Pictures from the visit of the Australian cricket team on 8th-9th July 2010.
On 8th and 9th July the Australian cricket team played Derbyshire for the first time in many years. It was a two day warm-up game for Australia prior to a Test series against Pakistan, who were to play England later in the summer. This two-day game at Derby saw good crowds, around 3,000 each day, basking in perfect English sunshine.
Australia batted first and despite losing early wickets consolidated to accumulate 436 runs with an outstanding partnership between captain Ricky Ponting and the obdurate Michael Hussey that put on 210. Ponting retired shortly after reaching his century.
The Derbyshire innings got off to a tremendous start with skipper and opening batsman Chris Rogers determined to put up a good performance against his fellow countrymen. Rogers and Wayne Madsen made life difficult for the Australian attack and both players reached half centuries. Ponting, the Australian skipper, was noticeably irritated by the resistence. However,
Madsen was out for 58 as Rogers ploughed on playing some fluent and aggressive shots. He looked well set for the century that both he and the crowd wanted. Sadly he fell short on 93. Thereafter, the Derbyshire batsmen struggled until the game ended as a draw.
For many of the young Derbyshire players this was a real test with the 19 year-old bowler Atif Sheikh looking a promising prospect for the future.
Words & photographs by David White
