While chastening to see
@DerbyshireCCC
lose, what joy to see
@iMRizwanPak
leaving the field after guiding
@SussexCCC
to victory with a huge and genuine smile on his face...this great game can do that!!!
A fine match-winning 98 from
@shani_official
for
@DerbyshireCCC
today - and a delighted mum, dad and brother were there to witness it! How wonderful...
Since England won the World Cup in 2019, here's the number of domestic - county - 50-over games played by the side which lost to South Africa on Saturday.
Undercooked?
Jos Buttler reckons there needs to be fewer championship games to help improve the standard. I think we're better off listening to Mickey Arthur who reckons just the schedule needs sorting. Mickey has been here all summer. Buttler last started a champo match in July 2018...
Gentleman Shan -
@shani_official
took his boots off so as not to pierce the plastic sheeting before signing autographs
@DerbyshireCCC
this evening - a class act all round...
Come on you good Twitter people - let's support
@AnnieChave
- she has been criticised by KP as 'embodying everything that's wrong with county cricket' - nothing could be further from the truth...let's get supportive of Annie and our game...
#proclaimthegame
My two and a half year old granddaughter just walked into my music room, pointed at a Bruce Springsteen poster on the wall and said "Bruce!" - my life's work is complete...
Just a thought...today is the shortest day of the year and tomorrow we get just a little more daylight than we'll get today...the cricket season is coming!!!
Farewell Jerry - sad news at the death of Jeremy Lloyds, a lovely man and a fine cricket man too...always interesting to listen to his views on the game. I was just a teenager when I first saw him play...
On This Day in 1963
@azharflicks
was born - Azharuddin played 66 all formats matches for
@DerbyshireCCC
scoring 3,757 runs at an average of 52.18 with 10 hundreds and 18 fifties...as good as I've seen for Derbyshire...
Fare thee well
@shani_official
- what a 14 match campaign as captain and with the bat - Shan has steered his side to the T20 quarter finals in his first season
@DerbyshireCCC
- see you back in the county soon Shan!
YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Results elsewhere tonight means that
@DerbyshireCCC
have qualified for the T20 quarter finals...what a wonderful achievement for us...
A stark reminder that cricket is just a game and that we all need a sense of perspective...
@DerbyshireCCC
bowler Pat Brown pays tribute to the late Josh Baker after taking a wicket at Edgbaston earlier today...
Welcome to August - this traditionally glorious long month of cricketing splendour in the UK when each day rolls into one as spectators young & old - and new - flock to our county grounds to see our summer game...here's
@DerbyshireCCC
August playing days schedule since 1931
On This Day in 1991
@azharflicks
scored 160 not out for
@DerbyshireCCC
against Lancashire at Derby. Azharuddin was in the midst of a 10-innings run which bought him scores of 110-62-160*-67-3-26-129*-72-0-212; 841 runs at an average of 105.13...
What a wonderful day! Great batting AND some wonderful statistics!!! For the record, there have been 46 higher scores for
@DerbyshireCCC
than
@shani_official
201* - the highest is still George Davidson's 274 against Lancashire at Old Trafford...in 1896...
On This Day in 1991
@azharflicks
scored 160 not out for
@DerbyshireCCC
against Lancashire at Derby. Azharuddin was in the midst of a 10-innings run which bought him scores of 110-62-160*-67-3-26-129*-72-0-212; 841 runs at an average of 105.13...
On This Day in 1975 Chesterfield staged
@DerbyshireCCC
Gillette Cup semi-final against Middlesex which they sadly lost. Nonetheless, it produced this lovely image of the ground...
#150
in 2020
@DerbyshireCCC
Day 205 -
@azharflicks
leaves the field after scoring 205 against Durham at Chesterfield in 1994, one of the finest innings by a Derbyshire batsman in the last 40 years. He was dropped - first ball - and struck 6 sixes, all off David Graveney...
Topical at the moment - the table below shows the number of scheduled days of first class (red ball) cricket played by
@DerbyshireCCC
between 1st June and 31st August over the last 5 decades - all counties will have similar numbers...
Never mind proclaim the game - PROCLAIM DERBYSHIRE!!!
My beloved
@DerbyshireCCC
have now won 6 consecutive all formats matches - only the 5th time in our history this has been achieved, the last time was in 1986...
Mickey's Magic is working!!!
Images from Chesterfield...
A 5,000 crowd, with every ticket sold, in attendance at Chesterfield this afternoon to see
@DerbyshireCCC
defeat
@YorkshireCCC
for the seventh time in a row in T20 cricket on the ground...
What a splendid win! I've not heard a crowd make that much noise
@DerbyshireCCC
for years...a magnificent finale and very much back in the race for a quarter final spot. Marvellous!
County Cricket getting a hammering from the usual source today - criticising a product is one thing, but criticising people who like, or even champion that product, is just silly. People should stop being silly.
Oh deep joy -
@DerbyshireCCC
will play
@YorkshireCCC
in the championship next season - our home game HAS to be at Chesterfield - that's what county cricket is all about - a rivalry going back to 1877...
The Chase, just now:
Question: “Other than Durham, what cricketing county begins with a D?”
Contestant: “Doncaster”
The contestant is a teacher.
I can cope with her not knowing the answer is Derbyshire, but I’m struggling that a teacher thinks Doncaster is a county.
And finally...next season will be my 50th as a
@DerbyshireCCC
member and for the 13th consecutive season I've managed every day of first team cricket, home and away. I'm a bit weary, but as eager as ever for the 2023 season - here's my thank you. See you soon!
For those who've never experienced a
@DerbyshireCCC
v
@YorkshireCCC
game at Chesterfield...this is what it's like when it's full...sold out for the game tomorrow...well done Derbyshire!!!
