The road to the cup final, 1969

Derbyshire's first cup run in one day cricket was a low scoring affair, but one that

I'd followed with interest.

We'd won in the first round at Taunton, bowling out the home side for 144 and then knocking off the runs with three wickets and three balls to spare.

In the second round we won on a seamer's track at Derby, keeping Worcestershire down to 156-6 in 60 overs then, with everyone contributing, knocking off the runs in the second last over. To the modern day viewer, that seems very slow and a score that is achievable in a 20 over thrash today. The visitors had some good batsmen - Glen Turner, Ron Headley (later to join us), Tom Graveney and Basil d'Oliveira - but our seam attack was good too.

Harold Rhodes (pictured) was a club legend, still capable of a quick ball and always very accurate. Alan Ward was around the peak (athough we didn't know it then) of his pace and powers, the quickest bowler in the country but having occasional injury problems that we didn't think too much of. Peter Eyre was a good journeyman pro at a steady fast medium and there was Fred Rumsey, formerly of Somerset. There was also the skipper, Derek Morgan, a solid all rounder who could bowl accurate seam or switch to off-cutters if required and Ian Buxton, who bowled big inswingers at medium pace.

Fred was a very good left arm seamer who usually bowled his overs right through in one day cricket (which is what he was signed for). He didn't look very athletic and wasn't. His batting was rudimentary and his fielding rustic, but Fred could bowl very accurately and usually did. If you were choosing an XI of Rotund Cricketers to play Mars, he would have been in there. Against his former county he took 3-19 in nine overs to help set up the win.

The quarter final saw us drawn away again, this time against Glamorgan in Cardiff. Dad reckoned that we'd be hammered and they were destined to win the Championship that season with a strong, predominantly Welsh side augmented by sound signings elsewhere. Star turn was Majid Khan, a mercurial and attractive to watch Pakistani. We knew that he could win the game for them, but he was out early, caught behind by Bob Taylor off Peter Eyre's bowling. Harold Rhodes took 4-17 in 12 overs and Glamorgan were all out for 117. Only Tony Lewis, later to be England captain and a successful broadcaster, lasted long with a gritty knock of 60. All of the bowlers were economical, with only Eyre going for three an over.

Even at that we were unconvinced that Derbyshire would win, as our batting was anything but reliable. Yet we strolled to victory by nine wickets in 43 overs, opener David Smith making an unbeaten 49 and defying Glamorgan's danger man Don Shepherd, who bowled his ten overs for just ten runs.

We were delighted to have won although this was tempered with the realisation that the next round would see us drawn either against Nottinghamshire (Sobers and all), Yorkshire (the best team in the country) or Sussex (the best one day team in the 60's). Dad reckoned that we could beat the former if we got Sobers early, could give the Tykes a game but would get slaughtered by the one day kings.

When the draw was made, we found that we'd got Sussex at home... but that's a tale for another day...