Worcestershire V Derbyshire T20

Derbyshire 156-4 (du Plooy 52*)

Worcestershire 159-8 (Rampaul 2-17, Parnell 81*)

Worcestershire won by 2 wickets

I have been a little short of time tonight, as family Peakfan are preparing for a short notice trip to God's Own County tomorrow.

Tonight's loss to Worcestershire was disappointing. We didn't look have scored enough runs, yet took a very strong batting side to the penultimate over before they won the game.

Their  match winner was Wayne Parnell, who played an excellent innings for his side. Without him we would have won, but it was exactly what you hope your overseas players and Kolpaks will do. Truth be told, I have always thought Parnell a little overrated, often promising more than he delivers, but he did the job tonight.

Once again the bowling of Ravi Rampaul was exemplary and he could scarcely have done more so far. Fynn Hudson-Prentice also did well, but the rest of the bowling wasn't quite up to the mark.

Neither side utilised their 20 overs especially well, there being 43 dot balls in each innings. Yet in Parnell the home side had the one man who regularly found and cleared the boundary.

For Derbyshire, Luis Reece got us off to a decent start, Wayne Madsen got a few and there was an encouraging late knock from Darren Stevens. There was another half century for Leus du Plooy, but even he struggled to get the ball away tonight.

15 to 20 more runs would have made a difference. Then again, so might a couple of overseas players, but that is ground that we have already covered.

Played four, won only one, with a tie.

We need to get back to winning ways sharpish.

Book Review: The Final Innings - the Cricketers of Summer 1939 by Christopher Sandford

When I was approached with a view to seeing a review copy of this book, I got my affirmative reply off inside two minutes.

Christopher Sandford is an excellent and popular writer, as well as an outstanding researcher. He has written several biographies of cricketers and celebrities and The Final Over, about the cricketers of 1914, was an excellent and enjoyed predecessor to this work.

The Final Innings pays homage to the men who played cricket in that final year before the outbreak of World War Two, using unpublished diaries and memoirs, as well as personal recollections and letters. Over two hundred first-class cricketers signed up to fight in the first year of the war and 52 of them never came back.

It is a quite wonderful read, though I was always likely to enjoy it, given my love of both cricket and social history. The way in which the author has interwoven events on the cricket field with those elsewhere is engaging and the book holds the reader's attention from first to last.

As the summer progressed, the outbreak of war became inevitable and it has often been recorded as the summer that ended the innocence. There was little innocent about some of the activities recorded here, with both Godfrey Evans and Bill Edrich, cricketing legends both, enjoying a summer where they lived life to the full and spent considerable time in local hostelries and in the company of an array of women. An attempt to enjoy life while they were able to, as no one knew how the future would pan out, which was perhaps as well. While cricketers were not especially well rewarded financially, their status appeared to be such that there were usually women to be found in their down time.

A rich array of characters flit across the pages. Ken Farnes, as diametrically opposed a fast bowler to the stereotype as one could imagine, quoting the classics, teaching for most of the summer then unleashed on unsuspecting batsmen in the holidays. A man with an outstanding physique and a liking for showing his impressive abdominal muscles to team mates, he never returned, killed in an air crash on his first unsupervised night time flight.

The stories of both Bill Bowes and Hedley Verity are well known to the cricket enthusiast, the former never the same physically and the latter to die on Italian soil. Less known players like Laurie Eastman catch the eye, dying from what appears to have been shock after an air raid, but also believed to have been suffering from cancer. Yet this book is far from a simple roll call of the dead.

It is more a celebration of life and of the human spirit. With war inevitable, people and certainly the cricketers made the most of what might have been their last matches, which in many cases it was. The closing weeks of the season were played out against a back drop of military call ups, buildings taken over by the Ministry of Defence and barrage balloons being installed around the grounds of the country. The West Indian cricket team, who are followed around the country on their tour and encountered plenty of casual racism along the way, cut short their final matches and got a boat home from Glasgow. The boat that they should have taken, the SS Athenia, left from Liverpool a week later and was torpedoed, with the loss of many lives.

It is a masterful piece of work, one that I enjoyed so much that I will read it again, and soon.

I would highly recommend it as a purchase, with both author and publisher to be commended for a wonderful addition to any cricket collection.

The Final Innings: The Cricketers of Summer 1939 is written by Christopher Sandford and published by The History Press. It is priced £20 and available from all good book shops.

Worcestershire v Derbyshire preview

I didn't bother doing a write up of the Lancashire game, because there's only so many ways one can describe torrential rain and puddles. 

On the respective current form of the two teams, it wasn't a bad wash out from our perspective. Tomorrow the big games keep on coming and we visit New Road to play a Worcestershire side that is formidable in this format. At the weekend they chased down a target of 182 in only twelve overs against Durham on the same ground and their top three of Guptill, Wessels and Ferguson is just about the most formidable in the country.

With our attack not really firing this year, it is hard to be positive about tomorrow and we will need to do much better with both bat and ball to avoid a hammering. I saw them against Nottinghamshire earlier in the group matches and while the batting didn't click that night, the bowling, led by South African Wayne Parnell and the impressive Pat Brown, will be a handful tomorrow. 

We will need early wickets or that top three will put the game out of sight, while our batting simply must take better advantage of the Powerplay, regardless of who bats where. Most sides are aiming for a minimum of ten an over at that stage and the best sides effectively seal the game. In that game at the weekend, Worcestershire scored 94 in the first six overs, and it was a stroll from there.

It is an unchanged squad for Derbyshire, because there really is no one else. I won't attempt to second guess the final eleven, but they will need to produce their very best form to come out of this one with the win points.

As for the home side, they have named the following squad:

Guptill
Wessels
Ferguson
Parnell
D’Oliveira ©
Cox (w)
Whiteley
Barnard
Mitchell
Pennington
Brown
Fell
Morris

My forecast? I am afraid we are in for a defeat here, unless someone produces a spell of magic that can turn these matches. 

There's no reason that player cannot be on our side, as we have the ability, but we are up against big guns here and it may get messy.

Fingers crossed. And as always, I appreciate your thoughts.

Derbyshire v Lancashire preview

A wise former Derbyshire player once said to me that T20 was peculiar, because anyone can beat anyone on a given day. The length of game means that you only need someone to be in 'the zone' for half an hour or so and a result can be turned on its head from what logic otherwise suggests.

Thus we saw Leicestershire beating Nottinghamshire today, which few would have predicted. An even shorter format, of eleven overs a side, worked in their favour and crucially they made maximum use of the Powerplay. Derbyshire please take note.

Another said to me, before the weekend, that while one win from the two matches would be fine, we shouldn't be too upset if we lost them both. As it stands, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire look nailed on (even after today) for two of the top four slots, so we are scrapping with the other six counties for the last two.

We can do it, but like I said last night, we need to sort a batting order to make best use of the Powerplay. It annoys me to see Leus du Plooy come in and time it from the off, but the game gone by that stage. If we are telling a batsman to bat through, he would be my man, as the chances are he would get a hundred if he did so.

It is the same squad for Derbyshire, as it has to be. I am surprised that Logan van Beek is in it, after going off last night, but my eleven, and batting order tomorrow would be:

du Plooy
Reece
Madsen
Hudson-Prentice
Stevens
Hughes
Godleman
Critchley
Smit
Watt
Rampaul

I understand Logan has a troublesome ankle, and also hurt his shoulder last night, so the risk of aggravating that is high. Stevens comes back in as there are few real options and he is a better player than he has so far shown. The attack is limited, but we know that. If we end up chasing under 180, I would put Billy back at the top, but more than that, or batting first and I would put the big guns in from the outset.

It may still not be enough. With Aussies James Faulkner and Glenn Maxwell as overseas stars, Lancashire look a good bet for this competition. They have plenty of bowling options and the batting range to chase down most targets. Their squad:

Vilas, Bohannon, Croft, Davies, Faulkner, Gleeson, Jennings, Jones, Lamb, Livingstone, Lester, Mahmood, Maxwell, Parkinson, Parry

I'm going for an away win here, as I struggle to see how we can come out on top. Unless, of course, someone goes berserk for half an hour or so and our bowlers find the lengths and lines that have eluded them in the last two games.

I won't follow much tomorrow, I'm afraid, as I will be at Ibrox with my son to see Rangers play Derby County. Your comments will be appreciated, as always, but I am not unduly hopeful of glad tidings tomorrow evening.

Postscript... I watched fifteen minutes of the Global T20 from Canada this afternoon.

Sparse crowd, very average cricket - regardless of the stars involved - and no one really seeming that fussed, with a total lack of intensity or meaning to the play.

