Derbyshire 127/4 & 115/2 v Nottinghamshire 234/7 & 183/3 (Friendly) 29.03.22-30.03.22

*two day match drawn

That’s it, all over, just seven days now to prepare for the first game of the ‘regular’ summer season and the County Championship Division Two opener against Sussex at the idyllic looking, corporately named ‘The 1^st Central County Ground’ in Hove which starts next Thursday (7^th April).

Notts travelled to Derbyshire on Tuesday morn to start their last friendly match before the real red ball business gets underway in a weeks time, and in the slightly murky first few hours of their match at the Incora County Ground they restricted their hosts to just 127/4 from their allotted 50 overs of practice.

In return neath brighter skies, Nottinghamshire hit a substantial 234/7 from a similar number of balls bowled, Joe Clarke and Liam Patterson-White amongst those in fine nick, with half centuries.

Wednesday morning started similarly to Tuesday with roles reversed, the skies grey again with some drizzle, darkened as Notts got to lunch for 129, no wickets lost, but Slater & Hameed retiring on 43 and 33 respectively, Duckett (28) and Clarke (16) would also ‘declare’ as the game was reduced by the weather to 45 overs a side.

The visitors would eventually get to 183 with some time at the crease for Lyndon James (13 retired), Steven Mullaney (11), Tom Moores (30) and Patterson-White who lasted three balls before being bowled LBW by McKiernan (himself taking 3/31 and Derbyshire’s only wicketing scalps of the day).

In response, it was a better afternoon for Derbyshire than the previous day, registering the fifty mark without loss including a quick fire 31 from Harry Came, the hosts got to sixty for no wicket at tea and reached 89 before the first wicket of Madsen was taken by youngster James Hayes, bowling a beautiful yorker between the guard.

There was one more wicket to come, that of du Plooy caught Moores by the bowling of Harrison and a bit of premature drizzle in the late afternoon ended the match with hands shaken after a good stint that certainly dusts off the cobwebs ahead of the opening match of the season on the south Sussex coast.

Derbyshire XIV: Godleman (c), Reece, Came, Madsen, Du Plooy, Hughes, Dal, McKiernan, Guest, Conners, Scrimshaw, Melton, Cohen, Potts.

Nottinghamshire XIII: Clarke, Duckett, Evison, Fletcher, Hameed, Harrison, Hayes, Hutton, James, Moores, Mullaney (c), Patterson-White, Slater.

Venue: The County Cricket Ground, Derby

*Article provided by Daniel Peacock (Editor).

*Main image @TrentBridge Ben Duckett and Joe Clarke again in good form with the bat.