Something for the weekend

Another day, another convincing display by Derbyshire, with all the batsmen doing well and Mark Turner providing more evidence for a role in the grander scheme of things among the bowling ranks.

Pre-season could hardly have gone better and if we carry this approach through to the business part of proceedings we'll do just dandy. I'm especially pleased for Billy Godleman, who looked a good player in patches last summer but didn't go on to the big score that would have evidenced his talent. While runs in friendly matches don't count in the career records, their effect on the individual psyche and confidence levels cannot be underestimated.

I hope Billy continues that form into the season proper and have high hopes for his pairing with Stephen Moore, who has shown himself the class act that he is so far. So too did Wayne Madsen, of course, with a continuation of the form of last summer which augurs well.

With Mr Chanderpaul flying in this weekend, things are encouraging, no doubt about it.

On to other news and I am delighted that Radio Derby's cricket coverage this year will be handled by Iain O'Brien. A player for who the title 'journeyman pro' might have been coined, he was a good county and international seamer whose career at top level was cut short by back problems.

Having someone with that background (pardon the pun) and reputation on the airwaves does the credibility of the radio station no harm at all and I suspect a number of new listeners will tune in this summer. I will be one of them and regular readers will know that's a major shift for me.

Charles Collins is a nice man and knows cricket, but he wasn't, with respect, a good commentator. Far too much of the commentary was on irrelevancies and his 'catch phrases' became an irritant for many. So too were the occasions when he missed wickets when discussing favourite recordings  or mixed up players, most 'memorably' Tom Poynton and Chesney Hughes. So, like a good few others, I didn't bother tuning in.

I will from now on and wish Iain O'Brien well. I am sure he will do a good job.

Finally tonight, 'respect' to Tom Holdcroft at Derbyshire CCC, who got in touch to discuss the issues I had been having with the club tweets. After looking into the problem, Tom came up with a solution that seems to have sorted the problem quite nicely.

I'm very grateful to him for taking the time to get in touch and it is further evidence of a club that has genuine aspirations to be the best it can be, on and off the pitch.

Nice work Tom - and thank you!