Middlesex v Derbyshire Day 2

Middlesex 433 (Higgins 163, Chappell 3-69,  Dupavillon 3-104)

Derbyshire 308-4 (Reece 123*, Madsen 49, Donald 43*)

Derbyshire trail by 125 runs

A delightful century by Luis Reece, with good support down the order, saw Derbyshire make their best four-day batting effort of the season at Lord's today.

Despite taking two early wickets, the Derbyshire attack was frustrated by the excellent Ryan Higgins, who was last man out for 163, well supported by Ethan Bamber in a last wicket stand of 71. The bowling was a little ragged this morning, but these have been two hot days and the players will have been glad to get into the pavilion after fielding for 115 overs.

433 was a challenging total to chase, but the ease with which Bamber had batted as number eleven suggested there were no real devils in the pitch. One assumes the home side opted to bat in the hope that spin would come increasingly into the game, but it didn't work out as they had planned, as Derbyshire batted well in reply. 

Reece was superb. He never looked in any real trouble and progressed serenely to a century with delightful strokes around the wicket. Lloyd and Guest didn't last as long as they would have hoped, but Madsen shared in a stand of 111 for the third wicket, before being caught behind from a delivery that lifted nastily from a length. 

Lamb played some nice shots, although his manner of pushing at the ball with hard hands can get him into trouble. It did here, when he edged Higgins to be well caught by wicket keeper Davies, standing up. 

Middlesex had an opportunity to break through when Bamber, a bowler I really like, induced an inside edge from Donald which was inexplicably dropped by Davies when the bowler was in mid-celebration. The Derbyshire batter, who made half centuries in 19 and 21 balls in the T20, only made one scoring stroke in his first 21 deliveries here, yet thereafter he got into his stride and was scoring at around a run a ball by the close, when he was unbeaten on 43. 

Reece remains on 123, an innings of style and class. Watching him bat today made me think we missed a trick in not having him in the middle/late order for the T20. I suspect a couple of ineffectual run chases might have had a better conclusion, with his class and overall nous to lend greater substance. 

That horse has bolted, however. Perhaps it is something to think about for the remaining games, but there is more four-day cricket to be played before then.

For Derbyshire there is an opportunity here. If they can bat on tomorrow, establish a reasonable lead, then get Alex Thomson onto a fourth day pitch, maybe - just maybe - we could press for a win. It is a very good pitch, with something in it for the bowlers, yet one that enables those good enough to play their strokes. More sun tomorrow will be good for batting, yet dry it out quite nicely as the day goes on.

I would love to see a couple more hours of Reece and Donald in the morning, that's for sure.

In closing tonight, the news that Aneurin Donald has been selected for The Hundred as a wild card pick is no real surprise. 

Players who can hit with his ability are worth their weight in gold in the 20 over format. In a shorter game still, his talents were always going to be in demand, once he showed what he can do. 

He is a very fine player and I hope he goes on to a big score tomorrow. It will be a loss for Derbyshire in the 50 over competition, but such is the way of the game. It affords an opportunity for someone else and it is up to them to take it. 

More from me tomorrow, but after too many evenings when there has been a need to be critical, we have done pretty well in this one so far. 

Hopefully we can build on it now.

Middlesex v Derbyshire day 1

Middlesex342-7 (Higgins 107*, du Plooy 57, Roland-Jones 51" Thomson 2-43, Chappell 2-55

v Derbyshire

Derbyshire did well today until the last hour and a half. 

They gradually worked their way through the Middlesex batting, with some good bowling on a pitch that was probably close to ideal for county cricket.

Certainly the two hours before lunch were engaging, as the ball moved around in the air and off the pitch. Perhaps we didn't take full advantage of this period, but wickets continue to fall through the afternoon, including the important one of Leus du Plooy, well taken by Guest from Alex Thomson

But just when Derbyshire could see light at the end of the tunnel, Toby Roland-Jones joined the admirable Ryan Higgins in a stand that took the home side to a position where they got the best of the first day. 

Regular readers will recall I mentioned Higgins as a player I would love at Derbyshire and he showed today exactly why. He is organised, busy, correct yet powerful and the partnership of 112 runs, unbroken at the close, tipped the scales the way of the home side. 

I thought Zak Chappell the pick of the Derbyshire bowlers today, but it was good to see Alex Thomson bowling steadily after recent travails. Sam Conners was unlucky, but bowling with better rhythm, while in the field Wayne Madsen held a couple of sharp catches at slip. 

It was nice to see proper cricket being played in the sunshine at such an iconic ground. 

