 58*; Sanderson 4-38) lost to Northamptonshire 129-6 (18.4 overs - Wakely 59*; Watt 2-14) by 4 wickets
25/08/19: Derbyshire 132-7 (20 overs - du Plooy 60; Abbas 2-22) lost to Leicestershire 135-3 (16.5 overs - Ackermann 60*, Swindells 43*) by 7 wickets
26/08/19: Derbyshire 122-8 (20 overs - Watt 45*; Mahmood 4-45, Bailey 3-27) lost to Lancashire 124-3 (14 overs - Livingstone 67*) by 7 wickets

[MateGaming]

Vitality Blast Review:

Form: LLLWLLLLLLLLLL
Points: 2 / 28
Position: 9 / 9

Statistics
Batting/Fielding

Name	Matches	Innings	Not Outs	Runs	Average	HS	50s	100s	S/R%	Ct/St
John Copperfield	14	14	0	294	21.00	68	2	0	110.1	4/1
Leus du Plooy	14	13	3	253	25.30	60	1	0	111.5	4/0
Bill Burton	13	13	1	243	20.25	79	1	0	104.3	1/0
Wayne Madsen	14	14	1	227	17.46	60	1	0	109.1	3/0
Matt Critchley	14	14	0	147	10.50	29	0	0	100.7	4/0
Luis Reece	10	9	2	113	16.14	58*	1	0	86.9	1/0
Alex Hughes	13	11	2	86	9.56	23	0	0	103.6	1/0
Mark Watt	9	8	4	84	21.00	45*	0	0	106.3	0/0
Logan van Beek	14	11	3	74	9.25	27	0	0	77.9	0/0
Billy Godleman	8	7	1	58	9.67	24	0	0	80.5	1/0
Tony Palladino	7	4	2	26	13.00	15	0	0	118.2	0/0
Ravi Rampaul	4	3	2	16	16.00	10*	0	0	177.8	0/0
Anuj Dal	1	1	0	10	10.00	10	0	0	71.4	0/0
Daryn Smit	1	1	0	10	10.00	10	0	0	55.5	1/0
Billy Stanlake	14	5	1	8	2.00	5	0	0	40.0	2/0
Callum Brodrick	1	1	0	4	4.00	4	0	0	36.4	0/0
Alfie Gleadall	3	1	1	1	Infinity	1*	0	0	100.0	0/0

Bowling

Name	Matches	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Average	BBI	Economy	S/R	5w
Billy Stanlake	14	51	366	19	19.26	4-23	7.15	16.2	0
Logan van Beek	14	45	311	13	23.92	2-11	6.79	21.2	0
Matt Critchley	14	32	278	8	34.75	1-13	8.55	24.4	0
Mark Watt	9	27	217	7	31.00	2-14	8.04	23.1	0
Tony Palladino	7	21	177	5	35.40	2-14	8.43	25.2	0
Wayne Madsen	14	19	172	3	57.33	1-22	9.05	38.0	0
Alex Hughes	13	15	118	2	59.00	1-24	7.70	46.0	0
Alfie Gleadall	3	9	79	1	79.00	1-41	8.78	54.0	0
Ravi Rampaul	4	11	99	1	99.00	1-30	9.00	66.0	0
Luis Reece	10	5	25	0	-	0-0	5.00	-	0
Leus du Plooy	14	3	31	0	-	0-0	9.30	-	0
Billy Godleman	8	0	5	0	-	0-0	10.00	-	0

Season Records

Highest Total: 162 vs Warwickshire, Birmingham
Lowest Total: 82 vs Leicestershire, Derby
Highest Individual Innings: Bill Burton, 79 vs Warwickshire, Birmingham
Best Bowling: Billy Stanlake, 4-23 vs Lancashire, Derby
Most Runs: John Copperfield, 294
Most Wickets: Billy Stanlake, 19 (all-time record)

Partnerships

Wicket	Partnership	Batsmen	Opposition	Location
1st	141	John Copperfield & Bill Burton	Warwickshire	Birmingham	(all-time record)
2nd	41	John Copperfield & Bill Burton	Nottinghamshire	Nottingham
3rd	98	John Copperfield & Wayne Madsen	Yorkshire	Leeds
4th	38	Bill Burton & Leus du Plooy	Leicestershire	Leicester
5th	43	Matt Critchley & Leus du Plooy	Worcestershire	Worcester
6th	28	Alex Hughes & Leus du Plooy	Nottinghamshire	Nottingham
7th	32	Matt Critchley & Logan van Beek	Worcestershire	Derby
8th	65	Logan van Beek & Mark Watt	Lancashire	Manchester	(all-time record)
9th	16	Tony Palladino & Mark Watt	Worcestershire	Derby
10th	9	Billy Stanlake & Ravi Rampaul	Yorkshire	Derby

[MateGaming]

10th September 2019: Lancashire vs Derbyshire
Specsavers County Championship Division Two
Lancashire won the toss and elected to bat first.

