Cricket: Proceeding with caution: Niall Edworthy reports from Worcester
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Worcestershire 266-9 dec; Derbyshire 246 and 52-0
WORCESTERSHIRE'S first century opening partnership of the championship has been a long time coming. It was brought about at a fittingly pedestrian pace three months to the day into the season and 47 overs into yesterday's play. It seemed to be an achievement that Tim Curtis and Phil Weston wanted to keep quiet as they cautiously nudged their way towards the holy grail of three figures. Not until the 37th over of the innings was the first boundary struck. Although there were terrors to be encountered in the Derbyshire pace attack in the form of Ian Bishop, Devon Malcolm and Dominic Cork, there were none to be found in a wicket which has not responded to the quicker stuff and has been sensitive only to spin.
The funereal march of the opening pair buried any excitement that might have been expected in the morning. In the end, however, their contribution proved to be invaluable as Worcestershire's middle order subsided in the afternoon. Under the sustained pressure of Richard Sladdin's nagging slow left-armers and a lively spell by Malcolm in which he took three wickets in 23 balls, Worcestershire slumped from a comfortable position of 122 for no wicket to the less commanding position of 199 for 6 before declaring 20 runs ahead.
With Hick absent on Test duty, Moody coming in at seven suffering from a 'flu virus and Radford batting with a bad back and a runner, there were some excuses for the failure to exploit their good start. These weaknesses might also explain the reluctance of Curtis and Weston to move the score along at a quicker rate. Curtis was on 86 when he was eventually beaten by Bishop's pace, before Weston was smartly stumped by Karl Krikken shortly after hitting his first boundary from his 153rd ball. Moody and Leatherdale provided momentary excitement before taking their place in the relentless procession of batsmen to the pavilion.
In their second innings, Kim Barnett and Peter Bowler were quick to erase the small deficit, moving the score along at a rate three times faster than their Worcestershire counterparts.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments