Glam hopes blown away by big storm
LINGERING hopes of a positive outcome between Derbyshire and Glamorgan at the County Ground were not so much put on ice as frozen out by a spectacular storm midway through the final afternoon.
A violent hailstorm broke over the ground shortly after 2.25pm and turned the outfield white, leaving conditions too wet for the Specsavers County Championship Division Two match to resume.
By that stage there was little chance of anything other than a draw with Glamorgan 87 for two in their second innings, a lead of 119, with Jacques Rudolph and Chris Cooke making sure there was no late panic in the visiting dressing room.
Even before the start of the fourth day both teams were struggling to get into a position where they could have exerted enough pressure to force victory with Derbyshire 46 behind with one wicket intact.
Tom Poynton and Andy Carter extended their partnership to 56 in nine overs and Derbyshire were only five away from a fourth batting point when Carter got a steepling leading edge off Michael Hogan.
Carter’s career-best 39 had helped reduce the deficit to 32 so Derbyshire still entertained slim hopes if they could strike early.
The lead had increased by 26 when James Kettleborough made his second misjudgment of the match with the same result, off stump knocked back offering no shot, and Will Bragg followed his first day century with another lbw dismissal to Wes Durston’s off-spin.
At lunch Glamorgan were 79 on and Rudolph and Cooke quietly eased the game towards the draw that was confirmed when hailstones the size of marbles descended on the ground.
In all 138 overs were lost to weather of varying shades of winter and spoiled what Derbyshire’s elite performance director Graeme Welch believes could have been a very good game.
“It’s not very often you see snow nearly at the start of May and Jacques Rudolph said it was the coldest he has played in.
“I think they probably got 50 or 60 runs too many in the first innings but we did well to get what we did with Andy Carter smacking it around and I think if the weather hadn’t intervened, it would have been a very good game on a very good cricket pitch.”
Sri Lanka have named Kaushal Silva in their 17-man Test squad for their tour of England.
The wicket-keeper batsman had to be airlifted to hospital after being hit on the head by the ball during a practice game in Pallekele on Sunday but has been declared fit to travel.
Sri Lanka will play three Tests, as well as five one-day internationals, the last one in Cardiff on July 2 and one Twenty20 international. Squad: A Mathews (captain), D de Silva, D Shanaka, D Prasad, D Perera, D Karunaratne, D Chandimal (vice-captain), D Chameera, K Silva, K Mendis, L Thirimanne, M Siriwardana, N Dickwella, N Pradeep, R Herath, S Eranga, S Lakmal.