Derbyshire are unchanged from their win against Gloucestershire, as they take on Lancashire, who, surprisingly, have struggled so far and are ninth.

XI: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy, Alex Hughes, Daryn Smit+, John Copperfield, Logan van Beek, Tony Palladino, Monty Panesar, Hamidullah Qadri

Lancashire 1st: 248 (92.2 overs - Vilas 69, Hameed 52; van Beek 3-56)
Derbyshire 1st: 319 (112.2 overs - Reece 96, Hughes 75; Onions 3-78)
Lancashire 2nd: 187 (60.3 overs - Davies 79; van Beek 5-49, Qadri 3-51)
Derbyshire 2nd: 119-0 (40.1 overs - Reece 57*, Godleman 55*)

Derbyshire won by 10 wickets
Points: Lancashire 3, Derbyshire 22
MOTM: Luis Reece (Derbyshire)

Believe it or not, we're actually doing very well in the Championship at the moment; both bowlers and batsmen are performing and it results in big wins. van Beek has been outstanding so far and continued his great form with eight wickets. Reece looks to be regaining form too, and this run of form seems to show that perhaps this team, with the addition of one or two players, could be good enough to compete for promotion next season.

[MateGaming]

16th September 2019: Derbyshire vs Sussex
Specsavers County Championship Division Two
Sussex won the toss and elected to bat first.

Derbyshire are unchanged as they head into their penultimate Championship game against third-placed Sussex.

XI: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy, Alex Hughes, John Copperfield, Daryn Smit+, Logan van Beek, Tony Palladino, Monty Panesar, Hamidullah Qadri

Sussex 1st: 172 (44.5 overs - Wiese 56; Palladino 4-49, van Beek 4-53)
Derbyshire 1st: 369 (118.3 overs - du Plooy 81, Madsen 80, Smith 50; Archer 4-94)
Sussex 2nd: 263 (65.2 overs - Brown 84, Salt 75; van Beek 5-75)
Derbyshire 2nd: 67-1 (27.4 overs - Godleman 43*)

Derbyshire won by 9 wickets
Points: Derbyshire 22, Sussex 2
MOTM: Logan van Beek (Derbyshire)

This is slowly turning into an excellent run of Championship form; a comfortable win inside three days against one of the best teams in the division, illustrating that perhaps this team isn't quite as bad as I first thought. van Beek continued his fantastic form and I am certainly tempted to keep him as our overseas for next year. Sussex never really troubled us too much after winning the toss, and it ended in a very convincing win. Can we keep this up and end the season on a high?

[MateGaming]

23rd September 2019: Middlesex vs Derbyshire
Specsavers County Championship Division Two
Middlesex won the toss and elected to bat first.

Derbyshire make one enforced change and one tactical switch - Copperfield is injured so is replaced by Critchley. Rampaul also replaces Panesar in Derbyshire's final game of what has been a rollercoaster of a first season.

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

Middlesex 1st: 537 (94 overs - Taylor 236, Stirling 117, Morgan 79; van Beek 3-106)
Derbyshire 1st: 420 (129.2 overs - Critchley 119, Godleman 112, van Beek 96; Roland-Jones 7-102)
Middlesex 2nd: 244 (56.2 overs - Robson 60, Morgan 51; van Beek 3-42, Palladino 3-70)
Derbyshire 2nd: 363-3 (102.1 overs - Godleman 153, du Plooy 117*)

Derbyshire won by 7 wickets
Points: Middlesex 7, Derbyshire 22
MOTM: Ross Taylor (Middlesex)

An absolutely unbelievable win! After a terrible first innings bowling performance and then after being reduced to 66-5, a partnership of 203 between Godleman and Critchley, as well as a magnificent 96 from van Beek, helped us to avoid the follow-on and force Middlesex to bat again. We bowled better second time around but were set a target of more than 360 to win. Initially, we weren't too interested, but an opening partnership worth 106 gave us some hope, before Godleman again struck a century, combining with du Plooy to put on 228 for the third wicket to effectively see us home. What a way to finish the season!