Derbyshire will need to finish off the home innings early tomorrow, then bat with similar application themselves. It did seem to roll out easier as the day went on, but we have seen before when that happens until the opposition bowl on it.

It promises to be an interesting day tomorrow.

Middlesex v Derbyshire County Championship preview

It is back to red ball cricket for Derbyshire tomorrow, as they head to Lord's and a 4-day game against Middlesex. 

The game sees a likely return for Luis Reece and Sam Conners, with Daryn Dupavillon the lone overseas. The squad is as follows:

Lloyd, Reece, Guest, Madsen, Lamb, Donald, Whiteley, Dal, Chappell, Thomson, Conners, Dupavillon, Brown.

I couldn't predict a final eleven without knowledge of the pitch, but perhaps Brown will earn a rest after the T20 and one of the batters will miss out.

Richard Johnson has named a squad of 14 for Middlesex, who include former Derbyshire man Leus du Plooy:

Toby Roland-Jones (Captain)

Ethan Bamber

Henry Brookes

Jack Davies (Wicket-keeper)

Josh De Caires

Leus du Plooy the game is set fair

Stephen Eskinazi

Nathan Fernandes

Ryan Higgins

Max Holden

Luke Hollman

Ishaan Kaushal

Sam Robson

Mark Stoneman

Middlesex are second in the table, while  Derbyshire are bottom and yet to win a game in this format. The weather is set fair for the duration but it would be hard to predict a Derbyshire win, the way we have been playing pretty much since April.

I'm going to go for a draw here, hope that the result goes our way but would not be surprised if it went the way of the home team. 

What do you think? 

Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire Vitality Blast game 8

Nottinghamshire 173-5 (Clarke 47, Patel 2-24)

Derbyshire 165-8 (Donald 52, Madsen 40)

Nottinghamshire won by eight runs

Apologies for the delayed blog on the Nottinghamshire game, but family will always take precedence and yesterday was a great deal of fun for all of us, on our son's birthday.

At least until the cricket came on. 

When we get to September and I reflect on the 2024 season, the words that will come to mind will be 'huge disappointment'.

Mickey Arthur has said that this summer he had 'his' team. His first two years were ones of assessing the squad, getting what he could from existing personnel and then improving it. 

I am not convinced he's done that. I don't think many other people will be either. To some extent I can ignore four-day cricket, because the Head of Crcket has not been brave enough to instruct Neil Godrich to get more life into the pitches. Had there been a willingness to do that, we might have seen more than a succession of bore draws. Until that is sorted, we will continue to be also rans in that format. 

But T20 was supposed to be the focus of recruitment and the signs are either that we have recruited badly, or the coaching team are simply not getting the best from the players. 

Yet again last night, we saw the bowlers do a decent job and keep Nottinghamshire to a score that would only be deemed as par at Trent Bridge. When Nye Donald got us off to a flyer, some might have thought we were on course for the double over the home county. 

Except we have been here before.

Donald is a batter of genuine talent who hits the ball very cleanly, yet needs to realise that his job isn't done when he reaches 50. Having hit the bowling to all parts again last night, he only needed to knock it around when the field went back, but frustratingly got out when the job was only half done. 

Yet it is hard to be critical of him when he is the one scoring runs and the rest of the batting has redefined the word 'underwhelming'.

Madsen has been a shadow of his former self, perhaps carrying an injury,  but Patel got 64 in one innings and only 48 in his other seven. My early assertion that his hand/eye coordination wasn't so sharp is being proven correct but he has been up and down the order like a jack rabbit down a hole. Whiteley got 46 in one sparking innings but has only 44 in the other six. Chappell has 34 in six innings but was bizarrely promoted to number four last night. Why wasn't Whiteley elevated against the leggie and with a short boundary to aim at as a left-hander? Guest is second in the averages but was at number eight. I struggle to work out the logic and I'm pretty sure the players must as well.

These are good cricketers but the overall impression, when we are past the halfway stage of the season, is that Mickey Arthur doesn't know what he's doing with them and still hasn't worked out his best batting order. Is it any surprise we are so inconsistent? 

The injury to Cam Fletcher didn't help last night, but yet again our team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. With the exception of the home win over Nottinghamshire, I have never felt we had a game under control, because I don't think the batters have been given a clear game plan and trusted with their role in it.

35 from the last four overs - and with six wickets in hand - would normally be seen as a formality these days. That we fell eight runs short is almost laughable.

