Derbyshire v Yorkshire day 3

Wayne Madsen

As Wayne Madsen drove, cut and reverse swept his way to a brilliant and typical century today, it made me think of the plight of Edward Smith, the captain of the Titanic, who stayed at the helm to the very end as his ship sank beneath the waves.

Madsen was – again – magnificent, but his effort was in stark contrast to most of his side. These are difficult times for Derbyshire players and supporters alike and there is no easy way to write about the playing side right now. My first thought today after the early finish was ‘we’ve lost a day’s gate money’.

A lot of me feels sorry for the players. There are a few of them who have been found out this summer and this level has proven to be too high for them. Some may come again; some may not get that opportunity. It doesn’t alter the fact that they can play – as I have said before, you have to be good to handle this level at all – but the reality is that the next time we hit this level we need to be better.

It is all very well for fans to shout ‘disgrace’ and suggest X, Y, or Z should go, but there is no easy solution. Irrespective of what some fans are saying, the guys are trying their best and working as hard as they can, but they are simply outclassed at this level. If you’ve played the game, you will know the feeling, when other teams turn up and they’re on top of you all the time. You can’t get the bowling away and then, they paste you around the park. One true thing in this greatest of games is that we all have a level and too many of our side this season have found this one beyond them.

We must not ignore bright spots. Shivnarine Chanderpaul would have enjoyed that wicket and will continue to score heavily for us as long as he is at the club. The captain is top-class and Hughes has shown enough – albeit in flashes – to suggest he is moving forward, if not at the pace we would like. Peter Burgoyne has shown in this game that at 19 he has a bright future, while Tom Poynton confirmed that he has considerable batting ability to go with his excellent glove work.

Therein lays an issue though. The only other player to shape up with the bat was Richard Johnson in the first innings and the question is whether he can become good enough to play as a batsman pure and simple. Both are good enough to be a first choice keeper, but as a batting specialist? With limited resources, can we really afford two keepers of first-class standard?