[MateGaming]

Specsavers County Championship Review

Heartbreakingly, we somehow only missed out on promotion by three points: Sussex finishing on 196, us on 193 in fourth. Leicestershire and Middlesex were the other two teams promoted. Essex were the one team relegated to Division Two, with Hampshire winning Division One.

Form: LLWLWLDWWLWWWW
Points: 193 (8Wx16, 5Lx0, 1Dx5, 24xbat, 36xbowl)
Position: 4 / 10

Top 5 Batting:
Leus du Plooy: 14 matches, 966 runs @ 42.00, HS 123*, 4x50, 2x100, SR 39.6
Billy Godleman: 13 matches, 915 runs @ 38.13, HS 153, 5x50, 2x100, SR 38.2
Alex Hughes: 14 matches, 729 runs @ 30.38, HS 89, 5x50, SR 39.3
Wayne Madsen: 14 matches, 706 runs @ 27.15, HS 80, 6x50, SR 43.8
Daryn Smit: 12 matches, 655 runs @ 36.39, HS 127, 3x50, 1x100, SR 43.6

Top 5 Bowling:
Logan van Beek: 14 matches, 73 wickets @ 20.00, BB 6-108, 6x5w, SR 38.0
Tony Palladino: 14 matches, 54 wickets @ 25.87, BB 5-54, 1x5w, SR 49.8
Monty Panesar: 11 matches, 25 wickets @ 28.36, BB 3-3, SR 55.3
Luis Reece: 12 matches, 20 wickets @ 33.65, BB 4-99, SR 54.1
Ravi Rampaul: 9 matches, 16 wickets @ 58.19, BB 4-92, SR 103.6

Season Records:
Highest Total: 422 vs Glamorgan, Derby
Lowest Total: 144 vs Leicestershire, Leicester
Highest Individual Innings: Billy Godleman, 153 vs Middlesex, North London
Best Bowling Innings: Logan van Beek, 6-108 vs Northamptonshire, Derby
Best Bowling Match: Tony Palladino, 9-109 vs Middlesex, Derby
Most Runs: Leus du Plooy, 966
Most Wickets: Logan van Beek, 73

Partnership Records:
1: 121, Billy Godleman & Luis Reece vs Middlesex, Derby
2: 109, Wayne Madsen & Harvey Hosein vs Glamorgan, Cardiff
3: 228, Billy Godleman & Leus du Plooy vs Middlesex, North London
4: 101, Leus du Plooy & Alex Hughes vs Glamorgan, Derby
5: 95, Alex Hughes & Daryn Smit vs Lancashire, Derby
6: 203, Billy Godleman & Matt Critchley vs Middlesex, North London
7: 137, Logan van Beek & Daryn Smit vs Glamorgan, Derby
8: 62, Logan van Beek & Callum Brodrick vs Gloucestershire, Bristol
9: 74, Logan van Beek & Ravi Rampaul vs Middlesex, North London
10: 31, Ravi Rampaul & Monty Panesar vs Leicestershire, Leicester

[MateGaming]

Contract Renewals/Signings
- Monty Panesar and Tony Palladino have retired
- Alfie Gleadall, Mark Watt and Bill Burton were released
- Billy Stanlake has decided to sign for Leicestershire
- Billy Godleman signed a 2-year contract
- Alex Hughes signed a 2-year contract
- John Copperfield signed a 2-year contract
- Leus du Plooy decided to sign for Middlesex
- Logan van Beek has re-signed as main overseas player for the season
- Steven Davies has signed on a 2-year contract from Somerset
- Young bowler Chris Bannister has signed on a 2-year contract
- Luke Wells has signed on a 2-year contract from Sussex
- Young batsman Kevin Hardwick has signed on a 2-year contract
- Ed Pollock has signed on a 3-year contract from Warwickshire
- Adam Milne has signed as t20 overseas player for the season
- Simon Harmer has signed on a 2-year contract from Essex

Summary:
IN: Copperfield, Hardwick, Bannister (youth), Wells (Sussex), Pollock (Warwickshire), Davies (Somerset), Harmer (Essex), Milne (t20 overseas)
OUT: Panesar, Palladino (released), du Plooy (Middlesex), Stanlake (Leicestershire), Gleadall, Watt, Burton (released)

2020 SQUAD:
Openers: Billy Godleman, Luis Reece, Luke Wells
Batsmen: Alex Hughes, Wayne Madsen, Callum Brodrick, Kevin Hardwick, Ed Pollock
WK: John Copperfield, Harvey Hosein, Daryn Smit, Steven Davies
All-Rounders: Matt Critchley, Anuj Dal, Logan van Beek
Bowlers: Sam Conners, Mattie McKiernan, Hamidullah Qadri, Ravi Rampaul, James Taylor, Chris Bannister, Adam Milne, Simon Harmer

[MateGaming]

5th April 2020: Derbyshire vs Lancashire
Specsavers County Championship Division Two
Lancashire won the toss and elected to bat first.

Our 2020 campaign begins against the team that finished bottom of Division Two last season; Wells, Davies, Harmer and Bannister all make debuts for Derbyshire, including a first class debut for Bannister.

XI: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Luke Wells, Wayne Madsen, Alex Hughes, Steven Davies+, John Copperfield, Logan van Beek, Simon Harmer, Chris Bannister, Ravi Rampaul

Lancashire 1st: 390 (104.5 overs - Vilas 195, Wiese 73; van Beek 4-92)
Derbyshire 1st: 156 (65.4 overs - Reece 40; Coad 5-32, Anderson 5-33)
Derbyshire 2nd (f/o): 291 (97.2 overs - Hughes 66, van Beek 64; Anderson 7-80)
Lancashire 2nd: 59-1 (17.2 overs)

Lancashire won by 9 wickets
Points: Derbyshire 3, Lancashire 23
MOTM: James Anderson (Lancashire)

A dreadful start. Having annoyingly lost du Plooy during the winter, our batting was always going to be slightly weakened in this format, and it showed as we failed to respond to Lancashire's high first innings score, Vilas continuing to score runs against us. Our batting was relatively poor in both innings and Lancashire had no problem during the run chase.

[bryce87]

Good luck with Harmer, he has been rubbish in my Essex saves. I hope he goes better for you!

van Beek was outstanding. Palladino will be a sore loss.

[MarksNotts]

Well done on your 1st season Mate, pity you lost Du Plooy I reckon you will miss him.

[MateGaming]

Good luck with Harmer, he has been rubbish in my Essex saves. I hope he goes better for you!

van Beek was outstanding. Palladino will be a sore loss.

Harmer was more of a last-minute panic signing when I realised we didn't have a reliable spinner! Hopefully he goes well.

LvB fully deserved his contract renewal and hoping he can contribute just as much this year.

Looking already like we're missing Palladino as Rampaul doesn't seem to be good enough.

[MateGaming]

Well done on your 1st season Mate, pity you lost Du Plooy I reckon you will miss him.

Cheers, certainly went better in the Championship than I had imagined. Certainly a shame about LdP, I was a bit stingy with his wages perhaps!

[MateGaming]

11th April 2020: Durham vs Derbyshire
Specsavers County Championship Division Two
Toss uncontested, Derbyshire elected to bowl first.

With Rampaul injured and out for four weeks, he is replaced by Taylor.

XI: Billy Godleman*, Luis Reece, Luke Wells, Wayne Madsen, Alex Hughes, Steven Davies+, John Copperfield, Logan van Beek, Simon Harmer, Chris Bannister, James Taylor

Durham 1st: 179 (47.1 overs - Reece 4-55, Taylor 3-41)
Derbyshire 1st: 224 (81.4 overs - Davies 70*; Weighell 5-39)
Durham 2nd: 256 (78.3 overs - Richardson 55; van Beek 8-66)
Derbyshire 2nd: 195 (99.3 overs - Godleman 70; Salisbury 3-45, Wood 3-47)

Durham won by 16 runs
Points: Durham 19, Derbyshire 4
MOTM: James Weighell (Durham)

A very disappointing defeat after throwing away a good position. Too reliant on Godleman with the bat, no one else managed to stay with him. Two defeats leaves us in sixth after two games, going into the One Day Cup.