Video for the weekend

Thanks to a message I received from Jeff, there's a great video for you to watch this weekend - the footage of our Nat West semi-final win against Essex at the County Ground in 1981, which is now on Youtube.

It makes terrific viewing, being one of the earliest indications of the talent we had unearthed in Kim Barnett. There was the all too typical collapse when in sight of the winning post, but Paul Newman's swing to the leg-side boundary from the game's penultimate ball gave us the chance of a win, a single being needed from the last to win on fewer wickets lost.

How many times must Norbert Phillip have replayed that final delivery in his head? Ninety-nine times in a hundred he would have run - no, walked - to the stumps and removed the bails to run out Newman as he sprinted for the non-striker's end. As it was, the pressure got to a worthy cricketer and he threw wildly and missed the stumps as well as the man trying in vain to back up.

A funny thing, pressure. It comes in many different forms and affects people in different ways. My old Dad faced it every day down the pit, always wondering if it was safe, or if today was the day that he or one of his friends was injured, or trapped. I guess you can work on your skills until the cows come home as a cricketer, but nothing will really prepare you for the situation at the end of that game. Some thrive on it, or seem to, holding a key catch with nonchalance or striking the last ball for a boundary, while others fold. Luckily for us, Phillip failed at the crucial moment - and we all know what happened at Lords...

On the playing front, it's good to see better news for Leicestershire fans, with the announcement that both Ramnaresh Sarwan and Charlie Shreck will play at Grace Road this coming summer Both are good cricketers; the former's international days surely behind him now and the latter a good opening bowler when he stays fit. I'd be surprised if the signings galvanised their summer, but they will fare better with them in the side, that's for sure.

Closer to home - for me, at least - warm congratulations to Scotland in making the World Cup. They have some good and improving players, though there's one major issue for them, which is unlikely to go away. With the involvement of the 'Scotland qualified' players from the county circuit, they are a decent outfit, but when these lads return to their counties in April, the second tier isn't as strong. Of course, it is unlikely to be, as the gulf between amateur and professional cricket is vast.

I still think Preston Mommsen, Natal-born, is a cricketer good enough to do a job at county level, though whether anyone offers him the opportunity is another thing. At 26 he still has time on his side and his batting record, especially in one-day cricket, suggests him as a player who could yet be worth an extended county trial. He's had a game or two at Leicester, Kent and Northampton, but hasn't had the best of luck on those occasions. Two centuries, a ninety and a seventy in the recent qualifiers set him apart from most others in the competition, and useful off-spin and excellent fielding make him an asset to the Scots.

I wish him and the Scots well - but they'll never usurp Derbyshire in my affections, no matter how long I live here...