David Houghton

My thoughts on the return of David Houghton to Derbyshire, as Head of Cricket, will have to wait until Saturday.

Reported last night on several news agencies, it will be the Zimbabwean's third stint at the club, following spells as coach and batting coach.

A full day today means I simply don't have the time to report on this in full and the first family holiday in three years where we are all together takes precedence.

Feel free to append your comments here, if you wish. If you prefer to wait until lthe main article appears that is fine!

Derbyshire v Kent day 1

Kent 365-6 (Denly 106, Crawley 96, Palladino 2-63, Viljoen 2-70)

v Derbyshire

It was a hard grind for Derbyshire yesterday, on a pitch which was 'the colour of bleached straw' according to one reporter.

Presumably to negate the threat of Darren Stevens and Matt Henry, though what Lockie Ferguson and Hardus Viljoen thought of it might be one for after the nine o'clock watershed. Time will tell how the Kent men do on it, but the happiest of our seamers might well have been Ravi Rampaul, given a match off after his illness in the last game.

To be fair, Derbyshire came back well in the final session and, at 365-6, Kent shaded the day but not by as much as may have been thought. Had Matt Critchley not dropped centurion Joe Denly first ball, there might have been even greater parity.

We go again today and will hope to wrap up the innings quickly, but that is far from guaranteed on such a wicket and with the talented Bell-Drummond going well.

It was a challenging day for Harvey Hosein, who found that when bowling lines go awry they go VERY awry. Sixteen byes and five penalty runs were among 35 extras, a statistic that always makes me grit my teeth and shake my head. Surely first-class bowlers can bowl straight?

On such wickets you can ill afford to be giving away runs in such a profligate manner and we have done that too many times this summer.

Let's hope our batsmen, including debutant Tom Lace, can make an equally decent fist of things today.

Derbyshire v Kent Preview

As the calendar moves inexorably forward, we come to a home game against Kent that takes the season into September, its final month.

It is not yet beyond the realms of possibility that we could mount a late promotion charge, but most important, for me, is that we finish well, to leave supporters feeling that this has been a season of progress.

Let's face it, most of the critics and journalists had Derbyshire finishing bottom in four-day cricket, as well as nowhere in the other competitions. At present we are sixth out of ten, a top half finish very  possible with the right attitude, a little luck and some strong displays.

After the last match the major concern was having an eleven fit enough to play against Kent. Harvey Hosein dislocated a finger before it, Ravi Rampaul was unwell and Ben Slater was hit on the helmet and had to retire from the match.

Ben has played his last match for Derbyshire and will now ply his trade at the other end of the A52. So opportunity knocks as an opening partner tomorrow for Middlesex opener Tom Lace, who comes in on loan to the end of the season. I don't see this as part of a longer term deal, as the player is contracted to Middlesex to the end of 2020.

We needed someone, as there was no other 'natural' opener on the staff, apart from James Kettleborough. Once he was announced in the second team match today, it either meant that someone was coming in, or that Anuj Dal would get an opportunity to play.

I hope he still does, but it would not have been fair to ask a non-opener to do so while trying to impress and win a contract. Dal should play in the middle order and unless the wicket is dry, I would omit Qadri and Rampaul, which would leave Viljoen, Ferguson and Palladino to bowl seam, with Ervine and Hughes in support and Critchley for spin.

With Rampaul and Hosein fit, the thirteen reads:

Godleman, Lace, Madsen, Hughes, Ervine, Critchley, Hosein, Dal, Palladino, Viljoen, Rampaul, Ferguson, Qadri

Kent welcome back Matt Henry, who has been so successful this season, for the run in. The evergreen Darren Stevens is still a key member of their side, while a strong batting line up is led by Heino Kuhn.

Their squad:

Billings, Bell-Drummond, Crawley, Kuhn, Denly, Dickson, Podmore, Stevens, Stewart, Thomas, Riley, Henry, Robinson

It will be a tough game and will take some winning, but it should be a good game to watch and follow.

I will be down in Derbyshire for the duration of the match, but this is a family holiday and I will need to monitor from afar.

My thoughts will appear each evening, or as time permits.

Slater leaves as Godleman signs contract extension

There are things in life that surprise you, while others take place with all the inevitability of Summer following on from Spring.

The latter was very much the case with the news finally and legitimately breaking that Ben Slater has joined Nottinghamshire on a three-year deal. He will play there on loan for the remainder of the season and then have until he is thirty to make it as a top level player with them.

He has some way to go. For all his obvious talents - and he was one of the best fifty-over batsmen I have seen in Derbyshire colours - he has not yet translated that ability into the most convincing evidence of it. Runs in the scorebook. AND he needs to do it at a higher level than he has so far played.

Rumours have gone around the 3aaa County Ground all summer, but then they usually do. If I had a tenner for every time I had been told Wayne Madsen was leaving over the past five years I would be writing this blog from my yacht off St Tropez. Yet there was obvious credibility in the stories around Ben. If you have a player of genuine talent who wins you matches on a regular basis, you offer top dollar to retain their services. For those below that level, you offer what you feel is the appropriate going rate, which leaves the danger of someone else coming in to procure their services.

So it was with Ben. I would like to think, as they have said, that the club offered what was a fair deal for his continued services, but Ben's agent found our near (not dear) neighbours down the road were prepared to offer more. We will always, as a smaller county, be at the predatory mercy of the big fish and the harsh reality is that even our maximum isn't close to that of others.

It is entirely Ben's prerogative to go for the best offer on the table. It is a short career and any one of us, offered the chance to ply their trade somewhere fairly close for more money, would do the same. By the same token, I don't think it fair for supporters, on this occasion, to be too harsh in their criticism of the club.

Ben may go on to be one of the best openers Nottinghamshire has ever had. Yet in a lengthy apprenticeship at Derbyshire he has made just three centuries in 121 first-class innings, two of them in the same match. He has passed fifty on 23 occasions, but that conversion rate is key. Fifties rarely win cricket matches, so the bargaining power wasn't there. If you compare his record with Luis Reece, four centuries and 17 fifties in 79 first-class innings, you will see what I mean. There is bargaining power to be had in the statistics of Luis, a player I hope we retain for a long time.

I loved watching Ben Slater bat, a busy player who has the talent to be doing so much more, This is why, of course, we need a Head of Cricket, because players need someone to turn to who can take them on a level. The reference to 'Nottinghamshire's top coaches' in the club's press release hints at something that we don't have, and need.

Peer assistance, mentoring and buddying, if you choose your preferred term, will take you so far, but with an elite group, such as we have at present, I feel there is too much scope for self-preservation. While I whole-heartedly support Billy Godleman's autonomy as captain, he too needs someone to turn to for support and guidance, as he had in Kim Barnett. In my long time experience of different cricket and hockey clubs, over forty years, very few people on selection committees get dropped...

So Ben's gone, but for me there's no disappointment today, just a final acceptance of what has seemed inevitable for some time. More important, as the club threw something on to the media scales that has been known for a couple of days, presumably to balance things up, was the confirmation of Billy Godleman's contract extension, a deal that will take him to the end of 2021.

