Critchley proud of Falcons' resolve

Matt Critchley praised the resilience of his teammates, after picking up their first Vitality Blast win of the season over Leicestershire Foxes. 

The all-rounder scored a scintillating 80 not out and took 2-31, with Alex Hughes (38, 1-42) and Luis Reece (51, 2-24) made vital contributions with bat and ball to earn a confidence-boosting victory.

Having already seen big-hitting Australia international Ben McDermott depart, the Falcons were also without the club’s all-time leading run-scorer Wayne Madsen, after he picked up a thigh injury in the opening game against Lancashire Lightning.

Critchley praised the side’s determination to pick up results in the wake of some have losses, both in terms of results and personnel, and believes the side’s depth will prove key for the remainder of the tournament.

“The first win of the season has been a long time coming, we’ve played some good cricket and some not-so-good cricket,” he told BBC Radio Derby.

“To start the tournament fresh, have a couple of setbacks in losing Ben McDermott and Wayne Madsen, and put in a performance like that is really good. The way that Reecey and one or two others are striking the ball is a really good sign. We’re just trying to get into a mould of how we want to play our cricket and I think we’re getting there.

“When you lose a few games, you start to think ‘why is it always us?’, but the belief in each others’ talents has never wavered, we’ve got a good squad, we’ve got some good players who aren’t even in the team at the moment and that’s always a good sign.

“The Second XI have only lost a couple of T20s, which shows we’ve got good depth in this format, so if we do have injuries, players can come straight in. Harry Came has just signed his contract, he looked assured out there and we’ve got others who are ready to go.”

Having picked up their first points of the competition, the Falcons now return to The Incora County Ground, where they will face Birmingham Bears in the first Derbyshire-based Vitality Blast fixture since 2019.

With supporters back in the ground, Critchley is looking forward to feeding off the atmosphere, and hopes they can build a good foundation, with a run of home matches to follow.

“Hopefully it will be a good atmosphere, people will have seen us get a good result tonight and hopefully we can keep that momentum going,” he added.

“We’ll have a good home crowd, games come thick and fast in this competition so hopefully we can get on the right side of a roll and not leave ourselves too much to do in the back end, like we have done in previous years, we want it to go the other way this year and build momentum nicely.”

Tickets

Tickets for Vitality Blast home games are on sale now, but they’re selling fast so don’t delay if you want to cheer on the Falcons in Derbyshire this summer.

Home Fixtures:
Birmingham Bears – Sunday 13 June; 2.30pm – SOLD OUT
Lancashire Lightning – Tuesday 15 June; 7pm – SOLD OUT
Northants Steelbacks – Thursday 17 June; 7pm
Leicestershire Foxes – Tuesday 22 June; 7pm
Notts Outlaws – Friday 25 June; 7pm – Currently off-sale
Worcestershire Rapids – Friday 2 July; 7pm
Yorkshire Vikings – Sunday 18 July; 2.30pm