Welcome to The Hundred. It will be just the same, but I doubt I will even give it fifteen minutes.

Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire T20

Nottinghamshire 198-5 (Duckett 64, Hales 63, Critchley 2-43)

Derbyshire 171-8 (Reece 61, Gurney 5-30)

Nottinghamshire won by 27 runs

Derbyshire were soundly beaten at the Pattonair County Ground tonight.

Our East Midlands rivals are just too strong for us at present and a result that most predicted came to pass without any real risk of an upset.

The task in hand wasn't simplified by missed catches, as well as some excellent ones, while what looks like a shoulder injury sustained by Logan van Beek looks like limiting his involvement in the near future.

An attack with no real menace is unlikely to go for less than 180 in most games. Compared to last year, when we had Ferguson, Riaz  and Viljoen, besides Rampaul, we had genuine hopes of keeping the opposition within range.

The batting is probably stronger this year, but the order isn't right. Billy batting through is a laudable concept, but chasing nine or ten an over it is no use when he is only scoring a run a ball.The best batsman in the side, on form, is du Plooy, yet he doesn't get in until 14 overs are gone and we need 87 from six overs.

Desperate times  - and we now look to be shorn of an overseas player, whatever your opinion on van Beek - need desperate, or at least improvised measures. I firmly subscribe to the rationale that you want your best batsmen at the crease for the longest time, so du Plooy should either open or go in at three, with Madsen doing the other position, alongside Reece. I also think we are asking too much of Fynn Hudson-Prentice, making his way in the county game, to go in and be the pinch-hitter, when we have players of greater experience who could simply go and play their natural game. Not sure why Fynn only got the one over tonight either, after getting the breakthrough. It seemed an oversight to me.

Billy can still play and come in for the last slog, but if we are likely to be chasing ten an over, we simply must have the batsmen most likely to score quickly at the crease for the maximum time.

Hales and Clarke, then Duckett put this game out of reach for the visitors, which is a depressingly familiar tale in these matches.

There is more work to be done before the visit of Lancashire on Sunday.

Discussion on the batting order, first and foremost.

Footitt leaves Nottinghamshire

When his cricket career is over, though quite possibly before that, Mark Footitt will look back on his career and likely regard it as one that was largely unfulfilled.

He will be 34 later this year and the days of express pace are behind him. He can still bowl a very quick ball, but the concern for anyone with thoughts of taking him on, after his release from his Nottinghamshire contract today, will be more on the lines of whether he can be trusted to be accurate.

Make no bones about it, Mark's last two years at Derbyshire were his best by a country mile. James Pipe and the conditioning team had at last come up with a programme to keep his often fragile body going, and while there were days when the radar was horrendously off kilter, there were others when he was as quick as any I have seen for the county. I remember watching him clean bowl a batsman who wasn't halfway through bringing his bat down when the stumps were demolished. The slips were always in action and knew it, if they held a nick from the left-arm express.

Mark is a lovely lad and always has been, but somewhere along the line he has been poorly advised. Twice. The first was when, at the peak of his powers, his head was turned by an offer to go and play for Surrey. Yes, they paid him more than we could afford, but I heard of the offer from Derbyshire and, with the cost of property down there, he might well have been better advised to stay put. Especially as he is very much a family man, and the nights in London, away from his family, must have been tough for him.

Perhaps his head was turned by the usual media comments. 'Play in London and the selectors will see you'. It didn't happen. Aside from a squad call up, he never got the chance to rattle international rib cages.

His departure from Derbyshire, where he was loved, appreciated and very much a big fish in a small pond must have pained him. He was the leader of the pack and thrived on it, in much the same way that Ravi Rampaul has this season. At Surrey he was just one of a number of talented seamers and crucially, most of them were more accurate than him, as well as having better luck with injuries. It seemed only a matter of time before he moved back to the midlands, and I know there was a chance to return 'home'.

Not to Nottinghamshire, where he got his start but never really a fair crack of the whip, but to Derbyshire, where he was appreciated and understood. Yet something in the offer wasn't deemed right and Mark opted to go back to Trent Bridge, perhaps in the hope the whip would be like Zorro's this time.

Again, from distance it seemed the wrong move. They were awash with seamers, domestic and foreign. Mark, past his 30th birthday, should have been bowling in front of bigger crowds and people who appreciated what they got with him. An unpredictable but exciting fast bowler, hurling them down left handed, even if he could throw from the deep equally well with his right.

Instead, it was a succession of displays at second team level, in front of the proverbial three men and a dog, with first team cricket a long way off. He plays at weekends at Sandiacre still, so is known, admired and appreciated by some, at least.

Will he get another opportunity? I genuinely don't know. The romantic part of me would love to see him get a trial to season end and would be thrilled to see him knock down the timbers as he did in his pomp.

The more logical, thinking part feels he might struggle. Without the raw pace, his greatest asset, he hasn't really got line and length to fall back on. He never had and a loan appearance for us last year saw him compete with Hardus Viljoen for the 'Most Outrageous Wide of the Day' award. He seemed to lack rhythm and confidence.

Maybe, just maybe, if Steve Kirby could work with him... I don't know, but I do know our finances may legislate against anything happening. If I'm honest, as I am, I would sooner see Dustin Melton, a quick bowler with something to prove, engaged for next summer, rather than take that chance. Especially when our seam attack is hardly in the first flush of youth.

If Mark does reappear in the county game, his family links will probably dictate it is with us or Leicestershire. That he is leaving now suggests he has a trial arranged somewhere and I hope, really hope, it works out for him.

The bottom line is he's a top lad, once of the nicest I have met over the years as a county supporter.

One way or another, I'm sure he will do alright.

Global, as well as domestic challenge to Vitality Blast T20

There have been a few people bemoaning the absence of a second overseas player from Derbyshire's roster for the T20 this year, while Leicestershire haven't any.

I have even seen a comment or two that were critical of a 'lack of ambition'on our part, when in fact, nothing is further from the truth.

The bottom line is that the proliferation of T20 tournaments around the globe are starting to offer international cricketers increasing options to increase their wealth, if not necessarily their reputations in competitive cricket.

Take, for example, the 'Global T20' which, rather like the World Series in baseball, takes place in just one country, Canada. It sees six teams take part in a competition that began yesterday and concludes in a final on August 11. Compare and contrast with ours, which began on July 18 and continues well into September.

Now I am not saying that the standard will be better, as it won't, nor the crowds bigger, which they are unlikely to be, but for players who would quite like to see their families sometime, it is a fine way to make good money in just over a fortnight of cricket. Then there is the Euro T20 Slam, which starts at the end of August and runs until September 22, featuring two city-based sides from each of Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Each coincides with the Vitality Blast, each has assembled an impressive roster of players. I could, should I choose, support a Glasgow side in the Euro T20 Slam that includes Brendon McCullum, Dale Steyn, Ravi Bopara, Moises Henriques, JJ Smuts and the cast of Taggart. I joke, of course, on the latter and there are a number of top Scots players, including Alasdair Evans and Safyaan Sharif, erstwhile of this parish. Yet I doubt I will go along, for much the same reason why the Hundred will struggle. The Scottish matches are being played in Edinburgh, at the Grange, and anyone who has tried to get from Glasgow to Edinburgh along the M8 at rush hour will share my pain.

As for the Canadian competition, take a look at the assembled roster of players, and who might have made a difference to Derbyshire. Wahab Riaz is there, so too Jimmy Neesham, Trent Boult, Andile Phehlukwayo, Andre Russell, JP Duminy and a whole lot more.

Who can blame the players? You get well paid, as well as seeing another country - and a fine one too - at someone else's expense. They were aiming for a domestic audience of millions and a global one of billions, according to Yuvraj Singh pre-tournament, though the reality may be somewhat different, unless there is considerable massage of statistics.

Which sounds uncannily like another tournament, closer to home and starting next year. Yet despite it being a 'proper' format, I wasn't remotely tempted to find a stream, or a channel. I'm not sure that many others, outside Canada and perhaps India would have been, either. And I'm a cricket fan, so if they can't entice me, what chance the casual supporter, the Mums and the kids?

With five international players, two Canadians and four from ICC Associate nations per side, the standard may be mixed, but the players are earning much more than they could from a county stint in England. The best are taking home around £600K, for a fortnight's work.

No wonder it is tough to find an overseas, eh?

Thoughts ahead of the East Midlands derby

One swallow doesn't make a summer and one defeat doesn't ruin a T20 campaign. But Derbyshire need to make some key decisions ahead of the game against Nottinghamshire at Derby on Friday evening.

