Morris is happy with decision to test county's bowlers

HEAD of cricket John Morris had no second thoughts about the timing of his final day declaration against Bangladesh A, even though his Derbyshire side lost the game.

Instead, he said a close finish at the County Ground proved that backing out earlier than he normally would was a worthwhile exercise.

“There were no points at stake and the only way we were going to find out about people is how they play and how they bowl under a bit of pressure, so it was the right thing to do, I felt,” Morris said.

“There was no reason not to declare.

“I thought it was a good opportunity to see if we could bowl them out for a second time but it didn't happen – they played well and won by one wicket. It was a good game.

“The declaration was probably a bit sporting but we wanted to have a look at some of these bowlers.

“It gave the chance for Nayan Doshi, Jake Needham and Greg Smith to have a good long bowl and the exercise was fine. Yes, I'm disappointed we lost a game of cricket but I'm not broken-hearted.”

Morris was, however, only moderately happy with the response from his bowling attack.

“Losing Ian Hunter put on a bit more pressure and in the second innings I thought we looked a bit more mundane than in the first,” he added.

“It was a hot day, the wicket was a bit flatter and we didn't seem to have a great deal of penetration. We bowled OK – not brilliantly, not badly and we stuck at it.”

One player Morris was pleased with, though, was 18-year-old wicketkeeper Tom Poynton, who had three very good days behind the stumps.

“He's a talented young cricketer and it just shows the quality of the work Karl Krikken is doing with the academy,” said Morris.

“He's got to keep working and he's not ready yet but I think he's got a future.

“You could throw him in the deep end and he wouldn't let you down but he's a young lad learning his game still and he did a good job for us.”