Leicestershire Foxes Vitality T20 Blast at Trent Bridge Loss

 

WAS THAT THE WORST PERFORMANCE YET?

The woeful Notts T20 season hit a new low last night as they miserably failed to chase 171 for victory over the Leicestershire Foxes, being bowled out for 123 with two balls to spare. Dan’s Army will not be progressing to the knockout stages.

On a perfect mid-summer evening with the sun blazing. Leicestershire won the toss and chose to bat. Notts unbelievably once more were unchanged. After Notts winless 2019 championship campaign, the team was turned around by the infusion of youth which improved the team dynamic, spirit and enthusiasm. Why has this still to happen to the T20 in 2022? The team is over the hill, lacks athleticism in the field and is one of the reasons why the crowd was so poor. It’s now rare for the club to announce the crowd but no more than 5,000 were attendance no doubt put off by the ridiculously high-ticket pricing and the even more ridiculous seat reservation scheme. It’s not just the team out in the middle that has been underperforming, they have been instances of members of many years standing being refused admittance in to their own pavilion, what on earth is happening?

Welch hit Fletcher (Pavilion End ) for six over mid-wicket and an edged four through third man, 12 off the 1st over. Welsh (11) miscued Carter to Christian at mid-off, 13 for 1, two off the second over. Swindells hit Fletcher for four over mid-off, seven off the third over. Swindells (6) swept Patel straight to Harrison at backward square leg, 21 for 2. Hill hit Patel through the covers for 4, six off the 4th over. Hill found the mid-wicket ropes off Paterson, six off the 5th over. Lilley reverse swept Carter for 4 and Hill hit him for 4 down to third man, 46 for 2 after 6 overs. On a slow, two-paced track Carter (2-0-14-1) was not given another over.

Lilley blasted Patel for 6 over square leg, eight off the 7th over. Harrison went for 6 plus a bye in the 8th over. Lilley (23), often a thorn in Notts side, hit Patel for an offside boundary but perished next ball caught low down on the point ropes by Harrison, 61 for 3 in the 9th over Patel’s 300th T20 wicket. Ackermann was dropped on 2 by Christian at mid-on off Mullaney, an easy chance on another night, but this was a night where Notts were completely out fielded by younger, hungrier and much more athletic opponents, Leicestershire 73 for 3 off 10 overs

Hill hit Harrison for 6 into The Fridge, 11 off the over. Hill (39) found the third man ropes off Mullaney but was caught and bowled off the very next ball, 88 for 4, nine off the 12th over. Ackermann swept Harrison (3-0-28-0) for 4 and bottom edged him for 4, 104 for 4 off 13 overs. Mulder hit Mullaney for a straight six, Ackermann(13) lost his middle stump to Mullaney, 113 for 5 off 14 overs. Rishi Patel hit Samit Patel (4-0-29-2) for a cover driven four, eight off the over.

Dan Christian ran out Rishi Patel (5) going for a quick single to mid-on, Mullaney the bowler, 122 for 6. Mulder hit Mullaney (4-0-32-2) to the extra cover ropes, nine off the 16th over. Mulder was caught at long on off Paterson for 27, 133 for 7. five off the 17th over.

Notts though allowed Leicestershire a lifeline as they gathered 35 runs off the last three overs, mainly thanks to some big hitting by Ben Mike. Ahmed was dropped on 1 by Mullaney in the covers off Fletcher but departed next ball was caught at mid-off by Christian off Fletcher, 136 for 8. Naveen hit Fletcher for four via a square cut, 7 off the 18th over. Mike hit Paterson (3-0-26-1) for successive sixes over mid-wicket and extra cover. A massive mix up between Mike and Naveen saw the later run out by Duckett who threw to Moores at long on, 156 for 9, 15 off the 19th over. Mike hit Fletcher (4-0-38-2) to the extra cover boundary and then for a six over backward square leg. Mike (29 off 12 balls) was out off the final delivery of the innings caught by Duckett off Fletcher at deep mid-wicket. Leicestershire 170 all out off 20 overs, a total which appeared 10 or so over par on a pitch where it was difficult to time the ball. The Notts paceman had unfortunately failed to put the ball in the right areas sufficiently enough, again.

Notts innings never really got going. Parkinson conceded two off the opening over from the Pavilion End. Clarke hit Naveen for an offside 4. Hales hit Parkinson for successive fours through extra cover and long on to give Notts hope. Clarke was bowled by Parkinson for 8, 20 for 1 after 3 overs. Hales hit a free hit from Naveen for a backward point ropes, nine off the third over. Duckett pulled Mulder for 4 and Hales hit a lofted boundary through the covers, 10 off the 5th over. Hales hit Mike for 6 over long on. Notts 47 for 1 after 6 overs.

