Good news from abroad

Derbyshire's young guns continue to impress in overseas cricket, with more fine performances in recent matches.

Ben Slater scored 89 on the first day of a four-day game for Southern Rocks against the Mashonaland Eagles today, batting 275 minutes and hitting nine boundaries. The innings gave his team a sound foundation for a close of play total of 259-4, with Peter Burgoyne unbeaten on eight at the close.

Ross Whiteley has also been in the runs in Australia, with scores of 68 and 59 so far, hopefully making up for limited opportunities with the England side in the Hong Kong Sixes.  When he got a chance he did well, with scores of 15 and 14 unbeaten, before closing with 22 in his final appearance.

Dan Redfern has only had one innings so far in Adelaide, but 38 runs should have given his new team mates the chance to see some trademark shots. He could do with a few more this weekend though, as his team chase an opposition score of 390-plus...

Perhaps most impressive has been the start made by Tom Knight, who is in Melbourne  - that's the Australian one, just in case you wondered. In the first T20 of the summer, Knight hit a dazzling 82 from just 57 balls, a score that will only be a surprise for those who are unaware of the work he has been putting in on his batting. There were several good innings for our Seconds last summer, while his rare outings for England Under-19s at the World Cup also saw all-round contributions that suggested a young player with much more to his game than skilful slow left arm..

Not that the bowling let him down, as Tom finished his match with a fine bowling spell, taking 2-16 in four overs, concluding a performance that should set him up nicely for the winter. Early contributions from overseas players are always welcome in any level of cricket and Derbyshire's youngsters can all be very proud of their efforts so far.

Competition for places is hotting up...never a bad thing.