I like and hugely admire Billy. He was a youthful prodigy who seemed in danger of losing it at Essex, but came to Derbyshire and has become a man admired and respected for everything he does. I have enjoyed watching him grow as a player and a man and become a captain of quiet authority. I watched him at Durham pose for photographs with any number of people, with a word for them all  and a ready smile. An interested enquiry as to the book that a teenage girl was reading was a little thing that meant a lot, both to her and her father.

He has proved me wrong in showing he can play T20 and is now an automatic pick in all formats, bringing me rather back to my earlier point about players commanding top dollar. He wouldn't be in my 'top players to watch' list, but I would put him up there with Steve Stubbings, Alan Hill and Tony Borrington as a bloke you would want on your side, because you knew he would battle for you.

With the right Head of Cricket, I still think Billy can get us promoted. Irrespective of there being the money to replace Ben Slater, I would like to see our top three next year as Godleman, Reece and Madsen. You can build a good team around such a strong base, with Alex Hughes and Matt Critchley also in that mix.

The key will be in the rest. We need to keep the above five and then make serious decisions about a number of others. We need one of our three wicket-keepers to start scoring runs, or find one from somewhere who can. We need to decide if the large outlay on Hardus Viljoen and Ravi Rampaul is being repaid in the required manner and find players who can genuinely contribute and want to play for Derbyshire.

I don't think Ben will be the last to leave the county this winter, as too many, for varying reasons, have none of that bargaining power when hard discussions are had. Yet next summer will come around, just the same.

We can only hope that we continue to progress when it does so.

In closing - thanks Ben. I wish you all the best in your continued career.

Sussex v Derbyshire day 4

Sussex 440 and 343-6

Derbyshire 389 and 161 (Slater 40, Dal 25)

Sussex won by 243 runs

There was little to encourage Derbyshire from the final day of their game against Sussex.

Perhaps it was inevitable after a game when Harvey Hosein dislocated a finger before it, leaving Daryn Smit a long drive down to replace him. Then Ravi Rampaul suffered breathing difficulties and had to leave the field, then the match. Nottinghamshire revealed they had signed Ben Slater, then deleted the tweet when they realised he was playing for us and finally Slater had to leave the field after a blow on the helmet and played no further part. It was less a game of championship cricket than a rejected script for an episode of Casualty.

I joke, of course and wish all the ill and injured a swift recovery, but it was expecting a lot for Derbyshire to rise above that and take the game into the final session.

The loss of Billy Godleman to a fine in swinger knocked on the head any idea of a run chase, if that was ever entertained, while the fourth ball dismissal of Wayne Madsen consigned it to the stuff of fairy tale. It was a fine yorker from Chris Jordan, but I watched the replay several times and came to the conclusion that he got the wicket for the skill of the delivery. He beat Wayne for pace and his front foot was still on leg stump as the ball swerved in.

It was the type of 'big banana swinger' that Ian Buxton used to bowl, but at three times the pace and looked to me to be going down leg side. Still, the score book says out and that was it. Thereafter Alex Hughes resisted for an hour and a half but got little support from the rest of the top order. It wasn't a debut to remember for Sean Ervine, but we'll not judge anyone on two innings.

Then came Anuj Dal, the permitted substitute for Ben Slater. He survived ninety balls, scoring 25 runs and showing another side to his game which further suggested his talent. With Ben Slater, top scorer with 40 before retiring hurt, having played his last game for us, Dal should be given the rest of the summer to make a claim for a contract in 2019.

He will need to do more, of course. There are no prizes for dogged twenties for anyone other than inexperienced players. Nor can he expect a deal on the back of that and some inventive stroke play in the Vitality Blast. I have watched him a few times in the seconds and he looked the classiest player on display, but that counts for little if you don't get the runs on the board. He can look to his skipper for an example of a man who makes the most of his talent, as Billy Godleman would win no prizes for aesthetics. Yet he is a battler and uses a limited range of shots to full effect.

If Dal can combine his obvious talent with weight of runs he might be worth a full time contract next summer. That is one for the new Head of Cricket, of course. Any offer would depend on the available budget and who else is available who may be better.

Tony Palladino remained not out at the end. How many times has that doughty fighter worked for runs for the cause? He has gone from a bit part to very useful tail end batsman, interestingly one who credits Dave Houghton with the improvement in his batting, especially on the pull shot.

And speaking of Dave, to repeat my comment of the other day for the many people who are getting in touch on Twitter and by email - I would expect the role to be filled in the early part of September, at the latest.

I have no idea who is on the short list, apart from Dave Houghton, as revealed by David Hopps on Cricinfo the other day. His presence is, however, a useful benchmark, as his CV is extensive. Whoever beats him to the job must have a better track record and greater experience. I  wondered whether former Worcestershire coach Steve Rhodes may apply, or be of interest to us. He left that county over a disciplinary matter and made a serious error of judgement, but he is a very good coach with a track record of bringing through young talent.

If there are better people than Dave Houghton on the short list, that will do me fine. Equally, I could think of many worse options than his return to the club.

My money is on the news breaking inside the next two weeks or so. Then whoever gets the job can either watch or monitor performances before the end of the summer. Far better to take on a job from a position of relative strength, I think.

Its just a good job that we have a week before Kent visit the 3aaa County Ground, as we are fast running out of players for them to watch...

Sussex v Derbyshire day 3

Sussex 440 and 353-6 (Salt 148 Critchley 3-133)

Derbyshire 389 and 6-0

Derbyshire need 399 to win

For Derbyshire to win this game they will need to enter territory they have never been before in 148 years and chase a winning total in excess of 400.

It isn't beyond the realms of possibility, on a still good batting wicket, albeit where there is some turn, and with a boundary on one side that is very short. Yet history dictates we must label the chances of the win 'unlikely'.

Sussex has a good attack and we need to score at four an over all day to get close, but someone has to bat with the skill and vigour shown by their mercurial young talent Phil Salt yesterday. He put us to the sword with a fine knock and only the older hands of Tony Palladino and Sean Ervine, taking pace off the ball, escaped punishment. Without Ravi Rampaul, who has returned to Derby for further checks on his health after leaving the field on day one with breathing difficulties, we will only bat ten men today and were a bowler down in the field.

All we can do is take it a session at a time and, at the very least, aim to come away with draw points, which should not be beyond the realms of possibility.

Today will be Ben Slater's final innings for the county, before he goes to join Nottinghamshire for the rest of the season and, one assumes, a three-year deal.

I hope he signs off with a major score and wish him well for the future.

Sussex v Derbyshire day 2

With the various shenanigans going on off the pitch, Derbyshire did extremely well to make a good fist of their first innings against Sussex at Hove.

By the close, having finished off the home side's innings for 440, they were 315-5, with Alex Hughes unbeaten on 60, after Billy Godleman made 122 and Wayne Madsen 72.

All to play for then, and it could have been better had Sean Ervine not been needlessly (some said contentiously) run out and then Hardus Viljoen was bowled by the day's final ball. He was a strange choice of night watchman, especially when Tony Palladino is in the side, a man who has done the role successfully on many occasions.

The skipper's return to the top of the order produced a brisk century, one that leaves only Steve Stubbings ahead of him in UK born cricketers making tons for the county in this millennium. I'd hesitate to say 'I told you so' but he is a class opening batsman who should open for Derbyshire for years to come.

