Well, I'm safely back home after seeing my first cricket of the season, the pre-season game between Derbyshire and Notts.
To be honest, I didn't expect more play after I left with the score 84-5 and the combined temperature of my Dad, son and I slightly less. There were a number of bobble hats on display in the field and my sympathy went out to slip fielders taking sharp catches in such conditions. Summer game?!
We arrived late and Dan Birch was already out. John Sadler looked solid, then came a first sight of the small yet stocky frame of Dominic Telo. He made only a single, but can rarely have faced such conditions. A greater contrast to Cape Town would have been hard to find, but Telo will have learned from the experience, and a faster than run a ball 50 against Northants suggests he will be an asset.
Rikki Clarke looked a fine player and was little troubled by the substantial deviation of the ball, vertically and horizontally. Greg Smith misjudged the line and looked lbw from where we sat at backward point, so the umpire had an easy decision. Stubbo ground it out as he always does and Pipe struck three fours from Graeme Swann in one over before the rain came.
I'm not sure what John Morris will have got from the game, except the hope for better pitches as the season progresses. I'm confident that we will be more competitive this year. If we can get a run of results together, who knows where it may lead?
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