Story Blake vs Jake: The Derbyshire Challenge

[blake]

Blake vs Jake: The Derbyshire Challenge​

The Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs that make up the England and Wales domestic cricket competition. Its one day team is known as the Derbyshire Phantoms, and their home ground is the County Cricket Ground which is located in the city of Derby. The club currently competes in Division 2 of the County Championship as well as the Pro League, and their overseas player and captain is Australian opening batsman Chris Rogers.

Derbyshire are not a club with a huge trophy cabinet. They have been competing in English domestic cricket for over 130 years, however they have only won the County Championship once - over 70 years ago, back in 1936. They also won the FP Trophy in 1981, the National League in 1990 and the Benson & Hedges Cup in 1993. Throughout their years, they have always been one of the weaker teams and have never been real competitors.

We aim to change that, now. Myself (Blake) and Jake will be leading Derbyshire through the tough times in the aim of bringing glory to Derbyshire - something they and their supporters have never really felt. It won't be an easy road there, with their squad needing a lot of improvement, but it will be a rewarding one as we both take control of a side dearly lacking in trophies.

Derbyshire Squad
Daniel Birch
Paul Borrington
Wavell Hinds
Stuart Law
Garry Park
Dan Redfern
Chris Rogers (c)
John Sadler
Stephen Stubbings
Dominic Telo
Jamie Pipe
Tom Poynton
Jonathan Clare
Tim Groenewald
Greg Smith
Graham Wagg
Ross Whiteley
Ian Hunter
Charl Langeveldt
Mark Lawson
Tom Lungley
Jake Needham
Atif Sheikh​

 

[mattfb]

Good luck (Y)

 

[Prithvi]

I support you Blake.
Trash away Jake.

 

[blake]

Team Analysis​

Without doubt, our two best players are Australian opening batsman and Derbyshire captain Chris Rogers, who looks set to feature prominently in the first team for us, as well as Jonathan Clare, a young 22 year old English all-rounder who has huge potential and looks to be an extremely bright prospect. He will be getting a lot of game-time in order to improve, and it looks like he could be a future captain of the club.

With the bat, we also have 40 year old Stuart Law, who looks set to be playing his last season for Derbyshire unless he can somehow keep going past this year. He is still a strong batsman and should feature in our top or middle order, depending on how he fares. Daniel Birch will take the responsibility of opening the batting alongside Chris Rogers, although at 28 I'm not sure if he has a long future ahead of him, considering he isn't one of the best players in the team by a long shot.

Garry Park is only 25 and it looks like he may keep his place for a couple of years while we work on rebuilding. He still has some potential in him and may bat in the top order, depending on how he bats. Hopefully he can perform, as his FC average of 35.21 isn't too inspiring for a potential number 4. Further down the middle order, we have South African kolpak player Dominic Telo, who is only 23 and can still improve. Hopefully some game-time this season will continue his development for the team.

27 year old John Sadler may have a role this season to play, depending on how the rest of my team goes. He could provide some handy runs down the order with the bat. Wavell Hinds may be another who could feature down the order, so we have some reasonable depth in our batting order, thankfully - although the quality isn't that high in the first place.

I have also signed wicketkeeper Frederik Klokker, a 26 year old who looks like he easily has the ability to bat number 5 or 6. He will take the gloves and looks to be a handy signing, as we signed him for three years on a deal worth ?81,500.

Jonathan Clare will lead the bowling lineup, despite being only 22, and he will prove to be a crucial part of how we fare. Hopefully he stays uninjured, as he looks very good stats-wise and especially at such a young age. Backing him up will be South African kolpak player Charl Langeveldt, who is an experienced campaigner and will hopefully be opening the bowling for us, although at the age of 34 he may not have too many more seasons left in him before he starts to decline.

Graham Wagg and Tom Lungley should prove to be the third and fourth bowling options in our team. Neither are brilliant but hopefully both will have respectable seasons, as their averages aren't terrible. I would definitely be happy if they managed to contain their averages to under 38 for the season, with hopefully Clare and Langeveldt doing most of the damage. Young Jake Needham could also play a few first class matches throughout the year, as well as featuring as our fifth option in OD, with his off-spin.

Predicted Lineup (FC)​

1. Chris Rogers (c)
2. Daniel Birch
3. Stuart Law
4. Jonathan Clare
5. Frederik Klokker (+)
6. Garry Park
7. Dominic Telo
8. John Sadler
9. Graham Wagg
10. Charl Langeveldt
11. Tom Lungley​

 

[Aussie Team]

Chris Rogers as captain...

 

[Jakester1288]

Team Analysis​

Opening the batting, and captaining the squad, will be Australian import Chris Rogers. He has a fantastic First Class record, averaging over 50 with the bat, and we will be relying on him for some big innings this season.

Opening with him, will be Daniel Birch, a relatively inexperienced 28 year old, who is largely filling the gap, waiting for Paul Borrington, the 20 year old opener, who should come through the side in the next couple of seasons. His First Class record isn't too shabby, he could turn out to be a very solid player over the years.

Leading in the middle order is Australian batsmen, Stuart Law. Despite being 40, he has recently signed a 3 year contract, and while we are unsure of whether he will make it that far, but his experience of 365 First Class matches, with over 27 thousand runs at an average over 50, is simply outstanding. He will be accompanied by players like Gary Park, John Sadler, Dominic Telo etc in the middle order.