That should be made more straight forward with the departure, albeit announced yesterday in error, of Ben Slater. Our dear neighbours announced that he would be playing in their game at Southampton, then realised that he was playing for Derbyshire, which in terms of faux pas is a biggie.

It is no real surprise, having been touted for several months, but for me this should be Ben's last match for Derbyshire. He has opted for a future elsewhere, so good luck to him, but that affords an opportunity for Anuj Dal to slot into the side, perhaps with a little tinkering of the order.

The bigger surprises were revealed by David Hopps on Cricinfo - the interest expressed by Yorkshire in the services of Wayne Madsen, together with the former club coach, Dave Houghton, allegedly being short-listed for the Head of Cricket role.

Let's be quite clear, Wayne Madsen owes Derbyshire nothing, but this 'link' may well be a response to the players becoming aware of the short list. There will be people, or someone on there who they don't fancy and I would be very confident that the 'right' appointment will see a few players unsure of their future committing it to the club. The wrong one doesn't bear thinking about.

Madsen, Godleman, Critchley and Hughes are players we should be building a side around. The departure of any of them should be deemed a major blow and, like all sportsmen, they will await the HOC appointment with interest. There will be those they see as being able to take them on to the next level, as well as those whose reputation perhaps precedes them at the other end of the spectrum.

I would think all of these players would be happy with the appointment of Houghton, a man with a glittering CV that includes a stint as our coach between 2004 and 2007, then batting coach between 2011 and 2013.

He is well respected in the game and, without wishing to preempt anything, would likely get the support of the four players above, as a batting coach of some renown.

We don't know the other candidates, of course, but if they are of the standard of David Houghton we will do OK.

Finally, back to the game and we could do with our tail wagging with greater vigour than that of our hosts. With Critchley, Smit and Palladino to come, there are good partners available for Alex Hughes.

With the wicket starting to take spin, we won't want to go into the game's second innings with too great a deficit.

We will see later.

Sussex v Derbyshire day 1

Sussex 400-7 (Brown 116, Wiese 89 not, Finch 82, Palladino 2-45)

v Derbyshire

After taking three wickets in the first hour, Derbyshire's attack struggled for the rest of the day at Hove.

Truth be told, it was a weird old day. One that started with Harvey Hosein ruled out before the start of play, after dislocating a finger in the warm ups. It saw him replaced by Wayne Madsen, temporarily, behind the stumps. Daryn Smit made the dash from Derbyshire to the south coast and got there in time for the tea interval, by which time Wayne had held two catches and had a little work to do with some wayward stuff.

There was punishment for both Hardus Viljoen and Lockie Ferguson, the main control coming, as usual, from Tony Palladino, whose 2-45 was the most economical bowling of the day.

Later on Ravi Rampaul had to leave the field and was taken to hospital with breathing difficulties, while Sean Ervine only bowled five overs, suggesting he wasn't fully fit for bowling.
It was one of those days and again one on which the medium pace of Alex Hughes wasn't tried. While this format isn't his forte, I'd have thought him worth a few overs, even just to change the pace a little.

Perhaps Billy Godleman has been doing a night class in soothsaying, as the announced line-up, with five seamers, appeared to be a little top heavy with right arm over. The two men out of the attack meant he had to turn to Matt Critchley for eighteen overs, which was more than might have been expected when we opted to bowl under cloud cover.

After that it was pretty routine for the home side. Brown, Wiese and Finch batted very well for them and it will be our turn tomorrow, against a keen seam attack in which Archer, Jordan, Robinson and Wiese will test them.

Late in the day Wayne Madsen bowled a couple of overs, suggesting, after two sessions behind the stumps, that he will sleep well tonight. Assuming Harvey Hosein recovers to keep wicket before the season end, it will mean that we have used four wicket keepers in the course of a summer. At least it shows the merit, at last, of having so many on the staff...

It must be some kind of record, from a county where Harry Elliott, George Dawkes and Bob Taylor broadly covered 64 years between them, the Second World War notwithstanding, between 1920 and 1984.

More from me tomorrow, if time permits after work.

Mail bag and comment responses

It is a good job that Derbyshire are playing at the opposite end of the country to me, today, as otherwise I could tell you with a degree of confidence that there would be no play before lunch...

A wet morning and early rise gives me the opportunity to answer a few questions I have received over the past few days.

Sean Ervine? Various questions on that one, but he is capable of batting anywhere between four and seven in the order and, as a left-hander, offers a different line to most in our side outside the openers. I love an all-rounder in my side and he is also capable of bowling first or second change with decent pace. He isn't as quick as he once was, but is still a canny bowler. He is only 35 and one has only to look at the impact of older players around the circuit, such as Darren Stevens and Ian Bell, to assess their value. Much of his cricket has been in division one, so his ability should be unquestioned.

It is the same age as Eddie Barlow when he joined us. As far as has been made public, the deal is to the end of the summer, but if there is a mutual understanding then I suppose we would be in poll position for his services. I can only assume that Billy Godleman has been the 'driver' in his signing, as there is no coaching staff other than Mal Loye to otherwise be involved.

Yesterday I pointed out the number of mid-thirties players already on our staff, but Tony Palladino plays only four-day, Daryn Smit seems outside the group at present and Gary Wilson has Ireland commitments. The contracts of all three are up this year or next  and a new Head of Cricket may see some as surplus to requirements.

For me, there is much to like about Ervine, a cricketer of great experience who can play all three formats of the game and contribute. Were I the new Head of Cricket, I'd make a move, but sadly I haven't yet been invited for interview...

On to that role and questions about timescale. I would have thought it possible that we should have identified the successful candidate by the early part of September. Equally, that it would be in our best interests to do so.

The role will have attracted interest from this country and the rest of the world. Were the successful candidate to have two or three matches to look at the staff in action, it would put him in a stronger position to decide on the way forward over the winter. There is the nucleus of a strong squad here and again, having someone in place to take advantage of the release of or availability of players elsewhere would be to our advantage.

Recruitment? I normally take a pragmatic approach to things and so assume that if we are going to the expense of a role such as this that we have the budget in place for team strengthening. For me, that includes the retention of the better young players on appropriate deals, as well as attracting others who can strengthen us in the short and medium term.

We can't carry a big squad and that is why the absence of Luis Reece has been so keenly felt. Unless you are Surrey, replacements of comparable standard are not awaiting their chance in the second team. So we must perforce keep our fingers crossed on the fitness front and keep some talented young players on the staff who can gain experience. That's why I hope Anuj Dal gets a few games before the season ends. He looked talented in the T20, but can he back up obvious talent with weight of runs instead of nice cameos?

Finally Ben Slater. Part of me thinks that Ben would have signed a deal by now were he going to do so. Whatever he decides to do I wish him well, but he is 27 next week and his next deal is important for him.

I just hope that he and his agent have thought it through. If the rumours of a move to Nottinghamshire are correct, then he has only to look at Mark Footitt, Greg Smith, Jake Libby and Paul Coughlin for examples of players who moved there and have never got regular first team cricket.

