Derbyshire v Worcestershire day 3

Derbyshire 625-8d.

Worcestershire 312 (Lategan 89, D'Oliveira 50, Hose 42, Brookes 35, Dal 3-22)

and 68-1 (Abbas 1-1)

Worcestershire trail by 245 runs

Derbyshire have the opportunity to record what would be a remarkable win tomorrow, as they chase nine wickets to beat Worcestershire. 

They worked themselves into this position with an excellent collective bowling effort in the afternoon and evening, in which the wickets were shared around. 

It didn't look that way in the morning session.

There was a time when it was not uncommon for an opening bowler of quality to toil away throughout a morning. Bill Bestwick often did it for Derbyshire, Les Jackson certainly did it a time or two, then came on again after the lunch interval. Indeed Bestwick and Arthur Morton often bowled the bulk of the county's overs, in the absence of viable alternatives after the First World War.

Today, Mohammad Abbas and Ben Aitchison bowled throughout the morning for Derbyshire, which seems a laudable feat, until one realises that it was only 10.4 overs. 

Neither Lategan nor Hose looked in danger, until brain freeze saw the youngster run out after a mix-up with his partner. Chappell threw in quickly from the boundary and the acrobatic Guest managed to get back to the stumps in time for Tom Lungley to adjudge Lategan short of his ground. 

Earlier, Aitchison found the edge of his bat but Jewell didn't feel the ball had carried at slip. Other than that, the only thing of note was the five penalty runs awarded, when Bashir was deemed to have feigned a throw in as he ran in towards the ball. I don't recall seeing that before, but it summed up a frustrating morning all round. 

Guest redeemed himself for yesterday's drop with his agility on the run out, but he put down another, more difficult chance when Aitchison found the inside edge of D'Oliveira's bat. He will want to do better, but then Bob Taylor once put down a hat-trick of chances at Ilkeston, so it can happen to anyone.

Yet in the afternoon, with Harry Came intelligently switching around his bowlers, things started to happen. Once Hose was removed by Luis Reece, only Brookes resisted unduly long. D'Oliveira batted well, but he became a first Derbyshire wicket for Bashir, whose reaction spoke volumes for how much it meant to him. Indeed, in I was impressed by him today, very busy in the field, working hard to keep spirits up and chasing every ball with a coltish enthusiasm. He may be important tomorrow and hopefully the hand injury that was receiving treatment towards the end of the day is nothing serious. 

Dal mopped up the tail in a fine spell and six different bowlers took wickets. Surprisingly, none fell to Mohammad Abbas, despite a number of moral victories. Sometimes a new ground and the gradient of the approach takes a little adjustment, even for an experienced bowler. 

When Worcestershire followed on 313 runs behind, that first wicket came as Libby edged behind to Guest. A spell of 6-5-1-1 confirmed his class and the county will need more of that tomorrow. As a unit I thought the bowling was very good, with Aitchison very unlucky and Dal getting late reward for his persistence with a nagging line and length.

It won't be easy tomorrow and there are not too many demons in the pitch. The visitors bat a long way down and they will battle hard. They will also know that once they get ahead it is making life even more difficult for Derbyshire, so simply dropping anchor might not be the best way to go. 

Whatever the result, this has been an absorbing game. At lunch time I could see no way that a positive result could come about. 

Tomorrow, with a good weather forecast and nine wickets required, Mickey Arthur just might get the result that he dreamed of to start the summer. There seems to be a good spirit in the side and that could go a long way towards helping them realise the dream.

Fingers crossed!