On This Day in 1988 Michael Holding took 8-21 for
@DerbyshireCCC
against Sussex at Hove, then a world record in List A cricket. The Sussex top six scored 9 4 0 0 0 0 - here's Michael with his Man of the Match award...
On This Day in 1975 Chesterfield staged
@DerbyshireCCC
Gillette Cup semi-final against Middlesex which they sadly lost. Nonetheless, Patrick Eagar produced this lovely image of the ground...it was my first match at Queen's Park...
Batted from 10.30am until 5.40pm, faced 269 deliveries and scored 139 not out...and still finds time to sign an autograph as he leaves the field at the close of play. Not a bad day for
@DerbyshireCCC
@lreece17
If the element of the HPR recommending a reduction in the amount of county cricket played is really about to be consigned to the bin, remember that this is a result of county members fed up of being ridden roughshod for twenty years and being prepared to fight their corner...
And so, my final video of the season (with maybe more to come over the close season)...it's been a wonderful year following
@DerbyshireCCC
- thank you and fare thee well...
I wonder, does the structure of any other sport have to contend with the unsufferable daily attacks and barbs - usually from within - which cricket does?
Wouldn't it be great to have a day where cricket is proclaimed, rather than maimed?
Entering my seventh decade with this marvellous cake, courtesy of my sister-in-law...the ball is apparently a chocolate orange...my sweet tooth is ready to dive in...
On This Day in 1977 - 11,000 spectators crammed into the Ilkeston ground for this Gillette Cup quarter final between
@DerbyshireCCC
and
@SomersetCCC
- 5 Test cricketers on either side - we lost, but what a wonderful day!
On This Day in 1983 Michael Holding took 5-54 against Surrey at The Oval. It was the third consecutive match in which the
@DerbyshireCCC
fast bowler had taken 5 wickets in an innings for the county...
It's a close call, but with five days left, I'm inclined to select
@AnujDal
as
@DerbyshireCCC
player of the season - in the championship he's scored 901 runs at 75.08 with three hundreds and five fifties batting at number seven & taken 32 wickets at 29.31 - a tour place beckons?
Lots of records, stats and photos from
@DerbyshireCCC
win today in front of another close to capacity crowd at Derby - off home to do all the pics and numbers...I'll leave you with this one for now...
Record-Breaker!
With 81* not out to his name at lunch here at Leicester,
@shani_official
has now scored 473 runs in his first 4 innings for
@DerbyshireCCC
breaking the previous first 4 innings record of 455 by Simon Katich in 2007...
All too often, regardless of the sport being televised, I'm reminded of Richie Benaud's wonderful quote;
"The key thing was to learn the value of economy with words and to never insult the viewer by telling them what they can already see."
Sad news that Mike Hendrick has died. He took 719 all formats wickets for
@DerbyshireCCC
at an average of 19.63. A NatWest Trophy-winner in 1981 who played 30 Tests for England; a Derbyshire great and a hero of my youth. Obit is on the club website...
Bendy Stumps
I've taken a couple of million cricketing images including plenty of bowleds, but never one which demonstrates how the wooden stumps can bend on impact...until last night
@ZamanKhanPak
@DerbyshireCCC
A delighted
@iamhaideraly
leaves the field at the close of play this evening at Chesterfield, 129 not out with 21 fours and two sixes...a splendid knock for
@DerbyshireCCC
Day Three
@DerbyshireCCC
v
@DurhamCricket
In despair - Should I laugh or cry (not the 1982 Abba single) - at The Guardian's editorial? Read 'em and weep (not the Jim Steinman-penned Meatloaf and Manilow single either)...
Always tremendous to see our former players returning to
@DerbyshireCCC
- and the first time I've seen Barry Wood back at a Derbyshire ground since 1983 - absolutely brilliant!!!
The Great Dane is in town!!!
A member of the formidable
@DerbyshireCCC
side which won the RAL Sunday League in 1990 and the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1993, Stan Mortensen has been at the game today - Stan took 653 all formats wickets at an average of 24.44...a serious bowler...
Three years ago on this very day I managed to get this shot of a beautiful Fieldfare...I've never managed to even see one since, but it is a delightful-looking bird
@Natures_Voice
New Road, Worcester
Obligatory pre-game shot of this beautiful ground -
@WorcsCCC
v
@DerbyshireCCC
starts at 5.30pm, and the weather is simply delightful...
Leaving the field for the final time this season - and smiling - the
@DerbyshireCCC
side which has prospered so well under the leadership of
@Mickeyarthurcr1
- here's to next season. That's all folks!!!
On This Day in 1991
@DerbyshireCCC
began a 3-day game against Leicestershire at Leicester which they won by 195 runs;
@azharflicks
scored 212 including 29 fours and 3 sixes - he took part in 3 century partnerships in the innings. Barnett scored 8 while they added 100 runs...
My England XI for the First Test
Kim Barnett
Peter Bowler
John Morris
Chris Adams
Wayne Madsen
Dominic Cork
Geoff Miller
Phil DeFreitas
Bob Taylor
Mike Hendrick
Devon Malcolm
- and in case anyone thinks I'm showing
@DerbyshireCCC
bias - 12th man is Derek Randall...
Thumbs up from
@DerbyshireCCC
man of the moment - and there have been a few contenders already this season - 611 runs in just 4 innings including two double centuries for
@shani_official
enjoying the win on the balcony at Leicester this afternoon...
Sweet Memories!
Members of
@DerbyshireCCC
1981 NatWest Trophy winning side were reunited at Chesterfield today - John Wright, Alan Hill, Barry Wood, Steve Oldham (12th man), Bob Taylor, Geoff Miller, Phil Russell (Coach) and Colin Tunnicliffe...