Derbyshire v Surrey day 3

All things being equal - and mainly as long as the weather stays fair tomorrow - Derbyshire should complete an emphatic win over Surrey sometime tomorrow morning.

That they should do so is down to a thoroughly professional performance in which most of the side have played their part. Heading the roll of honour on day three is undoubtedly Garry Park (pictured), who showed what a discerning bunch of people visit this blog by returning an excellent all round performance. A maiden 50 for the county followed on from Park's first three wickets for us. Amazingly, before today he had taken only two first class wickets at 166 runs each, yet today's 3-25 has brought his bowling average dropping faster than the exchange rate.

It is also encouraging that he has tempered his natural game and dropped anchor as an opener with Steve Stubbings. Realistically he should drop down to three when Chris Rogers arrives and take the place of Stuart Law. The Australian's returns have been modest since he joined the county but he seems to make a major contribution in the field, as you might expect from a man of his experience. He said at the start of the season that it was not just about his runs but what he can impart to other players. On the basis of the first couple of games he must be having an influence on things, although credit is also due to John Morris and Andrew Brown for their winter work with the squad. I did hear a report today that suggested that Law may have suffered a broken finger in today's action, although that has yet to be confirmed, at least on the club web site. If so, it would be a blow to the county in the continued absence of Chris Rogers. Should Law have to miss Sunday's game against Glamorgan, Dom Telo, Dan Birch and John Sadler will battle to replace him.

Ian Hunter continued his excellent early season form with more wickets today and Greg Smith picked up another wicket. Jon Clare did well in picking up the crucial wicket of Usman Afzaal who was going like a train early on, while Graham Wagg, although less spectacular than in the first innings, picked up another to complete a fine match after his valuable innings. Check out the Surrey TV coverage for the slow, floating ball with which Clare completely flummoxed Afzaal. Great stuff!

So 218 to win and, be honest, apart from Chris Rogers who in this side would you want to bat for your life? The scene was set for Stubbo and with Garry Park he gave us a crucial start. Losing early wickets chasing a modest total can set alarm bells ringing, but despite losing both Park and Law before the close, Derbyshire are well set at 145-2, needing just 73 tomorrow to seal an impressive win. There's not even been a need for Wavell and Dan to turn their arms over...

Those fans of sufficient vintage (like me) will have seen enough collapses over the years to take nothing for granted, but there is a growing feeling that John Morris is assembling a good side here. They're not world-beaters, there'll be some losses before the year is out and there's further improvement necessary, but I'm feeling quite enthused by Derbyshire cricket at the moment.

Mention should also be made of the work being done with the bowlers by Phil de Freitas. On the club site the other night Graham Wagg paid tribute to the work he has done with him. On the basis of the bowling in these first games, Daffy could be a major factor for the county in his consultancy capacity.

Let's finish it tomorrow lads - well done!