John Sadler shared his disappointment after Monday night’s abandonment ended the county’s hopes of a quarter-final place in the Royal London One-Day Cup.
Neil Broom hit 90, his highest List A score for Derbyshire, but rain put pay to Leicestershire’s run chase and no result was possible, leaving the Falcons out of the top four places in the North Group.
Sadler admitted that performances in the second half of the competition weren’t at the standard expected, but insists improvements have been made this summer as plans begin for next season’s one-day competitions.
He said: “We genuinely had high hopes of reaching a quarter-final in both the NatWest T20 Blast and Royal London One Day Cup going into the final games.
“With the team and lads we have got, it’s a shame, a bit disappointing but that’s the game. The break in white ball cricket probably came at the wrong time for us, we had good momentum, but we haven’t played good enough cricket in the second half of the competitions.
“We can’t just switch it on and off though, we have to be consistent, our skills haven’t been up to speed and we just haven’t been good enough under pressure.”
Regarding Broom’s 90, Sadler added: “It was fantastic the way he built his innings, the way that he nurtured it and then exploded in the back end, it was the Neil Broom that we know we have got.
“Unfortunately it’s not happened for him as many times as he and we would hope, but we know that he will win us cricket matches going into the last few games this season and also next season.
“We’ll reflect on the season and then we go into red-ball training to get ready for the Leicestershire game in the Championship on Thursday.”
Derbyshire host their first ever Real Ale Beer Festival on Day One and Day Two of the Specsavers County Championship fixture versus Essex, on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 August. To book your tickets, or for more information, please call 01332 388 101, email [email protected] or buy online HERE.
