Fielding errors continue to haunt County

You know the old cliche about catches winning matches?
Northamptonshire head coach David Ripley has called on his side to up their game in the fieldNorthamptonshire head coach David Ripley has called on his side to up their game in the field
Northamptonshire head coach David Ripley has called on his side to up their game in the field

Well, truism or not, it is certainly a statement Northamptonshire head coach David Ripley can agree with.

He watched another poor performance by his side in the field prove costly as Derbyshire won by six runs in the Royal London One-Day Cup on Monday night.

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And he wants to see a marked improvement in an aspect of the game that has plagued them throughout the campaign.

“If you look at the Derbyshire game our run chase was alright and some aspects of bowling went well but the fielding was the difference,” Ripley stated.

“And it is not the first time that has happened either.

“We put down three catches - all of which were very crucial.

“We dropped their man (Wes Durston) on single figures and he went to make a hundred.

“(Marcus) North doubled his score after we put him down.

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“And there were chases to the boundary and little flick backs they produced in the field that we didn’t.

“You put those all together and it makes much more than a six-run swing so that is where we lost the game.”

It is not something that easily rectifiable either.

After a gruelling, and at times demoralising, summer it is perhaps understandable that the bubble has burst a little in the field.

Not that Ripley will let it slip.

He continued: “We will continue to work at it.

“We haven’t got so many natural athletes in our side at the moment.

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“Some of our better fielders are missing through injury or selection issues.

“But it has been hitting us all season. We can’t make excuses.

“Yes it was a bit greasy on Monday night and the strong wind made it difficult to get an atmosphere going out there.

“But we have been making the same mistakes for a long time.

“We will do our training and work hard to improve.

“It is not easy to create the same intensity for your fielding drills now after a long season as it is in April or May.

“But we have to get that aspect of our game at a higher level as it is costing us dear.”