Let's face it, few expect us to win and we don't have a great track record against our under-achieving neighbours. They will probably do well in this competition, because they appear to have spent the summer playing T20 with the bat and doing appallingly in the county championship.

They should win, given their massively different resources, and probably will. Yet we can give ourselves a half-decent shout of competing better than we did last night by getting some key decisions right.

Much as I respect Billy Godleman as a cricketer, a man and a decent captain in other formats, we missed a trick in not giving the role to Daryn Smit for T20. When Dominic Cork made the decision to select him for this competition ahead of Harvey Hosein, he should have made the even bolder decision to give him the captaincy. Everyone I have spoken to who has played with him has only praise for his shrewd and innovative captaincy. What he has done with a young second team, largely made up of trialists, has been remarkable and his reputation preceded him in that respect, both from his time in South Africa and as a highly respected professional at Ramsbottom, where he will return as professional next year.

A good captain can get ten per cent more from his team, individually and collectively. I fear that Corky won't change things now, but for me it was an opportunity missed. Whether there was a concern over making the second team captain the first team skipper is neither here nor there. A team without a second overseas has to find advantage where it can, and this would have been an easy win, for me.

Billy is a fine batsman, but he is developing a reputation as a poor and sometimes indecisive runner. In a team with two outstanding batsmen who can score quickly, in Madsen and du Plooy, it is self-defeating to run one of them out, especially when Wayne looked to be in fine form last night. I don't know how you fix that, but if Billy is the self-appointed man to bat through the innings, he has to score more when he has the strike, not get bogged down, like last night. A run a ball is the bare minimum for the 'anchor' role.

Then there's the Darren Stevens signing. The jury is out on whether this was an inspired move or a panic buy, but he needs a good performance. Of course he has been an outstanding cricketer for many years, but in two matches he has scored five runs and bowled three overs for 33 runs. Both Alex Hughes, our most successful T20 bowler last year, and Anuj Dal could better that, AND improve the fielding.

Maybe Friday is too soon to press the button for the ejector seat, but at some point the case for Hughes, at least, will be undeniable. The same goes for Logan van Beek. He needs to show that Chesterfield wasn't a fluke, because the runs I thought he might offer, based on his record, don't appear likely and my concerns over him going for 11/12 an over came to fruition last night, perhaps not for the last time.

Dominic Cork was critical about the bowlers this morning and rightly so. With one short boundary, your lines need to be bang on, just as Ravi Rampaul showed. Our hosts had three international bowlers and that difference told. With eight bowlers, a captain will hope five of them get the basics of line and length right, but when they don't, you have nowhere to go.

My conclusion? Well, we keep working, try to find that extra ten per cent and deliver the basics better. There will be times, in a tough group, where the basics just aren't enough and a better team gives you a good hiding. For what it is worth, were I picking the side for Friday, it would be as follows:

Godleman
Critchley
Madsen
Du Plooy
Reece
Hudson-Prentice
Hughes
Dal
Smit (captain)
Watt
Rampaul

In the field we would give ourselves a better chance and there is greater depth to the batting too. Nine bowlers as well, so we can mix it up.

It still might not be enough, but I'd be keen to hear your thoughts, as always.

Warwickshire V Derbyshire T20

Warwickshire 205-5 (Hain 85, Hose 69, Rampaul 3-21)

Derbyshire 156-9 (du Plooy 70, Smit 29*)

Warwickshire won by 49 runs

After a bright start to the game, in which they had the home side 20-2 in four overs, Derbyshire capitulated rather limply at Edgbaston tonight.

Sam Hain, a regular thorn In our side, batted well for them, as did Hose, but the Derbyshire bowling was not 'there' tonight.

Honourable exception is made for Ravi Rampaul, who could hardly have bowled better on a ground where one boundary was very short. Both Logan van Beek and Mark Watt were expensive, while Darren Stevens had another poor game with bat and ball. With Alex Hughes pushing for selection, Dominic Cork will have a tough decision to make for Friday's game against Nottinghamshire.

Nor did the batting get going. Godleman took far too long over his brief innings, while the run out of Wayne Madsen, who had seemed in good touch, left us with a mountain to climb.

Only Leus du Plooy, with a fine 70, gave us any hope, as the rest of the batting subsided without too much resistance.

A late cameo by Daryn Smit made the score more respectable than it was, but it was too late. Derbyshire were well beaten tonight.

The bottom line? For us to win these matches, we need most or all the side to play at or very near to their best.

Tonight, sadly, we weren't even close and a rethink appears necessary to get back to winning ways.

PS I decided to call them Warwickshire, rather than Birmingham. Old habits die hard...

Derbyshire v Birmingham Bears preview

Well, after four games of the Vitality Blast T20 last year, Derbyshire had still to register a win. This year, we are played one, won one, so are already ahead of the game.

Tomorrow's visit to play Warwickshire, by any other name, will be a different kind of challenge. Their overseas players are Jeetan Patel and Ashton Agar, so logically one assumes we will find a turning wicket tomorrow. You never know, though and we have enough bowlers in our squad to be prepared for most eventualities.

Thirteen travel to Edgbaston, which is the squad for the Yorkshire game less Harvey Hosein. There is a case for recalling Alex Hughes, who did well with bat and ball for the seconds yesterday, but logically that would be at the expense of Fynn Hudson-Prentice, who has done little wrong since he came into the side. Tom Lace got runs in both matches too, but my guess is that he will miss out as we field the following side

Godleman, Reece, Madsen, du Plooy, Stevens, Critchley, Hughes/Hudson Prentice, Smit, van Beek, Watt, Rampaul.

The argument for the retention of Fynn is his opening the batting to give a left/right combination, but Alex opened in both matches yesterday, so may be in line to do that tomorrow. Alternately, we may put Matt Critchley up top, where he has had some success, but I like the idea of him coming in to offer boundary clearing possibilities at the end of the innings.

The tail is perhaps longer than we might want, but if you need nine, ten, jack to bail you out in T20, the chances are that something has gone horribly wrong anyway.

Our hosts won their first game against Leicestershire on this ground in a canter. Fidel Edwards, on loan from Hampshire, took three wickets in his first over and makes up a potent opening pairing with Henry Brookes. The other overs were shared between off spinner Alex Thomson and the medium pace Will Rhodes.

Their batting will lean heavily on Sam Hain, but Ed Pollock's 'boundary or bust' approach needs to be watched, and Agar is a canny all-rounder. Michael Burgess, recently signed from Sussex, is a good cricketer at the top, and with Chris Woakes and Olly Stone on England duty, the home side will likely be very similar to this:

Pollock, Burgess, Hain, Agar, Hose, Rhodes, Banks, Thomson, Patel, Brookes, Edwards.

A good side, but not one that we should fear. Hain recorded a pre-season double century in a one-day friendly against us, but if we can nick one or two out early, including him, there is enough in this Derbyshire side to win, leaving us going into the East Midlands derby on Friday in fine fettle.

Finally tonight, Kent announced today that Darren Stevens will be leaving at the end of the season, but the player insists that he hopes to play on.

There is an argument for someone taking him on for the March-June period, when his bowling is at its most potent, but he has a fine shop window in this competition.

He is a far better player than his limited opportunity on Sunday suggested and if he does fire, we are going to have a fine, match-winning player on our hands.

Fingers crossed for another fine display!

Two more T20 successes for seconds against Lancashire

Hot on the heels of the excellent win over Yorkshire at Chesterfield on Sunday, the county second eleven enjoyed two narrow wins against the red rose of Lancashire today, at Westhoughton CC.

In the first game, Lancashire, fielding a side that included Livingstone, Hameed, Jones and Parry, made 141-8 in their 20 overs. Tony Palladino bowled an excellent spell, taking 2-16 in four overs.

In reply, Derbyshire won with a ball to spare, also with eight wickets down, Tom Wood's 42 being crucial, while Tom Lace made 26.

The second game saw Derbyshire bat first and they made 157-4. Alex Hughes made 51, while Lace and Hosein made 31, the latter unbeaten. Skipper Daryn Smit's late unbeaten cameo of an unbeaten 17 from eight balls turned out to be crucial, against an attack that this time included Mahmood and Jennings.

The wickets were shared around between the bowlers as Lancashire could only make 153-8. Anuj Dal bowled his four overs for only 15 runs, while Alex Hughes conceded just 25 in his spell. Alfie Gleadall's 1-30 is also worthy of mention, but so too the discipline of an attack that conceded only one wide and two leg byes in the innings.

It keeps pressure on those in possession of a place in the senior side and shows that there are very able bodies ready to step in, as and when required.

