Hampshire v Derbyshire day 4

Not much to say tonight, except we were lucky - very, very lucky - to escape from this one with a draw.

I'd be hard pushed to say we deserved it and won't, but full marks to Alex Hughes for a gritty, stoic unbeaten sixteen that got us a few extra points. It is further evidence of why I like the lad as a cricketer and why I predict a bright future for him, if he continues to work at his game. There are times in your cricket playing where scoring runs is relatively easy, but I take more interest in people who score them when the chips are down.

That's why I had so much time for Fred Swarbrook in his time, a man who would fight to the end, as well as for Tony Palladino and Tim Groenewald, who have rescued a few lost causes themselves. There's been a few more besides - people like Alan Hill and Tony Borrington, who you knew teams would have to dig out. Both had their shots - they were the first two men to score forty-over centuries for the county, after all - but they rarely gave it away.

We could have done with more of that spirit today, because we shouldn't have lost so many wickets so quickly. A draw should have been straightforward with the amount of time lost, but we almost made an unholy mess of that.

In short, we got draw points, but it was a long way from impressive.

Next up is Nottinghamshire in the T20 on Friday. More on that tomorrow, but even positive Peakfan will struggle to see anything other than a defeat against our neighbours, especially in our current form.