Derbyshire v Glamorgan day 3

Whisper it quietly folks - no, shout it from the rooftops. The Falcons are flying again...

Derbyshire moved clear of Yorkshire at the top of Division Two with a conclusive win inside three days, once again with the help of fine performances from most of the side.

Star turn of the last day was David Wainwright, who has quickly emerged as the crucial piece of the jigsaw in so far as team building plans are concerned. While Robin Peterson flitted across our skies for one brief season, Wainwright has now won two matches for Derbyshire with his skilful and intelligent use of helpful conditions. Unafraid to toss the ball up, able to extract turn but equally adept at keeping things tight when required, the former Yorkshire player has become a big fan's favourite very quickly. In comparison, the man he replaced in the middle order, Greg Smith, has lost his place at Essex after some poor displays. Its a funny old game..

He was well supported today by another man who is a crucial component of the side, Wes Durston. After a slow start to the campaign, Wes is batting beautifully again, catches swallows at slip and is a very handy bowler to work with Wainwright when the ball is turning. He may not run through sides on his own, but his three wickets today made sure that we were largely unaffected by the loss of Mark Footitt. Once again Tim Groenewald set us on the way with early wickets, fine reward for a very good bowler.

Guptill and Madsen set us on the way with yesterday's centuries, of course and the skipper led the side well, holding a blinding catch at cover to end the Glamorgan innings. That's two centuries this year for Madsen, clearly illustrating that he is not at all fazed by the travails of captaincy, while Guptill is closing fast on 500 runs for the season and proving one of the best overseas men on the circuit.

Indeed, his selfless batting after tea set Derbyshire on the way to a win, saving them the concerns of tomorrow's weather forecast as he gave early impetus to an albeit trifling chase. There was a time when even that target might have caused a few concerns in our ranks, but this is a different side, in personnel, talent and attitude.

I was delighted to see Paul Borrington there at the end, hitting the winning boundary after striking Cosker for a six. There is a school of thought that a few one day games might do Bozza good, allowing him freedom to go for the shots that he obviously has. Mind you, Hughes is the obvious choice for the one day game, although Karl Krikken has been given food for thought today with a big century from Matt Lineker for the Seconds, following on from one last weekend in the Derbyshire Premier League. Competition for places is never a bad thing, and as I wrote the other night, can only make a fast improving side even better.

Word also for Tom Poynton, who again kept beautifully throughout and allowed no byes in the game. There was much discussion before the season as to whether Poynton could take to the pressures of first-class game. the fact that people aren't saying things anymore suggests that he most certainly has. A few more runs would do no harm, but as I have written before, more important was that Poynton's glove work was up to standard. It is.

It would be no bad thing if it rained tomorrow, leaving clear daylight between us and Yorkshire, who we meet in the CB40 on Sunday. That game will see a flexing of muscles, ahead of the more important games between the two sides in the Championship later on in the season. This was no strong Glamorgan side and they seem to lurch from crisis to crisis. Derbyshire will play better sides, but you can only ever beat the one in front of you.

We hammered them today. And once again there have been a few eyes opened in the process.

Come on the 'shire!