Derbyshire v Northamptonshire preview

I had a look at the Newsnow feed that I use on a regular basis this morning.

"James Franklin ton in vain for Derbyshire as Gloucestershire succeed" read the headline from this morning's Mirror.

Well done guys, hard to get that one wrong really. Wrong winner, wrong player in wrong team in ten words...

Anyway, top of the league we are (I checked!) and this weekend we have a little relief from the excitement of the Championship with the start of this season's Pro 40competition. I still like the 40 over game and have been a fan since its origins in the old John Player League. You could have your Sunday dinner then and head off for the game for the 2pm start and see a good game, yet still be home for around 8pm.

All different now, of course and we start at 4.40pm with the floodlights coming on after the ritualistic break for the blinding sun. I would like to see Derbyshire continue their recent good form in the weekend games against Northamptonshire tomorrow and then Lancashire at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The Steelbacks have Niall O'Brien out injured at present and have concerns over Stephen Peters, who injured his back against us in the Championship (batting far too long!) There's no news on the Derbyshire side at this stage, but with a number of men in good form it is unlikely there will be many changes from the side that beat Gloucestershire so convincingly. That would mean a one day debut for Wayne Madsen, who the home fans will be looking forward to seeing, while Steffan Jones will doubtless get a fine reception on his return to the County Ground. I would have thought it unlikely that Nantie Hayward would be risked, even if his ankle has responded to treatment. I'm sure John Morris has plans for him in the second half of the Championship campaign and will want him firing on all cylinders.

It has again been interesting reading the various reports on the Morris contacts book. With Hayward, he sought the opinion of ex County player and coach Phil Russell, while he was tipped off on Wayne Madsen by Clive Rice and Luke Sutton. The former knew him from South Africa while the ex-County keeper had played against him in the Central Lancashire League. It is good to hear that Morris has his contacts around the world and that he can bring players to the County.

So my side for tomorrow would in all likelihood be:

Chris Rogers
Wayne Madsen
Garry Park
Dan Redfern
Wavell Hinds
Greg Smith
James Pipe
Graham Wagg
Tim Groenewald
Jake Needham
Steffan Jones

I suppose it is possible that Stuart Law could play, with Morris having kept him as an option for this competition, but the advent of Madsen may well render that option unnecessary. He could also rest Dan Redfern, who is doing well in his first full season, but I can't see too many changes from the above. When there's nothing broken, don't try to fix it.

More tomorrow. Have a good one