Nottinghamshire vs Derbyshire: Day four review

We’re closing in on the halfway stage of the county championship season and, as seemed likely last night, the game against Nottinghamshire ended in a somewhat predictable draw.

The rain took too much out of it, although Derbyshire competed well throughout. For all that, there were extra bonus points in the game for both sides; however, the greatest thing to come out of the game is additional knowledge about the side.

The batting is actually shaping up quite well. Hughes has done well as opener, Madsen has been a rock at three, Chanderpaul has been Chanderpaul at four. While Wes Durston hasn’t contributed as he and we might have expected at five, he remains too good a player to not come good in the second half of the summer, and remains a dangerous batsman in the one-day game.

The issues remain in the other positions and it is time, when the Somerset game comes, for Ben Slater to be given a chance at the top of the order in the interest of fairness, if nothing else. Billy Godleman has had half the championship season to come good, but averages 17 from 12 innings. It isn’t good enough at this level. That’s not criticism of Godleman, who has tried his best, but it hasn’t worked out for him and he now needs to be pulled from the line up.

Slater needs to be given the same opportunity now, and should be in the championship side to the end of the summer. He deserves the chance after scoring prolifically at every other level this year. At present, he is only on a summer contract and we need to see if there is genuine talent there that warrants a full-time deal for another summer. He also needs to be given that opportunity at the top of the order.

I have written before about the difference in mindset and technique that is required between opening and batting at six. That’s after you have taken into account the issue of waiting for a few hours to do so when you’re not used to it. Slater may or may not have what it takes at top level, but we will never know unless he is given the opportunity. It’s like asking a talented striker to play back in the holding role in midfield, or drop to left back. I’m a big believer in having the right pegs in the right holes and, that being the case, Slater needs to open against Somerset.

If he’s fit, Alex Hughes needs to bat six in that game too. He’s in better form than Dan Redfern and Ross Whiteley, while putting Godleman in there is the same issue as explained above for Slater. Hughes also offers balance and a few overs of medium pace, and is another who deserves opportunity to assess his medium to long-term worth.

Richard Johnson is doing little wrong as wicket-keeper/batsman, but it is the bowling where we have the biggest problem at present. In contrast to last year, when our attack carried all before them, Jon Clare is top of the averages with ten wickets at 40, Turner next with 6 at 47, then Groenewald with 13 at 48. Then Mark Footitt has seven wickets at 49, Durston 7 at 52, Wainwright 6 at 79 and Palladino 3 at 83.

It makes worrying reading. When we realistically need a minimum of three wins in the second half of the summer, it is hard to see where the twenty wickets to enable that will come from, especially when the bowlers have had the best conditions they will get all summer in April and May.

I hope that Clare is fit for the Somerset game, while I understand that Tony Palladino looked good in this week’s second XI fixture. He has always done well at Derby and, on what should be a bowler-friendly wicket, we need him back to his best. Groenewald may also enjoy the next track, so that leaves only one place.

Mark Turner? Mark Footitt? David Wainwright? Peter Burgoyne? Tom Knight? Even though Wainers is a good cricketer, he’s not producing this summer, and if a spinner is deemed necessary then Tom Knight may earn consideration. Yet for me, four seamers will win or lose the Somerset game and, based on some good performances this summer and the fact that his line offers variation, I’d go for Footitt.