Predictable but encouraging...Essex v Derbyshire day 4

The end of the game was pretty much as I had suggested it would be last night. Derbyshire did indeed set Essex a little over 300 in mid-afternoon and given that it was the first game of the season and our main strike bowler was unavailable that was completely understandable.

Essex were never going to go for their 45 over target, although Chopra batted far more aggressively than in his first innings. Ian Hunter got him and finished with seven wickets in his first bowl of the season, a perfomance that must surely have elevated him above Tom Lungley in the pecking order. Lungley was again erratic in the second innings and after missing so much cricket last year maybe needs some match overs under his belt to get his rhythm back. Assuming Graham Wagg recovers from his hip twinge and Jake Needham comes into the side against Glamorgan on Wednesday, Lungley may drop out temporarily.

Earlier there were good knocks from Greg Smith and James Pipe as Derbyshire made the game safe after a few early alarms. What I like about this Derbyshire side is the capacity to counter attack if early wickets fall. With Hinds, Smith, Pipe and Wagg from 5-8 the opposition dominance can be quickly countered.

All of the batsmen spent useful time in the middle in this game and Dan Redfern showed signs of his obvious talent in both innings. I think that Redfern will be an outstanding batsman in the future and I hope that he rewards Derbyshire's investment in his young talent with the loyalty it deserves.

So, second in the Championship table - that'll do for starters!

A random thought crossed my mind today - is there life after Derbyshire?

I ask the question after Rikki Clarke's nought, followed by 0-99 in 22 overs for Warwickshire against Somerset, while Ant Botha scored 15 and took 0-178 in the same fixture. At around the same time came news that Steffan Jones was going on loan to Kent for a month from the cider county.

None of them have pulled up any trees since leaving the County Ground (I know Clarke's not had that long, but...) and the genial Jones must have had a few days of regret in moving from Derbyshire, where he enjoyed the most productive spell of his career. He gets limited opportunities at Taunton and let's be honest, it hardly does the game of cricket any great service.

There were a few eyebrows raised at the tumbling of wickets at Southampton over the last few days, but at least that was a wicket and a match that kept you flicking back the pages on teletext to find out the latest, while it must have been enthralling at the ground. Surely it is better for the game than has happened in the west country? 500 plays 672-4 plays 108-1. James Hildreth scores the earliest ever triple century. Fair play to the youngster but so what? It showed that he and Kieswetter can concentrate but I hope that the pundits don't start suggesting him as a wild card for the Test side on the back of this. We need - no, we MUST have a return to wickets that offer something to bowlers and make batsmen work for their rewards. I'd say now that Somerset's chance of winning anything with tracks like that at home are as good as my chances of opening the bowling against Surrey on Wednesday...

Anyway, well done guys - good sound first game and let's hope for more of the same on Wednesday.