Each had reasons, of course, but I would be asking myself if I wanted to be playing second team cricket in front of fifty people for much of the summer as I approached thirty. Ross Whiteley does that and it must be tough to keep playing and awaiting a call for one day matches. If Alex Hales lost his England deal, Ben could be behind him, Mullaney, Wessels and Libby in the queue, maybe others.

Leaving Derbyshire worked for a few players, but didn't for a whole lot more. Had 'our' Greg Smith stayed put he could still be playing for us at the age of 35. There are plenty of similar examples, Mark Footitt a prime one but so too the likes of Rob Weston, Adrian Rollins and Dan Redfern,

We'll see what happens.

Here's to good form at Hove today and the next few days.

County sign Sean Ervine on 28-day loan

News breaking this morning that Derbyshire has engaged the Hampshire all-rounder Sean Ervine on an initial 28-day loan is both interesting and welcome.

He is a player I have always liked and his statistics back up his contribution to Hampshire over many seasons. A batting average of around 37 and closing in on 300 first-class wickets is the mark of a very good cricketer. People knew he was with his efforts for Zimbabwe when they had a good international side, of course, but Ervine needs senior cricket and hasn't been able to break into a strong Hampshire side for most of the summer, despite scoring well in the second team.

There is an interesting piece on this from The Southern Daily Echo which highlights his form and that he will almost certainly leave the county at the end of the season, as will Jimmy Adams. Perhaps this lets us look at him, as he will look at us, but any permanent signing will likely be down to winter events. Another mid-thirties player, to go with Madsen, Rampaul, Wilson Palladino and Smit is perhaps one too many, but not all of those are contributing enough. Crucially, however, all are contracted, which puts a different slant on things.

There will be a few eyebrows raised at the signing at this stage of the season, but with six county championship games to go, it is not beyond the powers of reason that we could close the 35-point gap between us and the promotion places. Lockie Ferguson has shown his talents in the Vitality Blast and Hardus Viljoen seemed an improved bowler on early season. The signing of Ervine would bolster a misfiring batting line up and also enable the playing of an extra spinner, assuming he took the place of Ravi Rampaul and bowled first or second change.  A notional first choice side would then be:

Godleman
Slater
Madsen
Hughes
Critchley
Hosein
Ervine
Palladino
Viljoen
Qadri
Ferguson

Hosein deserves to play after a fine match at Chesterfield in our last four-day game and neither Smit nor Wilson have scored the runs to cement their place. They could better utilise the bowling of Alex Hughes too, someone who might have made a difference with more bowling at Durham.

Had we not messed up two good opportunities this could have been a genuine promotion push.

As it is, I wouldn't yet discount it. Matt Critchley will be confident after his match-winning effort at Queens Park and his winning of the 'Performance of the Month' in the Cricketer magazine is nice to see. An attack of four seamers and two spinners is always good at this time of year, especially when there are two genuine fast bowlers.

The T20 may be over but there is good cricket still to be played.

And you never know, in this wonderful game of cricket...

Postscript - the above eleven, plus Anuj Dal and Ravi Rampaul, has been named for the Sussex trip. The above should for me be the eleven, but I would like to see Dal get a chance in the side before the end of the summer.

He looked a talented lad in the T20 and it would be good to see his potential in the longer format.

T20 - the Wright experience

John Wright was brought over to Derbyshire two years ago, to offer the benefit of his vast experience and  ideally get us to our first ever finals day. It was a deal brokered by Kim Barnett and his extensive contact book and also saw Dominic Cork return to the club in the role of bowling coach. This year Grant Bradburn came on board at Wright's invitation, following a link set up with Cricket Scotland that saw Safyaan Sharif and Calum MacLeod engaged for the competition.

The end came as something of a damp squib. The final home game was washed out before Derbyshire embarked on a run chase, while the final match, at Durham last night, didn't even get that far. It was disappointing, but perhaps one of those things, as an opportunity for a successive quarter final was blown.

The finals day never materialised, but Wright brought a greater nous to the club's cricket in the format. Nor should Cork's contribution with the bowlers be undervalued and there was greater discipline with the ball, to go with more common sense with the bat. Our cricket had previously suffered from too many dot balls when we batted together with a collective desire to hit every ball for four, usually to the detriment of results. As I wrote many times on this blog, five singles an over plus a boundary will take you around the 180-200 mark, and more games are won than lost in doing that.

The Wright philosophy was to bowl teams out or limit their score, so wins would come. It worked well, especially last year when an array of all-rounders gave us bowling options to envy and a depth in batting. There was excellent cricket and stirring wins, with games and performances that will linger long in the memory, even sometimes in defeat, such as Trent Bridge.

It fell down last season on Matt Henry being less suited to the format (though a very good cricketer as he has continued to prove) and on inflexibility to the plan. The arrangement, that worked well, for Wayne Madsen to bowl at the start of the Power play should have been changed when Hampshire opened with Shahid Afridi, a known hitter with a penchant for slow bowling. Having barely made a run all summer, Afridi, a poor starter against pace, got away and the result was never in doubt thereafter.

It raised question marks over the captaincy and for me there should have been a change over the winter. Gary Wilson is a decent player but only an adequate captain and keeper. The inclusion of both he and Daryn Smit at the start of this summer's competition left the side unbalanced and suggested, rightly or wrongly, a management team unwilling to make a tough decision. Both are good players, but a side needs only one keeper and, as I have written before, the gig should always go to the best glove man. That isn't Wilson and his captaincy this summer again seemed wracked with too many contentious decisions.

Whether it was batting orders that changed by the game for no apparent reason, or the puzzling decision to bat Matt Critchley and Alex Hughes, free hitters both, below the captain, games were lost. The early inclusion of two wicket keepers could only have been justified were one Adam Gilchrist and the other Quinton de Kock. They weren't, and it left both the batting and bowling short. But when that was sorted (incorrectly, in my view) there were contentious decisions about the team make up and a choice of bowlers at times that made no sense. We bowled spin at Dan Christian this year as willingly as we did to Afridi last year and that was poor. If supporters know the preferences of opponents, surely the players, especially the captain should do so?

We will never know what difference Mitchell Santner might have made, as a world-class spin bowling all rounder. His absence, coupled with that of Luis Reece through injury would have challenged any side in the country. Yet in adversity we brought in two bowlers who will go down as among the best we have had. Both Wahab Riaz and Lockie Ferguson bowled with fire, purpose and skill and had they played in last year's side, a finals day appearance would have been ours. The return of both, or one plus Santner would be welcomed, but that is a decision for the new Head of Cricket and more affluent clubs will have seen their performances and coveted them. Riaz took Alex Hughes under his wing and the all-rounder, though starved of batting opportunity, produced some outstanding bowling returns.

Afridi would not have hit Riaz and Ferguson with impunity and their contribution to Derbyshire will not be forgotten after stellar seasons. Ferguson was magnificent, in match after match bowling with accuracy and fire, dropping searing yorkers in almost at will and claiming wicket after wicket with them. Riaz was the antithesis of the surly, fired up player who got in the face of Shane Watson, but bowled superbly at the top and tail of the innings and produced a couple of fine knocks when given unexpected elevated opportunity.

Yet this year's batting was a ponderous, hesitant beast that could be brilliant but more often was not. Calum MacLeod proved an asset, but only he, Wayne Madsen and Billy Godleman can look back on the competition with any satisfaction. The latter only came in towards the end but fully deserves to be a first choice pick from here after innings of power and common sense.

