Dave Houghton says that Derbyshire’s batsmen should see the 50-over match against Australia A on Sunday as a chance to get back among the runs after the defeat to Lancashire.
Nine wickets for England seamer James Anderson and eight for Graham Onions saw Derbyshire defeated by ten wickets against the division leaders, despite Luis Reece taking 6-58 in the first innings.
In a tough match for batsmen under tricky conditions, Leus du Plooy’s 38 was the highest score by a Derbyshire player.
Houghton admits that the defeat is hard to take, but believes most sides would have struggled against the Lancashire bowling attack in bowler-friendly conditions.
“It’s the first time we’ve had a heavy defeat and they’ve given us a good hiding. I guess if someone said can you prepare the best conditions for real quality swing and seam bowlers to come and bowl in they got exactly that,” said Houghton.
“That’s nothing against our groundsman at all, it’s just the weather leading up to the Lancashire game and the whole game itself were just perfect conditions to bowl in and we were up against two of the best, certainly one is probably the best, in the world at it.”
The Australia A side will be at The Pattonair County Ground on Sunday, for an 11am start, with both sides expected to name strong teams for the white-ball match in Derby.
Australia have already named a squad containing the likes of Matthew Wade and Josh Hazlewood, while Houghton says that only Derbyshire’s seam bowlers will be rested for the fixture, as it will give the batsmen a chance to recover some form after the defeat to Lancashire.
“The Australia A match is still a big game for us, and everybody wants to play in it and I am having to ask the main seam bowlers to take a rest,” added Houghton.
“They don’t want to do that but it is great for me, as it gives us an opportunity to play our younger bowlers. All of our top batsmen will be playing.
“This is practice for us, we have had two innings where we haven’t scored many runs, would you rather be in the nets? Or would you rather play in a white-ball game against Australia A? Everybody is playing, barring the bowlers.”
After the one-day fixture, Derbyshire are not in action for seven days, with the Specsavers County Championship game against Middlesex beginning on Sunday 30 June.
Houghton believes that the rest could do Derbyshire’s players good and give them the best possible preparation for their next Specsavers County Championship fixture.
“We need a little bit of a rest, yes there has been four days in between [the Glamorgan and Lancashire matches], but we have not played any game easily.
“In all of the games, the bowlers have bowled 25-30 overs and it starts to stack up, so having a bit of a rest before coming in for training next Thursday and Friday should put us in a good place for the Middlesex game”
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