Billy Godleman proud of Derbyshire Falcons after semi-final exit on Finals Day

The Falcons struggled against the Essex Eagles spin pairing of Simon Harmer and Aron Najjir in their last-four encounter at Edgbaston, ultimately losing by 34 runs

Derbyshire Falcons captain Billy Godleman insisted he and his team remain "proud" of their T20 Blast performance in 2019, despite having left the competition at the semi-finals stage.

The Falcons struggled against the Essex Eagles spin pairing of Simon Harmer and Aron Najjir in their last-four encounter at Edgbaston, ultimately losing by 34 runs.

But Godleman highlighted how well his side had done simply to reach Finals Day - they became the last of the 18 counties to experience the event this year - and he refused to be too downhearted after the match.

"We are very proud, very happy about the accomplishment of making it to Finals Day," he said.

"It’s bittersweet at the moment because you get here, you are part of the day and it’s such a great atmosphere. You think, it’s two games of cricket and you can lift the trophy. 

"Once this 24-48 hours passes by, the real context of what we’ve done as a club – playing with only one overseas player, giving opportunities to our homegrown, talent cricketers and being able to beat a lot of big counties home and away – we are really proud.

"It was two years ago that we made a quarter-final and we got beat up quite badly by Hampshire. This year we made a quarter-final and we won convincingly. Some of the guys who played in the defeat to Hampshire gained from that experience. 

"Hopefully, next year or in the next 24 months, we can make another Finals Day and draw upon this experience."

Asked his thoughts on the Edgbaston wicket, which seemed a little tired at the end of a long summer, Godleman said: "I thought there was excessive turn which provides challenges to hit boundaries. But our job as professionals is to adapt to whatever conditions we are given and try and find a way to be effective. 

"Unfortunately for us, Essex were a lot better at that today than we were.

"I thought with the way Alex [Hughes], Lewis [Reece] and Matthew [Critchley] bowled, taking pace off in the middle, I could see it would be difficult against their spinners in the second half of the game. Anything over 140 would be difficult.

"It’s not for me to say how I would have dealt with spin for other people. My own ball, I would have preferred to get behind the line and knock it into the leg-side for one rather than miss it. Everyone has got their own method of playing different types of bowling."