Franklin aims to Blast away the gloom
DURHAM coach James Franklin is hoping for better weather as his side turn its attention to T20 action after its Bob Willis Trophy clash against Derbyshire ended in a rainaffected draw.
Any chance of play on the fourth day was always remote following heavy rain throughout the morning at the Riverside and it was no surprise when the umpires made the inevitable decision at around 12.30.
Reflecting on the loss of so much play this season, lead high performance coach Franklin said: “It is really frustrating, I feel for the guys so let’s hope in the next month or so we have some decent weather. to enjoy”
Durham begin their Vitality Blast campaign against Lancashire at the Riverside tomorrow.
Franklin said: “Hopefully we might be able to get out there and have a bit of a hit with white balls.
“The last four to six weeks has been concentrated on red ball cricket and all of a sudden in the space of 48 hours we move from a red ball game to a white ball game, so our mindset has to shift very quickly.”
Derbyshire stay top of the Bob Willis Trophy North Group after the draw at the Riverside and go into the final round of matches on 71 points, five clear of second-placed Yorkshire.
Franklin added: “It was a pretty slow, turgid wicket really. I think the batters were happy with that, there were some pretty good scores out there.
“From our group we had two 100-run partnerships and then yesterday our bowlers toiled pretty hard. thought Matty Potts was outstanding.
“Equally their batsmen were excellent, the top three are comparable to any top three in the county game and they all got scores so it was difficult for the bowlers in this game to get any real traction.”