Bring me sunshine - Derbyshire v Surrey day 1

Hands up all those who thought, at 88-7 chasing Surrey's 131, that Derbyshire would end the day with an already priceless lead of 21 runs with those same three wickets intact?

Well I didn't, and that Derbyshire have grabbed an albeit slender initiative in this game is down to our very own double act to rival Eric and Ernie, namely Waggy and Smudge.

Between them they took 9 wickets in the Surrey innings, then followed it with a partnership of 64 that could be of huge significance, especially if they could extend it tomorrow morning and take Derbyshire close to the 200 mark.

I understand that pitch inspector Jack Birkenshaw, formerly of Leicestershire and Yorkshire, was in attendance for part of the day but it appears that the reason for the fall of wickets was the extravagant movement that all the bowlers were able to get with the ball. Division 2 bowlers are using a different type of ball this season in a trial (see the Telegraph link to the left for Ian Hunter's comments on it) and it would appear that the batsmen's dominance of recent seasons may be getting challenged. Compare our game with that going on between Essex and Gloucestershire and you'll see what I mean.

The down side is, of course, that games are unlikely to last the course and anyone hoping to catch the denouement of this game on their day off on Saturday may as well offer their loved one a shopping trip instead and build up brownie points for Sunday. Unless the conditions change, the thinking money is on this being all over before tea on Friday, possibly even earlier.

Last night I wrote that Surrey's top order looked fragile and they were blown apart by Graham Wagg. Nice con trick by Coach Morris in suggesting he was unlikely to play and one in the eye for the England selectors who omitted him from the Lions side to play the West Indies at Derby. What a chance they missed to have a local hero involved and boost the crowd, although Wagg's hip cannot be fully back to par and he left the field mid-afternoon.

Greg Smith added to the bowlers celebrating career bests with 3-18 and the early signs are good that he is coming to terms with the demands of county cricket as an all rounder, following on from a good game at Chelmsford. He's always been able to swing the ball and it could be an idea to let him open with Wagg in the second innings.

Derbyshire's innings also struggled and they were three down in no time, although Andre Nel's departure with an injury helped. Pedro Collins had his radar locked on and bowled well, but Redfern and Hinds clawed Derbyshire back into the game before a flurry of wickets left us chasing the game.

That late stand that came close to doubling the score (and how valuable would it be if it did tomorrow) and did so in a way that was encouraging and refreshing. If we could somehow get a lead of 50 tomorrow, then bowl well the second time around, we'll have a shout of our first win of the season.