Sussex v Derbyshire day 2

With the various shenanigans going on off the pitch, Derbyshire did extremely well to make a good fist of their first innings against Sussex at Hove.

By the close, having finished off the home side's innings for 440, they were 315-5, with Alex Hughes unbeaten on 60, after Billy Godleman made 122 and Wayne Madsen 72.

All to play for then, and it could have been better had Sean Ervine not been needlessly (some said contentiously) run out and then Hardus Viljoen was bowled by the day's final ball. He was a strange choice of night watchman, especially when Tony Palladino is in the side, a man who has done the role successfully on many occasions.

The skipper's return to the top of the order produced a brisk century, one that leaves only Steve Stubbings ahead of him in UK born cricketers making tons for the county in this millennium. I'd hesitate to say 'I told you so' but he is a class opening batsman who should open for Derbyshire for years to come.

That should be made more straight forward with the departure, albeit announced yesterday in error, of Ben Slater. Our dear neighbours announced that he would be playing in their game at Southampton, then realised that he was playing for Derbyshire, which in terms of faux pas is a biggie.

It is no real surprise, having been touted for several months, but for me this should be Ben's last match for Derbyshire. He has opted for a future elsewhere, so good luck to him, but that affords an opportunity for Anuj Dal to slot into the side, perhaps with a little tinkering of the order.

The bigger surprises were revealed by David Hopps on Cricinfo - the interest expressed by Yorkshire in the services of Wayne Madsen, together with the former club coach, Dave Houghton, allegedly being short-listed for the Head of Cricket role.

Let's be quite clear, Wayne Madsen owes Derbyshire nothing, but this 'link' may well be a response to the players becoming aware of the short list. There will be people, or someone on there who they don't fancy and I would be very confident that the 'right' appointment will see a few players unsure of their future committing it to the club. The wrong one doesn't bear thinking about.

Madsen, Godleman, Critchley and Hughes are players we should be building a side around. The departure of any of them should be deemed a major blow and, like all sportsmen, they will await the HOC appointment with interest. There will be those they see as being able to take them on to the next level, as well as those whose reputation perhaps precedes them at the other end of the spectrum.

I would think all of these players would be happy with the appointment of Houghton, a man with a glittering CV that includes a stint as our coach between 2004 and 2007, then batting coach between 2011 and 2013.

He is well respected in the game and, without wishing to preempt anything, would likely get the support of the four players above, as a batting coach of some renown.

We don't know the other candidates, of course, but if they are of the standard of David Houghton we will do OK.

Finally, back to the game and we could do with our tail wagging with greater vigour than that of our hosts. With Critchley, Smit and Palladino to come, there are good partners available for Alex Hughes.

With the wicket starting to take spin, we won't want to go into the game's second innings with too great a deficit.

We will see later.