There were too many muddied selections. The engagement of Matt McKiernan, a leg spinner of talent, yet the refusal to play him on wickets that would have suited was a puzzle. The omission of Anuj Dal, then his selection, then batting him pretty much everywhere helped no one. Seeing Riaz bat with success at three, then nowhere near it afterwards  was a puzzle, as was seeing the side's best batsman, Wayne Madsen, as low as five on occasion. It suggested teams were being selected by reputation, rather than form, while batting orders seemed at times to be the result of the drawing of straws, or first to get the gloves on.

It was far from a disaster, as there were fine performances. We continue to punch above our weight, but frustratingly follow brilliance with ineptitude too frequently for continued progress to be confidently asserted. The right Head of Cricket appointment from here is crucial.

John Wright the cricketer was outstanding. The coach was very good, but perhaps hindered by his being, at the end of it all, too nice a guy. Too many big decisions were wrong, perhaps because of an unwillingness to 'make waves'. Things that happened on the pitch shouldn't have kept happening and the buck stops with captain and coach.

Over two summers we saw brilliant cricket at times AND we reached the knock out stage for only the second time. We beat Yorkshire twice in three days, home and away, thrashing them at 'Fortress Headingley'. The talent is definitely there.

There are building blocks in place and we must hope that we retain and re-engage the requisite talent and make the necessary changes for further improvement.

Thanks to both John and Dominic.

There wasn't a finals day. But you delivered some cracking cricket at times.

Durham v Derbyshire Vitality Blast

And so it arrives. Derbyshire's last Vitality Blast fixture of the summer, which is likely to double as the last at the helm for John Wright and Dominic Cork.

Both men can leave with heads held high, and if they didn't manage to deliver the hoped for finals day appearance, they gave us more credibility than we have had in the format. More on that with my review at the weekend.

Tomorrow we face Durham at The Riverside, already qualified for a home quarter final and doubtless wanting to cement their place with a confidence-boosting win. We travel with the same fourteen again and unless we come up against an unexpected dry and turning track, my guess is we go with the same side that did well against Leicestershire before the rain came down.

The forecast is pretty good, which will be particularly good news for Henry Nicholls, who otherwise could have been here for the most expensive fielding stint in recent history. It's a shame that we weren't able to see the full extent of his talent the other night, but no doubt he will be keen to impress, with Tom Latham in the opposition, as will Lockie Ferguson.

Despite the signings of Alex Lees and Axar Patel, neither make the squad as they are ineligible. So Durham also go with an unchanged 14, namely:

Tom Latham (c), Graham Clark, Paul Collingwood, Liam Trevaskis, Ryan Davies, Stuart Poynter (wk), Ryan Pringle, Will Smith, James Weighell, Barry McCarthy, Nathan Rimmington, Mark Wood, Chris Rushworth, Ben Whitehead

It will be a battle of the seam attacks and the result will come down to which batting side performs the best. Ours has flattered to deceive this summer and early wickets have too often derailed an innings.

I hope that we can give John and Dominic the send-off that they deserve, but Durham have done well with fine, all-round cricket.

I suspect that will see them edge proceedings tomorrow, but I hope that I am wrong.

More from me then.

In a parallel universe...

Just imagine if the very much in form Mitchell Santner had not sustained the knee injury that ruled him out of a Derbyshire stint. Or if the equally talented, and also left-handed Luis Reece hadn't been ruled out effectively for the season by his foot injury.

Or if we had been brave enough to make a change in the T20 captaincy and give it to Alex Hughes, who I think is talented and respected enough to handle the role. Or to Daryn Smit, a respected captain from his time in South Africa.

And if we had picked the best wicket-keeper in the club, who had the better rate with the bat, too, and not prevaricated and picked two of them for the first few games, thus unbalancing the squad.

How much better might our T20 performances been?

OK, we wouldn't have seen Lockie Ferguson, which would have been a huge loss, because his superb fast bowling has been the season highlight for me. Yet it could well have been far more successful had we been regularly able to field this eleven:

Godleman
MacLeod
Reece
Madsen
Critchley
Santner
Hughes
Smit
Viljoen
Riaz
Rampaul

Eight bowlers and left/right combos down the order. Three left-arm bowlers too, giving greater variety. I would have fancied greater success with that eleven on the field.

So here is my question to you, ahead of our final match on Friday.

Assuming our new Head of Cricket is as impressed with this year's T20 selections as we were, would you bring back both Riaz and Ferguson? Or bring in Santner? If so, at the expense of which one?

I look forward to your responses!

T20 chances go with Nottinghamshire win

Rikki Wessels assault last night, on the same Worcestershire bowling that had strangled Derbyshire a few days earlier, quickly ended any remaining hopes, were they ever entertained, of our qualification from the northern group.

It also meant that I didn't need to seriously consider resurrecting my earlier plan of travelling down to the Riverside for the final match, which had been some time in the consideration stage, but discarded after the Northamptonshire defeat.

I  will have my thoughts on the T20 at the weekend, but we must try to finish on a high at Durham, then ensure that we get as high a finish as possible in the county championship. That is very possible, given the potency of Lockie Ferguson thus far, as long as we quickly adapt to the four day format once more.

Attention will also turn to off-field matters and the appointment of the Head of Cricket. There has been little from the club on the interviews and when they might be conducted, though logic suggests we would want someone in place sooner, rather than later, especially when John Wright and Dominic Cork are no longer around to offer some form of guidance and support.

I find it hard to believe that the club will not have had some very strong applicants for the role and remain adamant that it should go to someone completely new to the club. It needs to be a fresh eye on the place from top to bottom, not someone with 'previous' at the club. We have done that a number of times now and it hasn't worked out with some very good people.

I would be astonished if it went to Mal Loye, who with the greatest of respect would be seen by many as the 'easy' appointment. I don't doubt his credentials, nor discount the work he has done with the club's academy, but I can think of several very good external options (and I am including Grant Bradburn in that) with who I would be very happy.

Interestingly, from reading his Twitter account last night, one of them will not be Chris Adams.

'Surely it's time the powers that be sorted themselves out. Talk a good game, continue to fail in basic decision making - winners win, losers lose' was what he wrote. Subsequently, when asked, he said he had not been approached by Derbyshire. My understanding was that the role required an application process anyway, so maybe there's crossed wires, but the wording suggested that the return of who some see as the 'prodigal son' is not on the cards any time soon.

I dare say that we will find out soon enough, but this is going to be a very big winter for the club. I won't go down the path of 'who shall we sign', because my first concern is that we retain the services on appropriate deals of some of our better young players.

The wolves are always circling and there may be interest in some players, even those under contract. If those deals have not been appropriate to their contribution to the club, we run a high risk of losing them and others offering to buy out their deals.

I hope not, because board elections are coming up in the new year and from the tone of emails that I have been sent, a lot of supporters and members are unhappy at present.

Fingers crossed their concerns are allayed in the coming months...

Derbyshire v Leicestershire Vitality Blast

Tonight's game contained much to admire from Derbyshire, but the grey and threatening skies eventually decided to unload their cargo and the game was rained off with the visitors 103-4 in the fifteenth over.

