Billy Godleman is confident that Derbyshire will pick up the results their cricket deserves if they take the positives from their performance against Glamorgan into upcoming fixtures.
His Derbyshire side came out on the wrong side of a narrow two-wicket defeat against Glamorgan after a closely-contested first-class fixture went to the final hour on the fourth day.
There were a number of good performances across the Derbyshire side and Godleman believes that there were more than enough positives to give the players confidence ahead of facing Leicestershire on Monday.
He said: “We are disappointed to lose the game, obviously, but I am thoroughly proud of the team and their efforts across the four days.
“I thought that we played some really good cricket and we did not always get the run of the game, which can happen at times, but in terms of the application and effort; I am really proud to be captain of this team.
“I love the game of cricket. Led by Dave Houghton here, we are trying to play cricket and develop people, but play cricket in the right way. Obviously, our main aim is always to win, but I think we are ticking all of those boxes at the moment.
“I am sure that if we keep playing as we are, on the surfaces that we have at home, the results will come.”
The 30-year-old also praised the efforts of Luis Reece and Anuj Dal, who provided crucial runs throughout the game to take it to the final session on Day Four.
Reece made a fine 111 in the first innings, as well as bowling a significant number of overs in both innings, while Dal was involved in consecutive half-century stands for the tenth wicket with Ravi Rampaul, and managed a career-best 64 on Day Two.
Godleman added: “I think it is right to flag up Reecey. To score a hundred in the first innings and then bowl in both innings, not only with the skill, but also the physical endurance that he has showed is a serious model for all of the players.
“As I have said more than once, there is no one that works harder than Reecey, so I am really pleased for him.
“They [the tenth wicket partnerships] were vital runs, especially the 50-odd they mustered [in the second innings], because they enabled us to take the game to the last session. It gave us the great game of cricket that we enjoyed in the end.
“Anuj played very skilfully, and he was backed-up by some lovely strokes by Ravi and those 50-partnerships were vital.”
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