T20 thoughts and Lancashire preview

Canny batsmen going inside out and playing over cover also ensures that a fleet-footed fielder is needed at mid-off too and we’re not, at least in yesterday’s side, blessed with genuine speed. Good fielders yes, as Chesney Hughes illustrated with a chase around the boundary and full length dive in the Leicestershire innings, (mind that shoulder, Ches). Yet we have few blessed with real pace, perhaps apart from Dan Redfern and the skipper, who needs to be in the ring for obvious reasons. That’s why Hughes or Whiteley would be additionally important to the side, over and above any runs they score or wickets they take.

Tuesday sees us host Lancashire and aside from one of the above for Godleman, I don’t see any changes in the side. The visitors won at Durham, though like Derbyshire teams of recent vintage have overseas stars in Ashwell Prince and Simon Katich for who T20 isn’t a major suit. Prince is playing as a Kolpak, which allows the red rose county to engage Kiwi left-armer Mitchell McClenaghan to spearhead their attack. He’s a good bowler and will need watched, while Glen Chapple and Kabir Ali have plenty of experience. There’s a few players of age there though, so you wouldn’t expect them to be as agile in the field as Leicestershire were yesterday. Stephen Moore often gives them an explosive start and Steven Croft is a quick scorer at three.

They’re a dangerous side, but beatable. Yesterday I mentioned the statistics that Albie Morkel has given to the side from his time in the IPL and here’s one from Peakfan, based not on extensive research but on forty-odd years of cricket watching.

In any limited overs match, the side that bats, bowls and fields best wins around 99% of matches. Get any one of those disciplines wrong and it can go pear-shaped, while players on the opposition will sometimes be so good that nothing you can do will stop them. But if eleven players produce on a given day and common sense batting is backed by similar bowling and tigerish fielding, you will not go too far wrong.

If Derbyshire maintain yesterday’s standards in all three disciplines they will have a decent chance of progressing from the group. If they don’t, they won’t.

Simple really.