Lockie Ferguson again bowled some balls of blinding speed, one of them clocked at 93.5mph and the fastest ball bowled on Sky this summer. Again he went for under six an over on a night when all the bowlers did well. Hardus Viljoen was lucky to get the wicket of Cosgrove, caught behind off his, rather than the bat's shoulder, while Alex Hughes bowled three very tidy overs that included the wicket of Ben Raine.

That came about from a fine piece of work by Calum MacLeod on the boundary, who caught the ball and threw it up before his impetus took him over the rope, then held it with a degree of nonchalance.

The excellent Colin Ackermann, a fine signing by the Foxes, led a recovery with Atiq Javid and they seemed set for a total between 140 and 160 when the rains came.

Indeed they came with such vengeance that I am writing this blog an hour before the game needs to resume to constitute a match.

That isn't going to happen, judging by the forecast, so the small remaining hopes of qualification disappeared in the evening gloom.

The irony of Henry Nicholl flying over from New Zealand to field was not lost on me. Hopefully he gets a hit in the last game, at Chester-le-Street next weekend.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

I will be back soon.

Thoughts on two defeats

When I look back on the 2017 season, I think that I can broadly encapsulate it in one sentence.

It's not the losing that hurts, it's the fact that we threw away a win.

There was a time, and not that long ago, that we were hammered in most T20 matches and rarely entertained the prospect of beating bigger clubs. That has now changed and it is perhaps an inverted compliment that we have genuine expectations of beating most sides. Progress has been made, but it still hurts, perhaps even more, when we lose and will continue to do so when we continually throw away hard-fought advantages.

I didn't see any of the Northamptonshire game, although it was streamed, as I couldn't get a stable wi-fi signal, but it seemed to me that we fell around 20 runs short of what should have been attainable. Only eight came from the closing over and a half and when the visitors got off to a flyer it never seemed enough.

Apart from a snorter of a yorker from Ferguson, yet again, that would have removed the foot of Vasconcelos had it been in the way, we bowled poorly and gave away too many freebies. At the same time Duckett and Cobb, both free-scoring players, had one of those days and the fact that we lost to a bottom-place team  with ten balls to spare tells it all. It was a poor performance, one that critics would deem a 'typically Derbyshire' one when it matters. We can beat the best, but remain worryingly fallible against sides we should be beating.

Moving on a day, we bowled beautifully at Worcester and the discipline for which the attack has been known in previous games was fully restored. As I basked in the afternoon sunshine with my family at Morecambe, the regular tweets suggested that we could get back to the three wins in four that I suggested might see us through. Their free-scoring batsmen never got going, with the exception of the hugely talented Joe Clarke, and the final target of less than 140 looked well within our compass.

Yet we never threatened. This time our batting let us down and a dreadful start was only partially rescued by Gary Wilson and Billy Godleman, who built the innings but never at a rate that suggested a win was on the cards. It was again poor fare.

Yes, qualification is still theoretically possible, but only by dint of a sequence of results so unlikely that my hopes of one day playing for Derbyshire seem modest by comparison. I just think we have shot ourselves in the foot too many times this year and the batting order has made little sense to the casual observer.

Surely you want your best batsman, Wayne Madsen, in as early as possible, yet he came in at five at Worcester. Why do we promote Riaz to three, see him play two fine innings, then not bat there again? Why play Dal everywhere between three and nine? Why not bat Hughes higher than eight, where he seldom had a chance to make an impact? Why bat Critchley, a free hitter, as low as seven or eight? In this format both Alex and Matt will score more quickly than Gary Wilson, who can hit a ball but is a slow starter and limited on the off side.

It smacked of a batting order being pulled out of a hat, or otherwise the result of a power struggle where the coaches are saying one thing but the captain something else.

Have we improved? Yes, over two years, from where we were. But we could do so much better with greater consistency of plan, such as we had last year. It is as if we have taken on the lesson of the Hampshire game, where we were out-thought by their promotion of Afridi, and decided that no one will ever second guess our batting order.

For me it made no sense. Being an honest guy, I don't think we picked the best captain, nor wicket-keeper and I got the impression that results were being achieved despite selections, rather than because of them.

We engaged Sharif and he has never played a game, while McKiernan has played only one. The latter should have played at least another couple, but there seemed an unwillingness to change the bowling with four international bowlers. I get that to some extent, but top coaches make brave decisions and we didn't. Whether captain or coach has final say I am unsure, but that person has made errors.

Finally, the pitches. My understanding is that our home matches have been played on two pitches, which have naturally got slower. Why, with the fastest attack on the circuit? We saw at Northampton  how they destroyed a side, but they have since had to bowl on wickets resembling a beach. It makes no sense and they have to join up the dots for future seasons and prepare wickets that better suit the resources at our disposal.

Leicestershire tonight and I hope we win with the cameras on us. It will be good to see Henry Nicholls  in the county colours and see the impact of an international batsman on our fragile batting, but we will undoubtedly miss the excellent Wahab Riaz.

Overseas players flit through counties on an annual basis and five years down the line there are those who will barely register in the collective memory.

Riaz came and did a sterling job. He bowled quickly and accurately, kept things tight in both Power plays and played a couple of innings that some may not have considered possible. He was a positive role model for younger players and was often seen having a word at key moments, making up a potent overseas combo with Lockie Ferguson.

He did it all with a smile on his face that suggested he enjoyed the experience, an object lesson for some around the circuit who seem to scowl their way from day to day.

A successful signing, beyond any doubt.

A deferred blog

I will need to get my apologies in early but I won't be able to blog on last night and tonight in detail until I get home tomorrow.

The southern lakes area is beautiful but WiFi is either limited or non-existent in the place we are staying.

Please add any comments you wish to make at this stage here and I will review the two games when I get a stable connection.

Thanks!

Derbyshire v Nothamptonshire Vitality Blast

As Twitter followers will know, I am currently on holiday with my family in the Lake District, but will naturally follow events at the 3aaa County Ground closely tonight.

It is a big game, but then they all are now. Logically, Northamptonshire having lost nine of their ten matches, we should win this one, but we will be blase about the match at our peril. They have some very good players, even if there seems a collective lack of confidence at present, after a series of poor defeats.

It will be a last home game for Wahab Riaz and will be likely played on a similar track to the Warwickshire game. The quicks will hope for a little more pace though and our batsmen will want to be able to play shots with a little more confidence.

Then it is on to high-flying Worcestershire tomorrow, so bottom follows top. It is a game that presents the biggest challenge for us on paper, as they have been playing so well, but if we focus on our game, anything is possible.

An added incentive would be to do well and boost our net run rate, as it looks increasingly likely that this will determine the final place in the group. While Worcestershire are running away with the section, the other three places are between six counties at this stage and I am just glad that it was Lancashire and not Derbyshire who 'choked' last night when needing only six from the final over to beat Durham.

I don't expect changes from the recent successful side tonight, though the line up will need tweaked in the days ahead to accommodate the arrival of Henry Nicholls.

All in good time. I will be back either after tonight's game or tomorrow with my thoughts, depending on what we are doing today.

Between times, give the boys a cheer for me.

I'm going for  a home win here.

