County cricket day four: Derbyshire v Middlesex and reaction to latest results – live | Derbyshire
Key events
For those who haven’t discovered the Live Stream yet: here is your window into Dave Fletcher and Kevin Hand’s souls.
There are some beautiful mature trees surrounding the County Ground. Last time I went (ages ago) I thought what a nice place it must be to watch as a child with lots of shade and places to run around. Holden and Eskinazi are still in by the way, both with fifties under their belt, and have reduced the Middlesex deficit to 22.
Derbyshire with 35 mins till lunch, must be rueing those missed chances. Much muttering about the placid, non-crumbling, hybrid pitch on comms.
Jim asks BTL if any state schools play cricket. Not many, is my guess, especially in urban settings, but earlier this this year I did come across the The Fred Trueman & R66T Academy State Schools Cricket League, the brainchild of Fred Trueman and his friend Geoff Hastings.
The germ of an idea came when Trueman and Hastings were admiring the work of Chance to Shine but wishing that there was something similar for state secondary schools. They had got as far as negotiating some financial backing when Trueman was diagnosed with lung cancer and died quite soon afterwards in 2006. Nevertheless, the Trueman state school cricket league was established after his death and grew slowly and organically, when money was available, until Covid closed down schools.
Post pandemic, it was relaunched, with the help of money from the Cricket Society Trust, and joined forces with the Root academy to become the Trueman R66T Academy State School Cricket League – Trueman had been insistent that it should be a league not a cup so that children were not knocked out of the competition after one game. The League has provided playing equipment and match balls and coaches, and helped find locations for schools to play at – many don’t have pitches of their own – including area finals in the beautiful grounds of Kimbolton school.
This summer, over 2,500 secondary-school children spread over seven counties will be playing hard ball cricket in the league, who otherwise might never have picked up a bat.
In other cricket activity, Somerset second XI are playing SACA today. Somerset’s team includes James Rew’s brother Thomas (a right-handed wicketkeeper batter) who was away with England U19 this winter.
2ND XI: Somerset are back in 3-day friendly action today at Taunton Vale, taking on the South Asian Cricket Academy
Umeed
J Thomas
Goldsworthy
Hill
Smeed
T Rew
Roberts
Church
Vukusic
Langridge
MacDonald
J OgborneSCORECARD / CLIPS ⤵️⤵️⤵️#WeAreSomerset
— Somerset Cricket (@SomersetCCC) April 28, 2025
And now Eskinazi slips through the Derbyshire fingers, gloved behind – the ball seems to fly off the gloves of Guest and loop just short of the sprawling close fielders. Derbys 94-1.
A couple of cricketing letters:
Spin at both ends, as Wayne Madsen turns to Jack Morley and brings in a clutch of close fielders. Holden pulls with absolute abandon and is dropped by Tickner at midwicket on 46. An bullet though – that must have hurt.
DIVISION ONE TABLE
1 Nottinghamshire (played 4) 70
2 Surrey (played 4) 60
3 Sussex (played 4) 52
4 Essex (played 3) 47
5 Warwickshire (played 3) 46
6 Durham (played 4) 45
7 Hampshire (played 3) 43
8 Yorkshire (played 3) 40
9 Somerset (played 4) 33
10 Worcestershire (played 4) 18
Big shades for Alex Thomson, bowling with the popular squirrel tail haircut attached to his head. It’s sunny at the County Ground, where Holden and Eskinazi have added 15 this morning.
We’ll have half an eye on proceedings today, but also chewing over the first month of the season. Have you been studying fast bowlers with a Baz ‘n’ Ben eye? Is your heart with one of the Joshes, or Sonny Baker, Gus Atkinson? What about the young spinners, like Jack Carson or Farhan Ahmed? Should Crawley keep his place or do you fancy a change? Perhaps Tom Haines, Ben McKinney or even Rehan Ahmed? Or is it time to bring back a Dom Sibley or HH-shaped barnacle?
Was Fergus O’Neill the pick of the overseas crop?
What about new look Kent? Or on-the-up Leicestershire?
Will Surrey trip up again?
All this and more, but, first, time to put the kettle on.
Obituary of Keith Stackpole
“A stockily belligerent counterpoint to Lawry’s reed-thin caution,” – what a a brilliant line in a nice obituary of an interesting and talented cricketer.
Sunday’s round-up
On a London day of high spirits as the marathon threaded its way round the streets, Surrey cranked through the gears. They completed a comprehensive eight-wicket victory, their first of the season, just after tea – a game turned upside down when Somerset suffered a half-hour of horror.
After restricting Surrey to a lead of 84, Somerset lost two early wickets. But it was as people were finishing their post-prandial pints that the game was lost, the visitors at one stage losing five for four in 34 balls. Tom Abell shouldered arms, Josh Davey played on, Tom Banton was brilliantly caught, Kasey Aldridge edged onto his stumps, and an airborne Dan Lawrence plucked James Rew out of the spring air.
From 38 for seven, a total of 119 was actually something of an achievement, especially with Sean Dickson unable to bat. Rory Burns’ busy 20 quickly guided Surrey to 36 for victory, though Dom Sibley and Ollie Pope fell along the way. Pope was out for one for the second time in the game as Jordan Clark went home with eight wickets in his wallet.
Nottinghamshire marched to a nine-wicket win over Sussex, buoyed by another four wickets from 17-year old Farhan Ahmed, and fifties from Haseeb Hameed and Ben Duckett – one a Penguin classic, the other an airport thriller. Fergus O’Neill leaves Trent Bridge, after 21 wickets in four games, to be replaced by Mohammad Abbas, who lands just in time for their next match – against his old club Hampshire. It was a second victory of the season for Notts, who sit pretty at the top of Division One.
In Division Two, a zig-zagging game on a Bristol pitch with unusual energy ended with a two-wicket victory for Leicestershire in the evening sunlight. Gloucestershire couldn’t regain enough ground after their batting suffered an attack of the vapours, at one stage losing five for 16, with four wickets for Ian Holland – the second tier’s leading wicket-taker.
Leicestershire were set 143 and it looked unlikely as Dom Goodman (four for 33) zipped through the top order, but Ben Cox and the tail hauled them over the line. In the only game to reach a fourth day, Middlesex are following on against Derbyshire, still trailing by 97 runs in their second innings.
Scores on the doors
DIVISION ONE
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 300 and 148-1 BEAT Sussex 169 and 278 BY NINE WICKETS
The Oval: Surrey 367 and 36-2 BEAT Somerset 283 and 119 BY EIGHT WICKETS
New Road: Durham 136 and 108-4 BEAT Worcestershire 162 and 81 BY SIX WICKETS
DIVISION TWO
Derby: Derbyshire 472 v Middlesex 315 and 60-1
Bristol: Leicestershire 262 and 146-8 BEAT Gloucestershire 252 and 152 BY TWO WICKETS
Preamble
Hello! It’s a relaxed Monday at CC Live!, the air gorgeous with hawthorn and cow parsley, and with just one game in town. All eyes to Derby, where Middlesex are following on.
We’ll be here all day, draw up a chair and join us between spreadsheets.