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Search forPigott Saturday inspection a cause for concern
Monday, July 14, 2008, 07:30
It was a relief when he left the ground, having decided no action need be taken against Derbyshire for a strip that made batting a torment on the second day of the LV County Championship match against Leicestershire.
Rain made preparation for this match difficult, to say the least, and the showers which cut the first day short left conditions even more treacherous.
The wicket itself, when the covers were removed an hour after the scheduled start, looked so green that it was only possible to distinguish it from the rest of the square by the fact that it had stumps pitched on it.
For bowlers who had the discipline to put the ball in the right places, there was almost too much movement and when batsmen were able to play an aggressive stroke, the chances of it reaching the boundary over a pudding-like outfield were remote.
Worse still, there was a spot wide of the off stump at the City End of the ground which, when hit half a dozen times throughout the day, sent the ball shooting through at barely ankle height.
That was why the sight of PLO Pigott wandering to the middle again at tea was a source of concern for Derbyshire but the former Sussex and England bowler, paying his first visit to Derby in his new role, took the entirely sensible view to allow the ground staff the benefit of the doubt.
John Morris was less charitable with his own batsmen, as they fell from 111-3 overnight to 208 all out.
On a day that required batsmen to get their heads down and scratch their way to a decent score, far too many wickets were given up meekly by Derbyshire.
It started when Wavell Hinds was called through for a quick single and was run out by a smart piece of fielding from Jacques du Toit at point. It was difficult to see the value of such a risk in the circumstances.
The West Indian made 44 and no-one else in the Derbyshire side came close to an innings of similar impact.
Before long, 136-3 was 172-8. Rikki Clarke was exposed by a full-length ball from Nadeem Malik, Greg Smith drove timidly straight to cover and Jamie Pipe fell into a huge elephant trap set for him at deep midwicket by pulling the ball into the hands of du Toit.
It was an unimpressive episode and though it was a difficult day for batting, the fact that too many batsmen got out too easily made it impossible not to feel Derbyshire had made a mess of it again.
That said, there was still a suspicion Derbyshire would bowl better than Leicestershire had and so it proved.
Charl Langeveldt, Graham Wagg and Jon Clare were excellent. They had to remain patient after taking only one wicket in the 22 overs up to tea, when their efforts deserved so much more, but their reward came in the final session.
Leicestershire found themselves in deep trouble at 104-6 when Langeveldt returned for a second spell and took 3-10 in 23 balls to remove HD Ackerman, Matt Boyce and James Allenby.
Clare, in particular, deserved more than his one victim as the edge of the bat was beaten time and again. A little less assistance from the pitch and atmospheric conditions would surely have seen Leicestershire routed.
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