Nicholls flies in for crucial fixtures

I am pleased that those in charge at Derbyshire County Cricket Club have seen sense and opened the purse strings to enable the signing of New Zealand batsman Henry Nicholls, an excellent, up and coming player.

Even more pleased that his signing makes it appear as if I have a crystal ball, when in fact I just applied a fair old dollop of logic to my suggestion at the weekend.

We have a New Zealand coach, together with an assistant coach from the same country. There's an obvious 'in' there, plus the Kiwi players are about the only country who are not currently touring or preparing to tour somewhere else. They are in pre-season though, which helps and from there it was a case of looking who had played IPL, or was playing CPL, who was already in this country and who would most benefit from a county stint in the furtherance of their career.

That took out a lot of players and left me with one name from their international squad - thus we welcome Henry Nicholls to Derbyshire.

He is an impressive left-hander who sprung to prominence last winter with an unbeaten 145 against England, having also scored a Test century against South Africa. While his first-class average, in the mid-thirties, has room to improve, his T20 one is over thirty, which for a middle order batsman in the format is the sign of a pretty good player.

Whether his signing is one of the shorter ones in the county history or not (his fellow countryman Chris Harris, to my memory, played one one-day game for us), Nicholls has an opportunity to make himself known in this country and indeed to Derbyshire.

Tom Latham has done extremely well at Durham, Corey Anderson and Martin Guptill likewise at Somerset and Worcestershire, while Ish Sodhi's work at Trent Bridge is well known to us. We should have seen how Mitchell Santner fared for us, but have enjoyed wonderful service from Lockie Ferguson.

Having said all that, Henry has some tough acts to follow, but if he is more John Wright than Neil Broom we will do OK. Mind you, Broom, like Hamish Rutherford, could hit a ball on his day and Nicholls must be rated by John Wright and Grant Bradburn.

And if he plays even one innings that gets us to the knock out stage, it is money well spent, as well as being absolutely the right thing to do, as I said the other day.

Welcome to Derbyshire, Henry.

We all hope that your stay is memorable, for the right reasons.

Another Nottinghamshire loss opens door a little wider

An uninspiring Nottinghamshire side was roundly thrashed by Worcestershire last night, never in the match as they were outbatted and outbowled.

Had we beaten them last week their fans would have been even more critical than they were on Twitter. 'Sack Moores' was a common comment and while their fickle support made me smile, because they win their fair share of matches, it shows how open and how tough this northern group really is.

We now lie fifth, and as I wrote the other day need to focus on winning and letting the others knock themselves out of the equation. If we keep doing so, we only need one from Durham, Yorkshire and Lancashire to fail and we are in the knockouts. Worcestershire are the best team in the group, though Surrey and Somerset in the southern group are the two sides that have most impressed me.

Their remaining fixtures:

Durham - Lancs (A) Leics (H) Northants (A) Lancs (H) Derbys (H)

Yorkshire - Lancs (H) Notts (A) Northants (A) Notts (H)

Lancashire  - Durham (H) Yorks (A) Durham (A) Birmingham (A)

And let's not forget Nottinghamshire, who have Birmingham (A) Yorkshire (H ) Worcs (A) Yorks (A)

Something has to give in those results and if we win ours, or even three out of four, qualification is still on. I'm even planning a trip down to Durham for that final game, just in case and their attack is now shorn of Imran Tahir who has been a major influence for them this year alongside the excellent Tom Latham.

We will have the services of the equally influential Wahab Riaz for the games against Northamptonshire at home and Worcestershire away, but would then be without him for the home game against Leicestershire and the final trip to Durham.

I take on board the comments from a couple of people about not replacing Riaz. I would agree but if - and only if - avenues have been explored to replace him. The market is restricted, as I have written before, but there are plenty of players in pre-season who would likely do a good job, especially in New Zealand, whose players usually give excellent service on the county scene.

As I replied to notoveryet yesterday, I understand that Jimmy Neesham isn't currently fit to bowl so wouldn't take him on as a batsman, but someone like Henry Nicholls, an excellent forcing batsman,  would be an asset.

It is unlikely we will find a bowler of such parsimony and talent as Riaz, so we would need to  make up the extra cost  with the bat. I am not totally convinced we have that in our batting line up as it stands, so bringing in someone to address the balance is worthwhile for me.

After all, we have brought in John Wright and Dominic Cork to show us how to play T20 and over two summers few would argue against their doing that. Equally, with a new Head of Cricket coming in few would expect their return next year.

With a quarter-final berth in sight, they should have the resources to make it happen.

Derbyshire v Birmingham Vitality Blast

Derbyshire 143-9  (MacLeod 39, Wilson 30 not)

Birmingham 127-9 (Bell 65, Wahab 3-27, Viljoen 2-12, Hughes 2-26)

Derbyshire won by 16 runs

At halfway in this match there might only have been the super-positive who saw Derbyshire in with a chance of victory.

Only 143 runs to defend, against a team with strong batting and led by Ian Bell, who has had a wonderful Indian summer in his career.

Yet we did it with sixteen runs to spare, with another superb, disciplined bowling display that limited the visitors to 127-9 in their innings. The bowlers were again backed up by keen fielding and safe catching, although I understand Gary Wilson did put down Ian Bell at a stage when it looked crucial.

Fair play to the captain, he played a slow knock tonight but after the dismissal of Billy Godleman and Calum MacLeod no one else really found scoring easy. Grant Elliott bowled a typically miserly spell but an innings that looked like it might end somewhere between 160 and 180 ended up considerably
lower.

Yet, to their immense credit, you simply cannot discount this Derbyshire attack. Riaz led the way with three wickets and closed out so well again, yet the best figures went to Hardus Viljoen, with a terrific 2-12 in his four over spell. No miscalculations tonight and the five seamers all did their jobs manfully. Rampaul was the most expensive, but when you bowl in both Powerplays that is always likely. Ferguson was for once wicketless, but again a model of parsimony and is going for only 6.59 an over at this stage in the competition, an outstanding effort. So too Riaz, at 7.25 and both bowlers could have done no more for their side.

I was a little baffled by the batting order again. I understood a rationale of replacing one pinch hitter for another with Godleman being replaced by Riaz, but the success of the last two games didn't come in until eight. Dal was rightly elevated, but overestimated his powers of acceleration and underestimated the arm of Woakes and was run out without scoring.

I still think Wilson is too early at five, but he can argue tonight that his knock, especially a four and six in the last over, won us the game. Yet so too did a return to normal bowling discipline, with only eight extras conceded.

At the end of it all we lifted ourselves up and won again. Five from six and very, very much in the shake up for the knockouts. Northamptonshire at home on Wednesday then Worcestershire away on Thursday, who won a high-scoring thriller against Durham in the last over.

That will be it for the magnificent Mr Riaz, but hopefully between times we will learn who is coming in to replace him.

Because someone surely has to.

You did us proud tonight boys, well done. And with Derby County getting off to a flyer under Frank Lampard, it's a good night to be a Derbyshire sports fan.

Postscript - there is still time to bid for the autographed Derbyshire T20 kit, size small. The current leading bid is £50. If you would like to win this, mail me with your top bid at peakfan36@yahoo.co.uk by midnight tomorrow. All proceeds to two very worthwhile charities.

