Glamorgan v Derbyshire day 4

Glamorgan 283 and 403-7 (Carlson 152, Khawaja 126)

Derbyshire 362 and 147-8 (Madsen 55, Palladino 30 not)

Match drawn

Call me psychic, if you will, but I fully expect the number of comments tonight to outnumber those at the end of the first two days, when we did quite well and were ahead of this game.

It is the way of things. It is sad but true, but too many are quick to castigate, slow or unwilling to praise. Maybe, as a Derbyshire supporter, too many have had too great an experience of struggle to find praise an easy thing to do, but all of us, as supporters of Derbyshire, have to get behind the players and lend them our support.

No more than any other team, we don't aim to play badly. Sometimes, as I wrote on Twitter today, we need to accept that other teams are allowed to play better than us and outplay us. A few too many times of late we have been outplayed, though it hasn't been for the want of trying. Sometimes, like it or not, form can prove elusive, individually and collectively, results decline and a vicious circle perpetuates.

We don't have the monopoly on poor performance either, though at times it may feel that way. Look at the various social media channels of counties and see how many unhappy fans there are, even those of successful counties. Today I saw Essex fans berating their side after losing to Nottinghamshire, less than twelve months on from winning the biggest county cricket prize of all. Hardly a disgrace, is it? Surrey fans have been similar, while our neighbours in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire have had stern and unpleasant criticism. I read a Somerset fan refer to them as a 'shambles', after the season they are having.

We can do no more than we are, because resources are tight. We run a small playing staff because there is no money for more players. Of course we need 'better' players, whoever and wherever they are, but they need serious salaries and if you can't afford them, the only option is to work with what you have and adjust your aspirations accordingly.

The question that puzzles me is less the losing of games than how we do it. The Yorkshire RLODC was in our grasp, then the tailenders nicked it. The Lancashire game was there to win at 100-0, but we caved in as bowlers applied a little pressure, going for big shots instead of working the ones. The Durham game was ours after two days, then we bowled poorly and blew it, a game that was harder to lose than to win at that stage. At 350-5 we were well ahead here, then let Glamorgan back into it. Is it a collective relaxation, a lack of nous, or what?

I think the T20 will come as a welcome relief and we will be improved, under John Wright and Dominic Cork. As for four-day cricket, there is a growing acceptance that we have so much to learn. We can play well, but it seems that any opposition fightback is like a runaway train we cannot stop, body language betraying a slide to the inevitable.

At this level the game is all about mental toughness. All players have similar techniques, but senior players must hold up their hands and say 'I'm going to get us across the line'. They are the better rewarded and with that comes additional responsibility, because we can't realistically expect the kids to do it if the old heads are not. Individually, all the players must ask themselves if they have given their all each day and if they haven't, or can't, the question has to be 'why'?

There are things we can do to help ourselves in the four-day game. The skipper is a top opening batsman, so should open and the middle order experiment should be abandoned. We should look at the batting order and question it, given the fragility thus far. I'd give Harvey a run at five, but consider Smit there too. You'd be surprised how many players bat to their position in the order, at different levels of the game and he has scored well when batting 3-5 in South Africa. We also need more from Hardus Viljoen and Ravi Rampaul, as well as Gary Wilson. Big name, talented international players all, but at the moment not contributing on a regular enough basis that justifies the likely expense in signing them.

But remember tonight and other nights, when commenting, they are OUR players. They are doing their best, but at times we have to accept that it is not good enough.

Yet massive respect to Tony Palladino, who not only took his 400th first-class wicket today, but also batted 108 deliveries to save the game and the draw points. He is a model professional, emerging from this game with credit as he did at Durham in a game when few did so. Give me a team of Palladinos and you can take on the world.

Is he the most talented in the side? No, but he makes 100% use of his talent, when others sometimes don't. So too Duanne Olivier, who is some way from a batsman, yet showed guts and determination in 51 minutes of batting that has to be replicated throughout the order.

It wasn't great, but if we can pull this around and beat Leicestershire in our next game, we will be fourth in the table. As it is, there are four sides below us tonight and the much-vaunted Middlesex are only three points better off.

I wonder how they are feeling?