Andy Carter's not so cunning plan for one-day cricket

The Derbyshire fast bowler believes in keeping it simple when he has a white ball in his hand and his figures so far suggest he is doing something right.

With five wickets in the Royal London Cup and four in the T20 NatWest Blast at a decent economy rate, Carter has played his part in getting the Falcons one-day campaign off to a good start.

For a bowler who is often operating during the power-play overs, Carter is pleased with his form so far.

“I haven’t exceeded my career stats, I’ve just bowled to them. What I average in white ball cricket at the moment is what I average in my career,” the 27-year-old former Nottinghamshire player said.

“I just do as well as I can. I can’t do anything funky. I don’t bowl slower balls and stuff like that.

“All I do is bowl a hard length, bowl a bouncer and bowl a yorker. If that’s not good enough, I can’t do anything about it!

“We’ve got lads up there who have got some ridiculous skills but it’s knowing when to use them. I don’t think you know that until you’ve played a lot of matches, then you know what to go to at the right point.

“I try to keep it as simple as I can and back what I can do. I back my strengths to overpower their strengths, that’s the way I go about it. It’s worked reasonably well.”

Carter also recognises the need to take a philosophical view in Blast matches when the best laid plans can be blown apart.

“Twenty20 is one of those games where you have got to stay level because on any given day the opposition can get hold of you.

“That’s the nature of the game. You can’t get too beaten up if somebody whacks you over the top or get too high if you are getting wickets all the time.”

Despite the frustrating of losing games to the weather, Derbyshire are in a promising position going into this evening’s (Friday) Blast game at Derby against the Birmingham Bears.

A victory would give them back-to-back t20 wins for the first time in three years and provide further evidence of the Falcons progress as a one-day side.

“We’re not going to fear anybody,” Carter said. “If you are going to go into a game fearing people you’ve lost the battle already.

“All we can concentrate on is doing our stuff well, keep picking up points and keep beating teams. We’ll see where we are at the end of it.”