Morning after thoughts

Having given the matter considerable thought, I think that some of our wounds - far too many, in fact - were self-inflicted last night.

Starting with selection. On a wicket which was dry and dusty, would it not have made a lot more sense to play Matt McKiernan? Another leggie, bowled at the right time and the right end (I'll come back to that) would have been better and, on a horses for courses basis I would have played him in preference to Rampaul last night. It was tailor-made for the lad and seems a waste of his talents to be omitted on such a surface.

Then there's tactics. I don't think Gary Wilson did a good job last night. As skipper, he would have had final say on the side's line up and for me, got it wrong. Then there was the game itself.

Bowling Critchley to a short leg side boundary, against a batsman far happier against spin than pace was professional suicide. Of course he was going to slog against the spin and a short boundary made the percentages very much in his favour. That over cost us the game and I am not blaming the bowler, but the skipper who put him on at the wrong end at the wrong time. He was always going to have a dart at that stage.

It meant that Viljoen, who bowled well and would have troubled the batsmen more, didn't bowl his allocation, which was quite an oversight.

Then there was the batting order. For me, when we lost Riaz, Dal should have gone in. He scores quickly from the outset, improvises well and crucially runs fast between the wickets. Wilson doesn't, and although he hits well when he gets going, we had our foot on the accelerator and with that quick running, could have kept it ticking over last night. That point was rather proven when he went in last night, at nine, when it was too late. And one should never discount the incentive a player has against a county who released him...

Tonight, I hope for a faster, bouncy pitch for those seamers and a win will still see us able to qualify. We then play Northamptonshire at home and Worcestershire away, followed by Leicestershire at home and Durham away.

I see all of those games as winnable at our best and other games, as a correspondent pointed out earlier, mean something has to give. Nottinghamshire have to play Worcestershire twice and Yorkshire twice, Lancashire play Durham twice and the latter have to play Worcestershire and Yorkshire.

Plenty to play for BUT we must have a replacement for Wahab Riaz for the closing games and then knockouts if we get there. Yes, it was great to hear that we have Riaz for two more games, but playing Leicestershire and then going to Durham without a second overseas would be silly, careless, thoughtless - call it as you will. We are allowed two, and if we are in the mix, we should have two.

If we are so strapped we can't afford one, say so. If we aren't, then let's have supporters' minds put at rest, because it is the main subject of my post bag at the moment.

To answer the question - yes, we do need that overseas. Ideally one who can bat and bowl but I would be open on that.

But I would be very unhappy if the role is not filled.

More from me later. Good luck tonight lads!

Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire Vitality Blast

Nottinghamshire 166-5 (Moores 48, Christian 39 not, Ferguson 2-15)

Derbyshire 157-8 (Wahab Riaz 53, Sodhi 4-17)

Nottinghamshire won by nine runs


Despite magnificent performances by the two overseas men, Wahab Riaz and Lockie Ferguson, Derbyshire's unbeaten run came to an end at Trent Bridge tonight.

It wasn't the defeat, so much as the manner of it that hurts, as this was one that was very much snatched from the jaws of victory. After Riaz passed his personal best of 42, made in the last match, and slammed 53 from 31 balls including four sixes, we seemed to have the game in the bag at 93-2 in the tenth over.

Yet on a dry and dusty pitch that had been prepared for him, Ish Sodhi derailed the innings with 4-17 in his four overs, getting turn and bounce to rip the heart from the Derbyshire innings. Maybe we should have just played him out and I'm sure that Wayne Madsen will be disappointed to hole out on the boundary off him, when he looked the man to steer us home against bowlers less suited to the conditions.

The skipper went second ball and I would have been happier to see Dal come in at that point and save Viljoen for the end of innings slog, but the scoring rate had mounted by that stage. Matt Critchley tried hard, but the last over heroics of the Yorkshire game were beyond him this time.

Earlier, Riaz bowled a superb spell of 4-1-17-1, including a rare Powerplay maiden, though his figures were surpassed by the outstanding Ferguson, who bowled 4-0-15-2. Neither man deserved to be on the losing side, but we haemorrhaged runs in the last 20 balls, the home side hitting 54 in that time.

I thought it a questionable decision to bowl Matt Critchley at that time, especially against Dan Christian, always happier against spin than pace. I think Gary Wilson got his bowling muddled up, to be honest. With Viljoen conceding only 18 runs in his three overs, surely he should have bowled another one of those closing three?

It was a night to forget for  Ravi Rampaul and Alex Hughes, but we must pick ourselves up and get ready for another game tomorrow night. Both of those players have been excellent in recent games and the nature of the game is that once you think you have it mastered, it can come back to bite you.

It SHOULD have been five from five.

We will need to make it five from six tomorrow.

Postscript - we conceded sixteen extras tonight. Nottinghamshire conceded three.

The winning margin was nine...

Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire preview

In the least surprising news of the day, we have announced an unchanged squad for the short trip to Nottingham tomorrow night.

I don't expect to see a change to the eleven either, unless Nottinghamshire present us with a dry and dusty surface tomorrow. We didn't handle a turning track at all well there in the RLODC, so I would be surprised if the wicket tomorrow was fast and bouncy.

That might allow an opportunity for Matt McKiernan, but there's little wrong with our attack as it stands, as long as we have some runs on the board for it to defend.

Our hosts have still to announce their squad, but we can expect them to bat deep. Then again so do we and I think our bowling is better than theirs, on form and on paper.

We just need not to be fazed by the occasion and play the match, rather than it. Yes, there's bragging rights and the continuation of a run at stake, but it is still eleven versus eleven and down to who handles the occasion as much as anything.

There's plenty of experience in both sides and there are some seriously talented individuals too.

Bottom line? We can win this, if we play as we have in recent games. The batting has been innovative and aggressive, fearing no bowler and playing with great common sense. The bowling has also been aggressive and incisive, as well as being backed up by excellent fielding.

We come into the game, rightly, high on confidence.

If we finish it the same, we'll all be on cloud nine.

More from me tomorrow, though I will add the Nottinghamshire squad if I see it announced.

Postscript - Nottinghamshire squad  Libby, Mullaney, Wessels, Fraine, Moores, Patel, Coughlin, Christian, Root, Sodhi. Gurney, Fletcher, Ball

Signed Derbyshire one-day shirt up for grabs

Nic, a long time contributor to the blog under the moniker of 'Opening Bat' has contacted me for a little help with a fund raiser.

He recently did a bike ride from Newcastle to Edinburgh with some friends in aid of two charities very dear to him. The first is the cardiac care unit at Swansea hospital, that looked after him eight years ago when he had a heart attack, the second Myeloma UK, who have supported a good friend through stem cell transplants, chemotherapy and clinical trials at Nottingham City Hospital.

He has so far raised over £2000, a magnificent effort, but has been sent a signed, autographed T20 shirt by Derbyshire CCC to help raise further funds.

This shirt is pictured and is in size small.

Anyway, if you would like to win it, please send me an email to peakfan36@yahoo.co.uk by twelve noon on Sunday coming, 5 August. In the email please put your bid and I will put the successful person with the highest bid in touch with Nic so that you can sort out the payment and postage.

Good luck to everyone and well done to Nic for a fantastic effort