Our only signing in the off season, Frederik Klokker, could have a huge big role to play for us this year. I've signed him as a keeper batsmen, as our current keepers of Pipe and Poynton were lacking in batting ability, and could be liabilities down the order. I'd like to wish Freddie all the best with Derbyshire.

Heading up the bowling, and also featuring in the middle order, will be Jonathan Clare. He will be a critical part of our success, while only 22 years old, he has the potential to be a great player, as his First Class reckon, of 37 with the bat and 26 with the ball, already suggests. Expect him to carry the bowling this year.

Also leading the bowling attack will be South African Charl Langeveldt. Charl has a fantastic record across all forms, and will probably be opening the bowling with Clare. The remainder of the bowling attack will probably be made up allrounder Graham Wagg, with Tom Lungley and Jake Needham, with his off spiners.

Overall, we are looking for a mid to top table finish. We will look to strength the bowling, and increase the quality of the batting, through the course of the next season and off season, to which point we can compete in the top leagues.

Predicted line up (FC):
1. Birch
2. Rogers
3. Law
4. Park
5. Clare
6. Telo
7. Klokker
8. Wagg
9. Needhamm
10. Langeveldt
11. Lungley​

 

[mattfb]

Nice work fellas. Similar squad there, will be interesting to see the changes made in a few seasons.

 

[Jakester1288]

Derbyshire v Essex
County Championship
15th April 2009​

Teams
Derbyshire
Birch
Borrington
Law
Park
Clare
Telo
Klokker
Hinds
Wagg
Needham
Lungley

With Rogers on international duty, and Langeveldt playing in an overseas league, our side was horribly depleted, and didn't quite match up with Essex's side.

Essex
Cook
Pettini
ten Doeschate
Foster
Walker
Gallian
Flower
Chopra
Palladino
Masters
Kaneria

Result
Essex 242 ao
ten Doschate 48
Cook 47
Lungley 5-63
Needham 2-47

After a top order performance having Essex at 1-110 at one stage, we struck back with Lungley taking 5, as well as Wagg and Needham 2, plus a wicket to Clare.

Derbyshire 383 ao
Clare 146*
Hinds 55
Kaneria 4-98
ten Doschate 4-121

A great innings from Clare, as well as great support from Hinds, Needham and Lungley, got us from 7-133 to 383 all out. Kaneria and ten Doschate took 4 each, but they let the game slip through our lower order partnerships.

Essex 195 ao
ten Doschate 38
Palladino 32
Lungley 4-40
Clare 3-63

Lungly again in the wickets, as we knocked them over pretty cheaply. Clare featured with 3, as well as 2 to Wagg and one to Needham. Successful bowling.

Derbyshire 1-57
Birch 21*
Kanerica 1-8

Knocked off the runs pretty easily, Birch finishing not out.

Derbyshire win by 9 wickets

 

[blake]

Derbyshire v Essex
County Championship
15th April 2009​

Teams

Derbyshire
Birch
Stubbings
Law
Clare
Klokker
Park
Telo
Sadler
Wagg
Needham
Lungley

Essex
Cook
Pettini
ten Doeschate
Foster
Walker
Gallian
Flower
Chopra
Palladino
Masters
Kaneria

Match Result

Derbyshire: 446 all out from 142.1 overs
Birch 123
Telo 92
Stubbings 84
Needham 53
Kaneria 6/139
Masters 4/109

A fantastic innings after Birch and Stubbings set us up with a sensational opening partnership of 214. From there we had a mini collapse to 5/247, but recovered to 5/322 before we again slumped to 8/332. Telo and Needham put on a hundred run stand though to take us to 446 all out.

Essex: 253 all out from 83 overs
Cook 113
Lungley 4/49
Wagg 3/69

Lungley was superb, snaring 4/49 from 16 overs in an excellent display. Alistair Cook proved to be Essex's only resistance, with the rest of their team hardly troubling me at all. Wagg also picked up 3/69 from 24 and off-spinner Jake Needham showed potential, taking 2/46.

Essex (following on): 277 all out from 73.4 overs
ten Doeschate 129
Cook 39
Lungley 5/68
Needham 2/61

I decided to enforce the follow-on, and things were looking good after Cook went for just 39. However, this time it was ten Doeschate who stood up for his county and blasted a superb 129 off 180, before he was claimed by Needham. From there, we managed to knock them over fairly cheaply with the only other resistance coming from Walker who also made 39. Lungley was sensational, snaring 5/68 from 18.4 overs to finish with 9 for the match. There was bad news though with Clare picking up a back injury and he will miss four weeks... gah.

Derbyshire: 2/86 from 22 overs
Stubbings 36
Birch 26
Palladino 1/7

We chased down the runs with ease, with Stubbings and Birch again doing most of the work. It was an excellent win to start off the season, and hopefully we can continue this excellent form. Unfortunately Clare will be injured for quite some time, but when he returns we will be a stronger unit.

MOTM: Tom Lungley (4/49 and 5/68)

Derbyshire win by 8 wickets

 

[MaD]

Nice domination there
Put up a poll, who'll win, Jake or Blake

 

[hedger_14]

Lol, Lungley with 9 wickets in both of your matches. Nice domination there.

 

[mattfb]

Both you guys did great there to start off the season. Nice work

 

[Jakester1288]

Sorry this hasn't been updated, or my other stories.

We should do most of our updates on the holidays, maybe an occasional one on the weekends or something. This has by no means stopped.