A pleasure to see and on which to report!

Derbyshire v Yorkshire T20 - county win their opener!

Yorkshire 164-8 (Thompson 50, Watt 4-19)

Derbyshire 166-5 in 19.1 (Godleman 70*, du Plooy 30)

Derbyshire won by five wickets

Five wins in a row now, for Derbyshire against Yorkshire in the T20. They are getting to be our rabbits, despite the protestations of one of their fans today, messaged to me by a friend, that 'Derbyshire are little more than a second class county'.

It doesn't say much for the white rose county, then. Of course, had their England players been available it might have been different, but you can only beat the eleven up against you and Derbyshire did a professional job today. Even it was somewhat anti-climactic, winning the game on five wides from David Willey....

I feared the worst when their top order set off like a train, Lyth smearing a six and a four from Darren Stevens opening balls for us, but Ravi Rampaul seems to have bowled beautifully  and followed it with a maiden over.

Then came Mark Watt, who became the first bowler to take four wickets on T20 debut for Derbyshire. His figures were magnificent, especially on such a small ground. There is nothing flashy or demonstrative about Mark, but he bowls a very tight line and lures batsmen to their doom with increasing frequency. Granted, Gary Ballance's ungainly attempt at a reverse sweep is not one he will look back on with any fondness.

Fair play also to Logan van Beek, who did especially well in the middle overs. I thought he might go around the park today, but 2-22  was an excellent effort and those two, with Rampaul, ensured that the chase was not going to be excessive. yet Thompson's fifty from 27 balls took the total to 164-8 and, with the ball spinning and the visiting attack built around slow bowlers, it was not going to be easy.

Hudson-Prentice opening with Godleman was a surprise, but after two quick boundaries he was dismissed. Then Reece, Madsen and du Plooy played little cameos, before Critchley, part of a powerful-looking middle order, came in to finish the job.

Through it all, Captain Godleman led from the front. Two years ago I questioned whether he should be a part of this format, but now he has made himself indispensable, and deserves immense credit for doing so. As he did in the same game last year, he batted through and always kept the good ship Derbyshire firmly on course. When there were a few dot balls he found the boundary and we never really looked in danger.

Only, perhaps, with 25 needed from 13 balls, but he and Critchley each took a six from consecutive balls, making it 13 from 11 and game over. Common sense only was needed at that stage and that was exactly what we got. In similar vein to Wilfred Rhodes and George Hirst of Yorkshire and England long ago, we pretty much got them in singles from there.

Greater challenges lie ahead, but played one, won one has a nice ring to it. So too the club coffers, after a capacity crowd and plenty of refreshment sales. With Tom Lace and Alex Hughes outside the eleven, the feel-good factor continues around Derbyshire sport. Wins for Cork and Cocu today, both undoubtedly pleased with their side's efforts.

Finally, what a pleasure to see Daryn Smit back in the side. To me his selection for this competition felt 'right' and, with plenty of standing up to do with this attack, there were no byes and a commendable eight extras only in the visiting innings.

Just what the doctor ordered!

Derbyshire v Yorkshire preview

The first weekend of the Vitality Blast competition looks like being quite special from a blog perspective, with it set to go through the two million views barrier this weekend or early next week.

When I started it I was thrilled to reach a thousand, which took a couple of years, but the exponential growth continues, year on year and this one is the biggest yet. Thanks to each and every one of you for your continued support, and especially to those of you who have followed for a long time. It has been a pleasure to meet many of you in that time and make some very good friends along the way.

On the pitch, Dominic Cork has announced a squad of fourteen for the opening game at Queens Park tomorrow, against Yorkshire. There are no real surprises, but the presence of Daryn Smit in that squad suggests that he may get the nod behind the stumps.

It was interesting watching the opening game between Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire last night. The successful bowlers were the slower ones and those who take the pace off the ball. Rotation of bowlers is also key, to avoid them being 'lined up' and whatevet the final eleven, Billy Godleman looks like having plenty of options. He warmed up with a blistering 70 from 34 balls against a Premier League Select last night, a game that saw Darren Stevens make an unbeaten 35, which he then added to with a tidy spell.

That squad:

Billy Godleman
Luis Reece
Wayne Madsen
Tom Lace
Leus du Plooy
Alex Hughes
Matt Critchley
Darren Stevens
Fynn Hudson-Prentice
Harvey Hosein
Logan van Beek
Ravi Rampaul
Mark Watt
Daryn Smit

The Yorkshire side contains many familiar names and the likes of Lyth, Kohler-Cadmore, Willey, Pooran and Ballance offer plenty of runs. Dom Bess will be bowling his off spin, on loan from Somerset, while Duanne Olivier will want to do better than in the RLODC game between the two sides at Headingley, earlier in the season.

There is no news yet on their squad, but they will be well aware that we have a good record against them of late. Once again the various media writers have written us off in a competition, and while the absence of a second overseas player may turn out to be crucial, the signing of Stevens on loan could turn out an inspired move.

It will be interesting to see the final eleven that takes the field and although logic suggests Yorkshire the stronger team and more likely winners, we all know by now that you should write off this Derbyshire side at your peril. They bat down to number nine and are likely to have nine bowling options, with enough potential match-winners to be discounted by no one with any cricket knowledge.

If the chosen eleven play to potential and as a team, there just could be a celebration in the park tomorrow afternoon. Though my concern is that rain showers are predicted between ten and four, after light rain today and tonight.

It would be such a shame if a sell out crowd were unable to see the great game that appears to be in the offing.

Go well, fellas.

Make us proud.

Final thoughts on Chesterfield

I have had some interesting email exchanges and conversations in the past 24 hours, from people on both sides who were at the game at Chesterfield.

The consensus, and it is hard to deny, is that we lost the game on the first afternoon, when we bowled poorly and, having dropped Temba Bavuma, allowed him to get away, accompanied by some lusty-hitting partners.

They probably scored a hundred or so more than par as a result, and we were subsequently behind the game thereafter. It was a good toss to win, but the wicket was very poor for first-class cricket.

Over the course of a season, cricketers will expect to play on pitches that offer help to the bowlers and others that are batting-friendly. This was a bowling wicket, but as well as lateral movement, the bounce was variable. When you have two players bowled off their elbows and others undone by it keeping low, batting becomes something of a lottery. There was also considerable turn from the first day, something acceptable in bygone days, but more likely to see you run into trouble with modern regulations and pitch inspectors.

One or two have criticised the second innings approach, especially Billy Godleman running down the wicket each ball, but it was a valiant, though vain attempt to unsettle the bowlers and not allow them to get into a rhythm. We made the second highest score of the match in the fourth innings, which was a fair effort, in my opinion. It probably saved the pitch from being 'mentioned in despatches', because the two middle innings lasted only 77 overs between them.

I adore Chesterfield, as do most who attend matches there, and hope that the festival week continues to be a part of the cricketing landscape for a long time to come.

But the wicket has to be better. At a ground where cricket is traditionally well supported, we have lost two days gate money and two days beer money, something we can ill-afford in our situation. We lost the game too.

Next year, in all aspects, I hope we do better.

Darren Stevens signs for T20

I was first made aware of the possible signing of Darren Stevens for the Vitality Blast a couple of days ago.

Two separate sources, first a fellow supporter of Derbyshire, followed by a contact from Kent, referred me to a supporter forum down in that county, which rumoured his move for the duration of the competition.

I was, I admit, unsure what to think. That he has been one of the best all rounders in the county game for many years is beyond dispute, something I have openly admitted on this site on a few occasions. Every season he takes 30-50 wickets, as well as contributing some hard-hit runs along the way, as befits a man with 33 first-class centuries to his name. He deserves immense credit for maintaining the fitness to play in the modern game.

This isn't, as someone mentioned earlier, a return to the days of signing Clive Inman and Fred Trueman, as they were both retired when we decided to bring them back for one last hurrah. Stevens is still a very good cricketer, top of their bowling averages with 28 wickets at 24 each.

Yet he is 43. I reckon I would be safe in my assertion that he is the oldest loan player in cricket history, and only Marcus Trescothick on the circuit is older. He hasn't played the format since 2017 and will undoubtedly need to be hidden in the field, as befits his years.

So to some extent it is a gamble, but one that might, just might, be successful.

And really needs to be.

The withdrawals of both Kane Richardson and Billy Stanlake left us in a bad position, with no overseas player and limited availability of those who were affordable, post-World Cup. I thought that Richardson, who withdrew to protect his workload after the World Cup, might have come after all, when he played only two matches in the tournament, but that didn't happen. Stanlake's injury is one of those things, but not really a surprise for those who have monitored a career with too much down time for anyone's comfort.

So my understanding is that we were left either paying silly money, that we don't have, for players of moderate ability, or admitting defeat and going with only one overseas player, Logan van Beek, whose struggles have been documented.

Logan, I believe, like Sam Conners, is currently carrying an injury that may limit his involvement in the competition, potentially leaving us without an overseas player. Hardly ideal from anyone's point of view, so the search for someone to fill the void has taken us down to Kent and Darren Stevens.

Don't be surprised if he does well. Age aside, there is no more canny bowler on the circuit, still. His last two games for Kent have seen five-wicket hauls, as well as runs. You don't have to be a greyhound to score runs at cricket (ask Chris Gayle) though Stevens and Anuj Dal batting together may be a mismatch. Nor do you need to bowl at the speed of light, as many a batsman has found in recent seasons, lured to their fate by what I have called his 'innocent dibbly-dobblies' in the past, while recognising and admiring their effectiveness.

Whatever the fitness of others, Stevens is a winner and his experience will be very handy for Billy Godleman, as well as the rest of the team. Like any bowler, there will be days where he goes a long way, but there will be others where he frustrates and wheedles them out. He offers yet another bowling option, as well as depth to the batting.

My biggest concern is the impact on the fielding. With neither Mark Watt nor Ravi Rampaul exactly lithe and fast in the field, and both likely to be in a first choice side, we may not be as dynamic in that department as we would wish.

Yet one has only to look at the anger in the Kent social media feeds today to realise that we might just have played a blinder. We have picked up a player with over 25,000 runs and 750 wickets in senior cricket, experience of winning the competition and all-round ability.

Assuming that is it for the T20, which I think we should, my first choice twelve would be:

Godleman, Reece, Madsen, du Plooy, Critchley, Hughes, Stevens, Hudson-Prentice, Lace, Smit, Rampaul, Watt.

I expect Hosein to play, though would choose Smit to stand up to most of that attack. Lace, in not offering a bowling option, may be the one to miss out, as does Dal. Nine bowling options...

I look forward to your comments - and teams - with the first game against Yorkshire on Saturday.

It is now a sell out. Well done to all concerned for making it so.

George Earl

George Earl played one first-class match for Derbyshire in 1883 and also played for England Colts in 1880, against the MCC.

He was a right hand bat and right arm fast medium bowler, who in the 1901 census was noted as an innkeeper, who lived in Castle Street, Melbourne, with his wife, Mary.

He died on April 20, 1933 and was born, lived, worked and died in Melbourne.

Andy Heafield is researching his life for a project and is keen to get in touch with anyone who is related to him, or has any information regarding him.

Please get in touch in the usual manner if you can help, and if you have any idea what team is in the photo below. George is standing to the right of the umpire as we look at the photo.

Thanks in advance!

Derbyshire V Northamptonshire day 3

Northamptonshire 342 and 122

Derbyshire 146 and 246 (Lace 41)

Northamptonshire won by 72 runs

And so, as I expected, Derbyshire slid to defeat against Northamptonshire before lunch today.

There were those still entertaining hopes of a home win, but even good old optimist Peakfan tends more to the pragmatic and err to the realistic side.

When you see your top batsmen struggling to score the runs, any expectation of the lower order to bail you out should be tempered.

Having said that, full marks to the team for battling to the very end and scoring more runs than I expected. Almost everyone chipped in and there was a second unbeaten innings for Fynn Hudson-Prentice, reinforcing not just his talent but also my assertion that he should be batting higher.

It was a defeat, but as I have previously written, one that was largely dictated by the winning of the toss on the first morning. It was a result pitch, but not a good one, as shown by the 24 wickets that went down yesterday.

It is not the end of our promotion ambitions, but we cannot afford too many more defeats. It is also a shame that the long anticipated Chesterfield Cricket Festival did not get more than two days cricket. With the weekend forecast not looking especially good at this stage, supporters in that part of the county will consider themselves unlucky and perhaps short-changed again.

By the same token, had we won the toss, and had a batsman to take advantage of the best of the wicket as Temba Bavuma did, that would have been of less importance.

We move on, and keep our fingers crossed on the weather...

Derbyshire V Northamptonshire day 2

Northamptonshire 342 and 122 (Palladino 4-33)

Derbyshire 145 and 155-5 (Lace 32*)

Derbyshire need 164 runs to win

At the end of a second day that one could almost understate as being eventful, I feel that I can say, with some justification, that this was a good toss to win.

A fourth innings run chase of 319 would appear to be very unrealistic. It would be the highest chase ever at Chesterfield and our fifth highest in 149 years. There has been considerable help for the bowlers and that is unlikely to change in the near future.

Having said that, scoring runs is not impossible, as evidenced by Fynn Hudson-Prentice, whose gutsy half century yesterday morning at least gave our first innings a semblance of respectability.

Much as was the case with Leus du Plooy recently, I think that he is batting too low. For me, having scored 99 batting at 3, he should come in at 6, ahead of Harvey Hosein and Matt Critchley.

He was the only one to come to terms with the wicket yesterday  morning, but credit is again due to Derbyshire for the way in which they fought back in the afternoon. Tony Palladino led the way, while Fynn also chipped in with a couple of wickets.

Northamptonshire, with a lead of 196 runs, were bowled out for 122, leaving a victory target of 319.

Billy Godleman set out as if it were a rehearsal for The  Hundred and all of the batsmen played aggressively. There was no real alternative on a wicket offering movement, variable bounce and spin. We had reached 155-5 by the close, with a further 164  required.

Were we to get there it would go down one of our greatest ever wins, but someone has to produce the extraordinary for it to happen.

Tom Lace has batted well, and there is the talent at the crease and to come to get us close. But it is a huge ask and the thinking money must surely be on an away win.

If I am wrong, I will be reporting on something very special tonight.

Derbyshire V Northamptonshire day 1

Northamptonshire 342 (Bavuma 134, Critchley 4-107)

Derbyshire 34-1

A busy domestic day, coupled with the viewing demands of one of the finest games of cricket one could wish to see delayed the blog until today.

Apologies for that, but at the end of the first day honours I just about even at Chesterfield. A fine century buy Temba Bavuma gave Northamptonshire a competitive but not overwhelming first innings score.

He is a fine, technically correct player whose experience in this country will serve him well in years to come. He had support down the order, but no one else passed 40 and Derbyshire did well to bowl them out for 342.

There were four wickets for Matt Critchley, although he went at six an over on this small ground, with two each for Hamidullah Qadri and Luis Reece. There seemed to be a fair amount of turn, so we will be hoping to get at least parity on first innings, and ideally the lead. Batting last will not be easy, but a long batting order can earn its corn today.

Although we lost Luis Reece early, Billy Godleman and Wayne Madsen will resume this morning and hope to make inroads into the visiting total.

More from me later.

Derbyshire V Northamptonshire preview

Nice to see Hamidullah Qadri back in the Derbyshire twelve what has been announced for the 4-day game against Northamptonshire that opens the Chesterfield Cricket Festival tomorrow.

He hasn't had that much cricket this season, when examinations have rightly taken precedence.

Chesterfield being Chesterfield, the likelihood is that he will be in the final  eleven, in the hope that spin plays an increasing role as the game goes on.

With Leus du Plooy showing his potential as a slow left armer, Billy Godleman will then have four spin and seam options available to him.

The Derbyshire 12:

Godleman, Reece, Madsen, du Plooy, Lace, Hosein, Critchley, Hudson-Prentice, Palladino, Qadri, Rampaul, Dal.

As for our visitors, they have gone well in recent weeks, with Ben Sanderson in fine bowling form. Temba Bavuma has played some important knocks in the middle order and we all know how dangerous Richard Levi can be.

It should be a good game and I hope that the weather allows a positive result.

It is a game that Derbyshire can win and need to win, to maintain our aspirations of division one cricket next year.

We will know soon enough.

T20 plans clearer

After watching the second of the T20 games yesterday, Derbyshire's plans for the competition are a little clearer.

Billy Godleman will skipper in this format too, for one thing. He has improved considerably in the short form and you know what you will get with Billy. The charge down the wicket, the 'larrup' over mid on, or mid-wicket, the six over point, which was a highlight yesterday. More discerning opponents may try to tie him down with spin, but he will have his successes in the weeks ahead.

The only viable alternative, Alex Hughes, lost form at the wrong time and, while he will doubtless play a key role in the side, should focus on his game, without other distractions at this stage.

It doesn't look like there will be a second overseas player, unless something remarkable happens this week. Looking at yesterday's side, the batting will be fine, with remarkable depth and some genuine power in there. The addition of Leus du Plooy has given a solidity to the middle order we haven't seen for some time, his confidence and ability to score off nearly every ball heartening to see. So too Tom Lace, who has blossomed this summer and looks a really good, stylish player now. Don't forget that he has only just turned 21, so the potential is quite remarkable.

What encouraged me yesterday  - and I am factoring in the quality of the opposition - was the ruthless way that the side went about things, together with the batting depth. Critchley, Hughes and Hudson-Prentice, hard hitters all, were waiting to come in and there is great potential in that line up. For those who didn't follow the game, it was:

Godleman, Reece, Madsen, du Plooy, Lace, Critchley, Hughes, Hudson-Prentice, Hosein, van Beek, Watt

The question mark is over who gives way for Ravi Rampaul. I could make a case for Anuj Dal to be in there too, especially for his fielding, but Rampaul is our experienced 'death' bowler and someone must give way.

I could make a case for it being Hughes, but his T20 record is excellent, he was top wicket-taker last year and is a key fielder in the side, as well as being capable of lusty blows. I could also make a case for van Beek, but I have a feeling that he may just come into his own in the T20. His aggression, ability to bowl a quick bouncer and brilliance in the field may be a suitable counter to that 'wild ball' that drags down each over. Yesterday he took two wickets in his first over, and we wouldn't complain if that was a permanent feature.

You could even make a case for the exclusion of Hosein, with Lace as wicket-keeper. Harvey is the least likely of the side to score quickly, but were that likely to happen I think we would have seen Lace keeping yesterday. Besides, with a lot of the bowling likely to come from spinners, you need more than a stop gap. Peter Bowler did a decent job in our Refuge Assurance winning season, but he was largely standing back, which is much easier for any keeper.

I don't think, on what I have seen, that you can exclude Mark Watt. The Scot took a little stick on arrival for looking less fit than the rest of the side. I think it fair to address that now and yesterday he looked much more trim. He will never be skinny, nor an athlete in the body shape sense, but he is in the side for a specific strength.

Mark, again a youngster at only 22, has remarkable command of line and length. When he ambles up to the crease it looks quite innocent, but he is canny beyond his years. He rarely gives the batsman width, but watches them closely. Any sign of them using their feet and he drops his length to frustrate. He is a fine fielder from his own bowling and one ball, in the first game yesterday, summed up for me his combative nature.

The Warwickshire number three, Lamb, took a step outside leg stump as he was in delivery stride. Perhaps it threw him, but if so, he had the nous to run through and not deliver the ball. The next delivery, he bowled from around 23/24 yards, with a couple of steps less run up. It was still on the spot and the batsman, presumably taken unawares, played it back down the pitch.

In that moment I thought 'you'll do me'. It was combative, feisty even, a sign that he wouldn't be bossed. He bowled in both the Powerplay and at the death yesterday, yet still conceded only 19 runs. Like any bowler, there will be times when he will get stick, but his flight yesterday got him the big wicket of Agar, a good cricketer and he rarely seems to bowl too short or too wide.

Will we make the knock out stages? My head tells me no, because the absence of an extra top seamer  will hurt us on occasion. I look at other teams in a strong group and think that there will be times we will be chasing too many, even for a deep and talented batting side.

But Derbyshire have made us proud this summer, with some professional, polished displays. Be prepared for a few more of those, before this tournament concludes.

And if they get on a roll...

Second team watching

It is rare when I miss an opportunity to watch Derbyshire play at any level. So today it was nice to be able to watch the second team in a double header T20 against Warwickshire.

Both sides fielded players of considerable experience. Critchley, Hughes, Dal and Watt joined Smit in our side, while overseas professional Ashton Agar joined Ed Pollock and Alex Mellor for the visitors.

They opted to bat in the first game and the home bowling, with its heavy emphasis on spin, was reminiscent of the Indian side of the 1970s. That was as far as it got, however, as the quality was a little varied. Only Watt came out of it with reputation intact, bowling an intelligent spell that might have been better but for shoddy fielding.

It is impossible to tell on the stream by who, but a few of the younger players might benefit from less obviously displaying their displeasure and frustration. Agar took advantage of this and played an excellent innings, as one might expect from a cricketer of international experience at this level. He finished on an unbeaten 84 from 47 balls as Warwickshire finished on 181-3.

It was positively parsimonious compared to the early overs by Warwickshire, which were hideous at times in direction. Wood and Critchley put on 50 in five overs, before the former, after a few bucolic strokes, swung across the line and was bowled.

The introduction of Agar brought greater control, though it was the left arm leg spin of Lintott that removed Critchley. He was a little starved of the strike and holed out at long on after a breezy innings.

Derbyshire needed a partnership and someone to play an 'Agar innings'. Dal came in to join Hughes, who had started sketchily, but soon began to find his range. Three powerful boundaries from Lintott brought down the rate, but Barrett bowled a good one at Dal to take it back up.

Fifty-five were needed from the last five overs, but once Lamb cleverly removed Hughes with a slow yorker it was effectively over. Dal couldn't score at the required rate and canny bowling saw the visitors win by 25 runs, the innings ending at 156-7.

The second game was much different, as Derbyshire took the opportunity to field the first team and give much-needed practice ahead of the T20.

Agar again batted aggressively, before being undone by the impressive Watt. He and van Beek were the powerplay bowlers and did a fine job. Logan finished with 3-28, taking two in his first over, while Mark took 2-19. It made for heartening viewing, albeit qualified by the opposition.

The visitors made 134-9.

Then came carnage, which  highlighted the difference between second and first team cricket. Reece hit a six and was caught going for a second, then Godleman and Madsen took the score to 84 by the end of the powerplay. Both hit freely and Madsen reached a half century in just 21 balls, before he too holed out in the deep, this after batting as if it were a beer match.

Godleman went the same way, the top order clearly rehearsing their long hitting, before du Plooy and Lace took Derbyshire to a win in the 13th over.

The South African finished it with another huge six, and it was a fine run out for the side before the competition proper begins.

Scorecard https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/#m38f08dd1-1259-480a-9442-e85aefa47f00

Smit earns one-year contract extension

Besides the excellent news from Kidderminster today, the news broke that Daryn Smit has earned a one-year extension to his contract, reward for his sterling efforts with the second team this summer.

Regular readers will know that I am 'big' on professionalism. I can handle losing, as long as we don't give it away and compete. I like to see the players of the teams I support display that professionalism, just as I have always tried to do in my various roles over the years.

Daryn Smit is a consummate professional. He may not have scored the runs that we expected at senior level for Derbyshire, but few would doubt his preparation and the example that he sets for others, whatever and wherever the match. Nor that he is an outstanding wicket-keeper.

He has done very well with the second team this summer, especially when one considers it primarily academy players and trialists. The wicket-keeping remains to the very highest standard, while he has time and again scored runs to keep the side in matches.

Above all, he has a shrewd and impressive tactical brain, which has brought dividends. This deal allows him to work towards his level four coaching badge and it will most definitely be of mutual benefit.

I am thrilled that he has earned this extension and look forward to seeing him make a sizeable contribution to the ongoing development of our club.

Worcestershire v Derbyshire day 4

Derbyshire 108 and 377

Worcestershire 113 and 290 (Ferguson 127, Cox 62, Rampaul 4-64, Palladino 3-34, Hudson-Prentice 3-42)

Derbyshire won by 82 runs

On a day where our old boys, also known as New Zealand, made the World Cup Final, Derbyshire entered the top three of division two with a terrific win over a Worcestershire side that were strong pre-season fancies for a promotion slot.

Cast your mind back to March, and most cricket correspondents were predicting the wooden spoon for us. Yours truly wrote:

They will need their share of luck, but in a division with some big, far more affluent clubs I expect team spirit to play a key role. We already know that on their day the side is capable of slugging it out with and beating the best. If we can add that ten per cent of fortune, winter development and calmness at key points in the game, who knows?

Prediction

Last year I stood alone at the start of the summer in predicting a top half finish in the county championship. They were ten points off doing that, and but for poor bowling against Glamorgan and especially Durham would have done so with ease, losing games that were there for the taking.

Greater discipline this year will get them there.

We're not there yet, of course, and there is plenty of cricket to play, but doom-mongers have been shown to be wide of the mark. Dave Houghton has secured his best players on long term deals, as well as, crucially, recruiting impressively. Leus du Plooy has added solidity and class to the middle order, Tom Lace has increasingly looked a young player of major talent, while Fynn Hudson-Prentice has come into the side for the past two matches and made crucial contributions with bat and ball.

Let's not forget that we played this match without an overseas player, nor that we won it after being bowled out in the second session of the game for little more than a hundred. Lesser sides would fold in such situations, but that team spirit that I mentioned saw them fight back to bowl out the opposition in  similar style and then build a winning position with a team effort. Lace was the standout, with an innings of diligence and great skill, but the support of Tony Palladino yesterday was crucial to this win. The pair added 99 and the winning margin was 82 runs.

It was a fine effort by a seam attack that hunted as a pack, giving nowt away in the Derbyshire fashion. Hudson-Prentice a revelation, 3-42 in twenty overs, Rampaul 4-64 in twenty-four, Palladino 3-34 in twenty-one. They were the sort of figures that would have had Les Jackson, Cliff Gladwin and Harold Rhodes nodding in appreciation, with only two no balls conceded in 116 overs.

While Cox was unlucky in playing on to Rampaul for the crucial breakthrough, Hudson-Prentice took the key wicket of the excellent Ferguson with a good ball, leaving the old-stagers to mop up the tail. Rampaul 'did a Tahir' when he took the penultimate wicket, running off to square leg, while it was fitting that Palladino, a club man par excellence took the final wicket.

The passion in the wicket celebrations was a joy to see and we head for the Chesterfield festival this weekend in fine fettle. The season has thus far seen eight championship centuries from six different batsmen, while the three above, plus Luis Reece have all taken their wickets at under 25. On this showing I am not sure how Hughes gets back into the side, before the T20, while van Beek will only get back, one would assume, if someone needs a breather.

We may, or may not go on to win promotion, but in a season where some big money counties have flattered to deceive and under achieved massively (no names, you understand...) Derbyshire have been competitive and earned the respect of opponents and supporters alike

Let's keep that juggernaut a-rolling, boys.

Well done to each and every one of you.

Worcestershire V Derbyshire day 3

Derbyshire 108 and 377 (Lace 132*, Palladino 58)

Worcestershire 113 and 156-5

Worcestershire need 217 runs to win

Despite a gutsy sixth wicket century stand by Callum Ferguson and Ben Cox, Derbyshire should wrap up an impressive victory over Worcestershire at Kidderminster tomorrow.

At 156-5, they still need 217 runs to win, getting which would be the final, ultimate twist in a game that has not wanted for them.

They were in disarray before that partnership, with Ravi Rampaul and Fynn Hudson-Prentice taking two wickets each. The latter took his in the course of bowling eight successive maidens, which if not unprecedented, was certainly very impressive. Not many people make Tony Palladino look expensive, but Fynn increasingly looks the part, with bat and ball.

Earlier in the day, Tom Lace extended his outstanding century to an unbeaten 132 and was ably assisted by Palladino in a ninth wicket stand of 99. That should have put the game beyond the home side, but with these two at the crease they enter the final day not entirely without hope.

The new ball tomorrow morning will be key to this match, with that closing stand being made against an older, softer ball. Using a hard new ball properly is what one would expect from Messrs Rampaul and Palladino, and the main surprise has been an innings thus far lacking wickets for Luis Reece.

We bowled with impressive discipline today and from a supporters perspective that is always heartening to see.

If we can conclude matters tomorrow, in a similarly professional manner, we will remain very much in the promotion shake up.

And deservedly so.

Worcestershire V Derbyshire day 2

Derbyshire 108 and 272-6 (Lace 101*, Madsen 60)

Worcestershire 113

Derbyshire lead by 267 runs

An outstanding century by Tom Lace has put Derbyshire in a position of dominance in this game. It is an innings which, with due diligence from the lower order, could help us to our third championship win of the summer.

It was a solid effort by the batting unit, with everyone contributing. Wayne Madsen made 60 before a loose shot rather gave it away, while Harvey Hosein proved a willing and able partner for Lace as the lead grew past 250.

In the 'Laceometer' of county support, he has gone from 'I hope he doesn't keep a local lad out' to 'I hope we sign him for next year'. With both his batting and fielding he has made a big impression on the county faithful. So too his pleasant demeanour and ready smile, the sign of a man at ease with himself.

I have liked him from the off. There is balance and composure to his batting. Yes, he can play the odd unwise stroke, but name me a batsman who hasn't and I will call you a liar. Dave Houghton knows his cricket and can certainly spot a batsman. His role in the player's development at Middlesex will have been important and it would be a massive coup were he able to persuade Tom that his immediate future would be better spent in the East Midlands.

I certainly think so and I know how much he is enjoying his cricket.

As for the game, if we can take the target  over 300 it will be a big ask for the home side. Yes, the wicket has eased as it has dried, but enough deliveries have gone past the bat for our bowlers to retain interest. And the later third and fourth days on an out ground usually offer more for the spinners, too.

There is enough batting to come to make that a possibility, and while the home side's own batting cannot be discounted, we have done very well to be in this position after two days.

Make it count boys.

With thanks to Mark Allen

I just wanted to acknowledge the kind gesture of Mark Allen, a Derbyshire supporter from London, though originally Clay Cross, in sponsoring the blog.

There is no link to a business, but Mark wanted to recognise his support for the blog with a donation, which was very kind and much appreciated.

If anyone out there would like to advertise with the blog, or do similar, please do get in touch at the usual email address - peakfan36@yahoo.co.uk

Mark also bought two of the last copies of my book 'In Their Own Words: Derbyshire Cricketers in Conversation'.

There are now just THREE left, priced £8, including post and packing. I remain thrilled with the public response and the reviews, though when these have gone, that's it, apart from a few remainder copies here and there.

If you are interested, please mail me on the above address

Worcestershire v Derbyshire day 1

Derbyshire 108 (Reece 31, Hudson-Prentice 31, Morris 4-26, Leach 3-33)
and 19-0

Worcestershire 113 (Reece 4-30, Hudson-Prentice 3-27)

Derbyshire lead by 14 runs

The one sure thing one could say, at the end of a day where wickets tumbled with alarming frequency, is that those planning to see an exciting finish on the fourth day will be disappointed.

The joy of outgrounds, as seen here, is that you get neither the formulaic bounce or movement of some of the headquarters grounds, so players of both sides have to work out what works best on it. Safe to say the bowlers on each side did that pretty well, with twenty wickets having fallen by the close of an eventful day.

The events started before play began, with Dave Houghton dropping overseas professional Logan van Beek. Only once before, when Hamish Rutherford was dropped in 2016, has this happened but it was both a brave and correct thing to do. Overseas or not, Logan is currently the weakest member of the seam attack and subsequent events proved the decision to be correct.

Billy Godleman opted to toss and won it, then chose to bat first, as he has for most of the season. It looked to have backfired horribly, as we were bowled out in the afternoon for just 108. Luis Reece battled hard for two hours for 31, while Fynn Hudson-Prentice opted for a breezier approach and struck the same score at better than a run a ball.

No doubt there were some moans and groans between the innings, but, as I have said times many on this blog, you should never judge a wicket until both sides have batted on it. Just as the home bowlers shared the wickets around 4/3/2/1, so too did Derbyshire, as they bowled them out for 113 in under forty overs. Once again the leading wicket-taker was Luis Reece, who took 4-30, while the increasingly impressive Hudson-Prentice took 3-27, including the key wicket of Wessels, so often a thorn in Derbyshire sides. Good support came from Rampaul and Palladino, as Derbyshire showed great character and fighting spirit in restricting the lead to only five runs.

Quite a day for Reece, which continued as he went in again with Billy Godleman. Two innings on the same day, with four wickets in between constitutes good work by the all rounder and the pair successfully batted through seven overs to take the score to 19-0, a lead of fourteen runs.

So where does that leave the game? I would say we are currently slightly ahead, by virtue of bowling last on a wicket that is not especially easy for batting. If we bat better tomorrow, then bowl with similar discipline to today, a victory to boost the promotion push is not beyond the realms of possibility.

Thoughts on the T20

With the Vitality Blast T20 around the corner, my thoughts, at least those of a cricketing nature, have turned to how we will do in that competition this season.

I have to admit that I have concerns. We played some good cricket, but didn't qualify, last year. There were some poor displays, odd team selections and very poor captaincy at times, which, had they been minimised, might have seen us do better. We weren't far away.

Yet it should not be overlooked, as we get ever closer to a new tournament, that our attack included Lockie Ferguson, Wahab Riaz and Hardus Viljoen. The first two did very well and have been stand out performers in this year's World Cup, while Viljoen, for all of his faults, was a decent T20 bowler. Somehow we need to replace the three main bowlers.

Try as I might, I cannot see how, with current resources, we can bowl so economically. Mark Watt will be hard to get at, Luis Reece and Alex Hughes   will have good days, Ravi Rampaul will be a key bowler. Yet we do not appear to have someone who can nip out a few wickets in the Powerplay.

Dominic Cork will earn his money if he can earn knock out progression with the squad as it stands. My question today is whether he and John Wright might constitute unnecessary expenditure for Derbyshire.

Things are tight financially. We know that and the recently cancelled concert featuring Rita Ora will not have helped in that area. We also know that securing top international names gets harder by the year, because of conflicting competitions around the globe.

It is also fair comment to say that we earn more from one good home T20 fixture than we do from a season of championship cricket. It hurts me to say that, as the latter will always be my preferred format, yet it is the reality of the modern game. And if we are hammered in those games, the 'floating support' that bulks up the crowd may have second thoughts in the future.

I just think that if we are unable to fully resource a coach for whatever reason, it begs the question as to why we incur the cost of employing him/them.

I know that Dominic won the domestic T20 in 2010, but we have someone already on the payroll, in Daryn Smit, who has similar experience, albeit from South Africa. Might it not have made more sense to save the additional coaching expense and put Smit, in a player/coach capacity, in charge of the T20 side?

Just as Dave Houghton runs four day cricket and Mal Loye did the RLODC, he could have done so with Steve Kirby without any detriment to the side. No one doubts his ability, nor his tactical awareness, his glove work is impeccable and he is more likely to reach the boundary in the closing overs than Harvey Hosein.

The money saved might then have made a difference in the quality of overseas player being pursued. Perhaps we might even have managed two specialists, using what we have plus the saving, and allowing Logan van Beek to have a breather.

I have every confidence that Derbyshire, having done so all season, will compete strongly in the T20.

If we qualify, without further addition to the playing strength, I will gladly acknowledge the contribution of Dominic Cork to that performance. He will have to display leadership, motivational skills and tactical nous to get us there.

If we don't, realistically, many supporters will consider it unnecessary expenditure and we will need a rethink for another year. Leicestershire have this morning announced no second overseas player, as they can't afford it. And they don't have a specialist T20 coaching team to pay.

I don't think our position so parlous, and even if it means a change in rationale, not bringing in a quick bowler but an enhancement to the current squad, it would be a statement of intent to do something.

Thoughts?

Worcestershire V Derbyshire preview

We have at last reached the stage of the season where Dave Houghton has a selection dilemma, ahead of the trip to Kidderminster to play Worcestershire, starting on Sunday.

My understanding is that Wayne Madsen is fully recovered from his sprained ankle and so should come straight back into the side.

After registering a pair against Middlesex, Alex Hughes would appear likely to miss out on this occasion, with Tom Lace and Anuj Dal competing for his place in the order. If only so that it allows Luis Reece to drop to the middle order, I expect Lace to get the nod.

It is a shame for Anuj, who has done little wrong this season. I expect him to play a full part in the T20 and I hope he is able to build on some impressive performances.

With a view to the T20, I think this to be the right time to rest Ravi Rampaul. If we are not going to have a second overseas player, his fitness and form for that competition is critical. More on that, in a separate piece, over the weekend, but I expect the following side to take the field:

Godleman
Lace
Madsen
du Plooy
Reece
Hudson-Prentice
Hosein
Critchley
Conners
van Beek
Palladino

That would give Billy Godleman five seamers and three spinners, which would be enough for any captain.

The home side has not yet been announced, but injuries appear to dictate not too many changes from the last match, against Glamorgan, when the following side took the field:

Daryl Mitchell
Joshua Dell
Callum Ferguson
Riki Wessels
Ross Whiteley
Ed Barnard
Brett D'Oliveira
Ben Cox(wk)
Joe Leach(c)
Charlie Morris
Adam Finch

It is a powerful batting line-up, but the bowling looks less impressive. Perhaps they are saying the same about us, but this is a game that both sides, very much in contention for promotion, will want to win.

I think that Derbyshire can do it. Perhaps this is the game, as the leader of the attack, when Logan van Beek shows his true colours. I hope so, because there is no one trying harder than the genial Kiwi.

What are your thoughts?

Derbyshire V Middlesex day 4

Derbyshire 557-6 and 178-6 (du Plooy 69*, Hosein 61)

Middlesex 520 (Malan 199)

Match drawn

The last day of this game went largely as predicted, with Derbyshire batting out time after finally bowling at the visitors.

Yes, there were a few alarms on the way, but I don't think anyone really entertained concerns of a defeat.

The play was perforce somewhat mundane, though there were winners and losers. Alex Hughes will be disappointed that, on a wicket where over 1200 runs were scored for only 22 wickets, he registered a pair.

It puts him under a little pressure the ahead of this week's game. Both Anuj Dal and Fynn Hudson-Prentice acquitted themselves well, and while we don't yet know if Wayne Madsen will be fit, Tom Lace should be available.

The main winner of the final day was Leus du Plooy. He followed his first innings century with an unbeaten 69, which followed 2 wickets in the morning session. Like the other players, he will have appreciated an opportunity to bat on an easier pitch and took full advantage of it.

At the end of the game,  ahead of a crucial trip to play Worcestershire, we still lie fourth in the table and are very much in the promotion shake up.

Continued form and fitness for key personnel will dictate whether we stay there. But things are going better than most predicted and we can be proud of the efforts so far.

Derbyshire V Middlesex day 3

Derbyshire 557-6

MIddlesex 436-6 (Malan 177*)

Derbyshire lead by 121 runs

I think most people, by now, will have worked out that this has not been a wicket where Dave Houghton had 6mm of grass left on it.

The result has been that our batsmen have gained confidence, but the outcome of the match is an inevitable draw.

Malan played a fine innings for the visitors today, and only 3 wickets went down. One of them went to Fynn Hudson-Prentice, who followed an innings of 99 on debut with a wicket from his first ball for the county. He went on to bowl tidily, which is all he could be expected to do on such a track.

I am away on holiday at present, so will not go into greater detail, but this game is a nailed on draw tomorrow. I don't  expect many people will bother going along, when another day like today appears in prospect.

More from me soon.

Derbyshire V Middlesex day 2: PLUS Stanlake withdraws from contract

Derbyshire 557-6 (du Plooy 118, Godleman 102, Hudson-Prentice 99, Reece 96, Dal 92)

Middlesex 135-3 (Reece 2-37)

It was a day when records tumbled at Derby, as Derbyshire amassed  557-6 declared, with two batsmen making centuries and another three registering scores of over 90.

It was an outstanding performance, which highlighted the work done by Dave Houghton over the course of the winter. Leus du Plooy scored his first championship century for the club, and based on the increasingly confident manner in which he played, there will be many more to follow.

Anuj Dal was another to near, but not quite reach, the century mark, but the way in which he and Fynn Hudson-Prentice batted gave plenty of cause for celebration. Dave Houghton looks like he will have some serious decisions to make, when Wayne Madsen is fit and Tom Lace is available for selection.

Middlesex batted competently, but had lost 3 wickets by the close, two of them to the ever- dangerous Luis Reece. Whether there is enough help in the wicket to allow us to push for victory is a moot point, but we are in the ascendancy in this game.

Off the field, the news broke tonight that Billy Stanlake will not now be joining us for the T20, after suffering another stress fracture. A bowler of genuine talent, he has repeatedly suffered from issues around his long back and one wonders whether his fragile body will ever allow him to reach the level that once looked possible.

To be fair, I questioned his fitness record on this blog only a week ago. While the concept of his bowling for us was a laudable one, there was a high element of risk involved. The previous contract offered to him, by Yorkshire, also fell through because of injury and it would be a brave club that offered him another opportunity.

That is, of course, two Australian bowlers who have failed to take up their contract for the summer. Ironically, Kane Richardson has barely played for Australia in the World Cup, but the press release from the club tonight suggests that we may be unable to find another replacement.

I understand fully that the pool of available players is a small one after the World Cup, but would be very surprised if our limited bowling options were sufficient to mount any kind of challenge in the T20 without being bolstered from overseas.

Having said that, it has to be a player of quality and reputation, and there is no point spending money on anyone who will not make a considerable difference.

As always I will be interested to read your thoughts. I am sure that they will be more articulate, considered and interesting than the nonsense that appeared on Twitter this evening. Anyone would think the club knew of the injury before the contract offer from the immature twaddle being posted by so-called supporters.

Plenty to be proud of at Derby today. Let's hope we can reinforce that with a good display tomorrow.

And to Anuj Dal, Fynn Hudson-Prentice and Luis Reece - be proud of what you achieved here.

You have every right to be.