Derbyshire v Lancashire day 1

Lancashire 161 (Balderson 37, Dal 3-49, Abbas 3-49)

Derbyshire 197-5 (Montgomery 86, Madsen 26*)

Derbyshire lead by 36 runs

Sixty years on, the joy of entering Queen's Park at Chesterfield continues unabated.

Any trip south to see my parents included a trip to Chesterfield. 'You like the shops and market, don't you?' I would say to my wife and she would give me a look. She knew full well our lunchtime sandwiches would be consumed on a bench there, the kids would go on the miniature railway, we would feed the ducks and I would regale them with stories of feats and visits past. 

It's funny, 25-30 years on they tell these tales to me, so they must have listened. I even got 'good luck' messages from them all this morning, which perhaps had more to do with recent form, when I think about it...

It has changed so much over the years, all for the better. The marquees, children waving flags, stewards with smiles and a friendly word. My Dad used to reckon they recruited the old stewards from the remnants of the SS and they weren't known for their interpersonal skills back then.  

Derbyshire went into the match with neither spinnerand Lancashire opted for all seam, perhaps an early indicator to the expected pitch. Anuj Dal back to offer the 'stock' overs and lengthen the batting, Rory Haydon deservedly so to offer, on paper, our strongest seam attack with Mohammad Abbas and Ben Aitchison. Winning the toss offered an early opportunity to see if the cunning plan might come to fruition.

It did, in so far as they bowled out Lancashire for 161, with consistent pack-based bowling, albeit aided and hindered alike by catching of variable quality. Some good slip catches were taken, the first over one by Aitchison from the bowling of Abbas setting a tone. But some were missed and Lancashire shouldn't have cleared 150. The reassurance was at least that we wouldn't have to follow on, while aware that Lancashire have themselves a decent seam attack.

There were three wickets each for Abbas and the returning Dal, who bowled in similar style and let the pitch do the work. Aitchison and Haydon grabbed a brace apiece and the overriding feeling was satisfaction, with a job well done. If you win the toss, ask the opposition to bat and have them out well before tea you can be happy.

Came went early but Montgomery was quickly into his stride and playing strokes around the wicket. For all that there are those who prefer the bucolic styles of many you might care to mention, there remains considerable charm for yours truly in a player who leans into the ball and uses its pace to caress a boundary. His on driving was especially good today and he reached a classy and deserved fifty with over 20 overs left in the day. Derbyshire had passed their hundred shortly before and although the ball was still beating the bat, Montgomery and Jewell gradually asserted their dominance.

This was an important innings for Jewell and he played some nice shots without ever looking fully convincing. He was eventually undone by the extra pace of Stanley, who jagged one back in and bowled him. Did it keep a little low? It appeared so from the boundary edge, but his search for a score goes on, frustrating as it is for everyone. 

Madsen came in and batted in his usual authoritative way, conscious a score from him could be the deciding factor here. Montgomery looked set for a century, before falling leg before to Balderson, but Derbyshire could have done without losing Andersson to the part-time bowling of Bohannon in the following over.

Thankfully Guest came in and saw it through to the close with his captain. Derbyshire 31 runs ahead and batting to come. Anything upwards of a hundred would be very handy indeed on a pitch that offered help to the bowlers, especially with the new balls.

In closing, thank you to everyone who stopped to say hello and have a chat, during the course of the day. It was a pleasure to do so and I hope to see more of you over the next two days.

I can't see this game going past that, as things stand.

Postscript: in my haste to finish this last night, together with tiredness after a long day, I omitted to mention the county caps received by Ben Aitchison, Martin Andersson and Harry Came. 

They have all had fine seasons and have grown as cricketers in their time at Derbyshire. My sincere congratulations go to all of them. 

Also worthy of note is that Wayne Madsen became the County Championship leading run-scorer for a single county in the 21st century yesterday, now with 15,707 runs for Derbyshire. 

In an age when players often change counties every two or three seasons, his loyalty and consistency makes him a genuine, undisputed county great. 

I may be wrong, but I don't think that this summer will be his last in Derbyshire colours. I can see him carrying on, at least in the red ball game. With a current average of 50, why wouldn't he? 

Even more important, why wouldn't we want him to?