Derbyshire v Yorkshire

What more can be said about today?

At 59-4 they were on the rack and once we got through the partnership of Rudolph and Brophy would have fancied our chances. Lanageveldt again appears to have bowled an impeccable spell with the new ball with good support from Wagg and Lungley. Those three are as good a set of seam bowlers as any county has, and Jon Clare has emerged as an excellent addition and foil.

The rain makes tomorrow all the more important and I just hope that the boys continue in the same vein at the Riverside. A defeat wouldn't be the death of our hopes, but it would mean it all came down to the game against Scotland, the net run rate and the ensuing lottery.

A win tomorrow would put us through, end of problem.

An abandonment would leave us on the same points as Durham, behind on NRR but with the game against the Scots in hand. If Yorkshire got on the pitch against the Scots, and presumably win, then they would be above us with Durham.

Lose to Durham, and we not only need to beat Scotland but make sure the NRR stays above theirs. At the same time, we need to keep an eye on the final Roses match between Lancashire and Yorkshire. Lancashire currently have the worst NRR and if they win we'd need it to not be by a large margin. If Yorkshire win, they'd take the group and it would again be down to the NRR.

Time to stop. My brain hurts - let's just win tomorrow and be done with it. Tomorrow's team looks set to be unchanged from today (see preview yesterday) while Durham's squad is:

Michael Di Venuto
Phil Mustard
Kyle Coezter
Neil McKenzie
Dale Benkenstein
Ben Harmison
Gareth Breese
Garry Park
Stephen Harmison
Callum Thorp
Mark Davies
Mitchell Claydon

Whatever the outcome, the boys have acquitted themselves remarkably well against supposedly better sides from division one. Just that final hurdle to cross now...