Duckett hit Ahmed for 4 through mid-wicket but was bowled next ball for 11, 51 for 2, 8 off the 7th over. On a gripping surface which was clearly helping the spinners, Patel should have appeared at four but as scripted Moores came to the crease, an out and out slogger who cannot manipulate the ball and who eats up too many dot balls.

Hales glided Mulder for 4 through third man, seven off the 8th over. Ahmed went for 5 in over number nine. Moores was completely bogged down and was caught at long off by Mulder off Parkinson for 6, 70 for 3, 4 off the 10th over and needing what appeared a near impossible 101 in the remaining 10 overs

Ackermann conceded six off the 11th over. Mullaney (5) was caught at long on by Mulder off Ahmed, 77 for 4. Mullaney apart from his personal batting best in a completely lost cause at Headingley is having a truly miserable T20 campaign. Three came off the 12th over. Ackermann went for 4 singles in the 13th over. Parkinson (4-0-21-2) conceded 4 in his last over as the Notts innings was clearly stuck in the mud. Christian (6) fell to catch at mid-off by Ackermann off Mike, 88 for 5. Hales hit Mike for a straight six into the Pavilion to reach 50 off 42 balls but fell the following ball caught at long on by Mulder off Mike for 55, 97 for 6 off 15 overs. Cue the mass exodus which now has replaced the execrable Sweet Caroline as one of the scripted timetabled events of the evening.

Notts reached three figures as Patel edged a four off Ahmed (4-0-25-1), nine off the 16th over. Mike went for 5 off over 17. Patel (12) was caught on the run by Mike at deep extra cover off Naveen , 112 for 7. Carter edged Naveen for four through third man. Harrison (8) was bowled attempting a scoop off Naveen, six off the over. Mike (4-0-26-2) conceded four off the 19th over. There was time for Fletcher to be bowled for 3 by Naveen (3.4-0-24-4) and then Paterson went for a golden, caught at mid-wicket by Mulder. Notts 123 all out had lost by 47 runs and had been quite frankly humiliated.

Notts remain 7th in the table and the Foxes 5th, the visitors who still have a chance of qualifying will now be vastly strengthened by the arrival on loan of Joey Evison who will gain much experience at Grace Road in the next four weeks, experience he should have gained in the last fortnight playing for the Outlaws! Hopefully youth will be given a very belated chance against Derbyshire tomorrow, but don’t bet on it! MAG

Insert Some Vitality, Peter!

With one game in hand and five points adrift of fouth place Derbyshire, a 100% record from here-on doesn't mean we will qualify without Northants, Worcester and Lancashire doing us favour or two. Defeat to Foxes would signify the end however; meaning that's the end for this season and the end of an era!

Dan Christian has called for "improvement", well flippin' heck what a good idea! Trouble is, improvement in some departments will be impossible for some individuals - how many fielders are we actually trying to hide rather than set a field with to stop runs? Is it 3 or more? 

I quoted this before, "time waits for no man", but knowing when is the right time to stand down one's self is another matter. That's when the advice from Peter Moores et al comes in and it just hasn't. It took too many games in Championship winless run of pre-lockdown seasons before PM saw the light and introduced some youth, energy and vitality into the regular eleven; are we back in the same intransigent position again, but in the shortest format this time?

This season is turning into a season of records, records that we don't want in the most part! Why did we elect to field first on Friday? Was it a case of do what the opposition least expect... crazy!

The bowling looks shot! If they're bowling to a plan, then they need to get  a new plan. Listening to Lancs TV yesterday and what was said on there about how to bowl at Steven Croft, well Notts just did the opposite and fed him short of length deliveries which he pulled to his heart's content! It might not have been that that lost us the game, but it hastened the defeat.

What is up with Jake Ball?

Why are we still loaning Zak Chappell out when he'd probably do a decent job for us, if Jake Ball is injured?

In the era of openness on social media and the internet, Notts need to lift that shroud of secrecy that surrounds the news when things turn bad, because at the moment we're just being fed bland boring drivel of no substance. That's something else that can improve - have a word Dan! 

Squad news: Secret Squirrel has obviously been kept in the dark about results, as he's released the same squad again; that is the eleven they play, plus Lyndon James, Sol Budinger and Ben Slater