Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire preview

FILE PHOTO: Chanderpaul at No.3 will be a stabilising influence

Were Derby County to get back into the Premiership, see the fixtures and find that they had been drawn against Manchester United and Arsenal away in the opening games, few fans would have expectations of a good start.

Then they find that they have Chelsea in the first home game.

The analogy is opposite, as Derbyshire have found themselves facing all the big guns at the start of the summer. Tomorrow’s visitors, our nearest and dearest neighbours Nottinghamshire, are the Galacticos of the East Midlands, mainly because their resources have enabled them to attract the better players from elsewhere (including the East Midlands).

Ed Cowan, Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, James Taylor, Samit Patel, Riki Wessels, Chris Read, Stuart Broad, Ajmal Shahzad, Luke Fletcher, Andre Adams, Harry Gurney, the squad for tomorrow’s game is like an international cricket Who’s Who, with eight of them (at a quick count) internationals in one format of the game or another.

By contrast, Derbyshire’s side has only one international player (no prizes for guessing who) but a team spirit that most sides would love to bottle. We’ve also brought in players from elsewhere, but ours, rather than established stars, are people with a point to prove; an opportunity to seek, rather than a major pay-day.

On paper, this game should be one-sided, but then again on paper, this Nottinghamshire side should never lose. Yet lose they did to Middlesex and so heavily that the rumbling from Trent-side could almost be heard in Gretna. They will field few stronger sides this summer and are realistically only Graeme Swann away from full strength.

It will be a major challenge for a young Derbyshire outfit, but they need to remember that it is still eleven against eleven. Winning the toss would help us immensely, but this is why they fought so hard last season, to mix it with the big boys. A good performance against this opposition in a local derby will hearten us as we go on to play ‘lesser’ sides in the division.

I’m not being defeatist when I say that I don’t expect a win in this match, I’m being realistic. I want to hear and read of our side battling as they have in most sessions of a summer in its infancy, taking the game to the opposition, having a good go. ‘Fearless cricket’ is Karl Krikken’s rallying cry before the game and it has to be. Respect the opposition, but don’t fear them. As you see time and again in all sports, sometimes the all-star side isn’t a team and comes a cropper as a result.

As I suggested last night, Derbyshire swap Ross Whiteley for Chesney Hughes and a return for David Wainwright seems highly likely after a long bowl and six wickets in club cricket at the weekend. Our twelve is:

Wayne Madsen, Billy Godleman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Wes Durston, Dan Redfern, Ross Whiteley, David Wainwright, Tom Poynton, Jonathan Clare, Tony Palladino, Tim Groenewald, Mark Turner.

Do we read anything into the announced twelve on the club site? If Turner is 12th man, he is unlucky, but so would any of them be, as the seamers have all done well so far. Do we equally read anything into Chanderpaul at three? In what are likely to be helpful conditions for bowlers, the presence of your big name player as early as possible could be a stabilizing influence. I’m sure such things have been discussed in the dressing room, but we need to bat substantially better than in the first two games to get anything from this one. And yes, I know that’s a case of stating the obvious.

If we lose this one it is not the end of the world, not the end of the season. There are many more games to come and plenty that we will have greater expectation of winning. If we get a result of any kind, or if we have opponents of this stature in trouble, our guys should start to realise that they are every bit as good as others in this division and can establish themselves.

One of the great benfactors of Nottinghamshire cricket, Sir Julien Cahn, had a favourite saying that is very appropriate as we head into this game. “Grasp the opportunity of a lifetime, in the lifetime of the opportunity”.

Our lads have an opportunity to make a name for themselves tomorrow and over the ensuing days.

You never know.

Postscript – Chris Gayle – how does anyone get a hundred from 30 balls? Extraordinary.