There were all the usual noises after the game about our still being able to qualify and 'we have to play better cricket', but it is not going to happen. Realistically, we can only afford to lose one more game to do so and, on present form, even optimistic old me cannot look at things and think we'll do this. 

There has been considerable investment in this squad and Mickey Arthur cannot complain about not being backed. Money was found to bring in players that he wanted and his job was to get the best from those players. 

Has he managed to do so? I think the answer is fairly obvious.

Nottinghamshire v. Derbyshire Vitality Blast game 8

Can Derbyshire beat Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge tomorrow?

Yes, they can, if the right Derbyshire turns up. 

Daryn Dupavillon said on the club site today that consistency is the issue. When we play well, we can give anyone a good game, but frustratingly we have failed to do so on enough occasions so far. 

There is no Mitch Wagstaff after his concussion episode in the second team game this week, so the choice would appear to be between playing an extra batter, Sam Conners or Alex Thomson. That will depend on the pitch and it's a hard one to call.

The Derbyshire squad: 

Donald, Lloyd, Madsen, Fletcher, Whiteley, Patel, Guest, Thomson, Chappell, Brown, Dupavillon, Dal, Came, Reece, Conners

I suspect the first eleven named will be the likely side.

There is no Will Young in the Nottinghamshire squad. The Kiwi has had a wretched competition so far, averaging only nine from six innings. Ben Martindale played in the last game and may well do so tomorrow. 

The Nottinghamshire squad: 

Clarke, Hales, Harrison, James, King, Lister, Martindale, McCann, Montgomery, Moores, Patterson-White, Pennington, Stone

As I said before, the first game, getting Clarke and Hales early is the key to beating Nottinghamshire. The middle order has been shown to be fragile and while it may choose to fire tomorrow night, there are opportunities for Derbyshire if we play with focus and aggression. 

I would still like to see us better utilise Ross Whiteley and maintain that he could be very effective in the power play.  With his power, if he came off he would win a game, if he didn't, there are other good options to follow. 

The weather is set fair and there will undoubtedly be a large crowd for this one. It would be fantastic to beat Nottinghamshire in their own back yard and go into the final six matches with a shout of qualification for the knockouts.

Let's see which Derbyshire side turns up.

My two fantasy picks (belatedly!)

Last week I asked who your two fantasy picks would be to improve the Derbyshire side. Just a bit of fun and there were some very interesting responses 

Apologies for the late reply, but I would go for the following two players.

My first pick is an all rounder who I have respected for years as a great competitor. He is a bowler who is happy to bowl those hard spells, when the ball ball is flying around and there's not a lot in the pitch. I've never seen him be anything less than a handful and while bowling is his stronger suit, he is also a very handy bat. 

My first selection would be Ben Raine of Durham. The ideal man for our attack, and for getting the right ethic in the dressing room. 

My second would be another all rounder and also a player I have admired for a number of years. He always seems to be in the game, whether it is scoring runs, taking wickets or holding blinders in the field. I don't think he will play international cricket now, but worse players have done so over the years. I read recently that Zimbabwe had made overtures about getting him to play for them, but he doesn't appear to be keen. 

My second selection is Ryan Higgins. An average of 37 with the bat and 25 with the ball confirms him as a genuine all round talent and he adapts his game very well for all formats. 

I toyed with the idea of bringing back. Matt Critchley and I would love to see a county return at some point for both him and Ben Slater. 

A man can dream, right?

Book Review: Forgotten Pioneers by Giles Wilcock

Giles Wilcock is the author of one of my favourite online cricket resources, the Old Ebor cricket blog, which covers the game and its social importance in the period before the Second World War.

There could thus be no better author of a book on the world's first professional women cricketers

Initially there was a curiosity value in watching women play the game, but eventually sceptics were won over by the skill that they showed in doing so. At the same time, they were not professionals in the modern sense, as evenings would find them performing in theatres and music halls, singing and dancing, fencing and undertaking an array of gymnastic exercises.

The first season was a triumph but the Original English Lady Cricketers, which sounded more like a Vaudeville act, ran into problems in the second season, 1891. The organisation collapsed and although weather problems and changes in playing personnel had some impact, there was a strong suspicion of fraud, by the team's mainly male managers. 

For fans of the modern women's game and how it has evolved through Molly Hide, Enid Bakewell and Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, this book is quite an eye-opener. I loved it, but then was always likely to, given it combines both cricket and social history.

It may not be a subject that leaps out at some of the book buyers out there, but again, I applaud the publishers for getting this book into print. 

As for the author, I am a confirmed fan anyway and he can do little wrong in my eyes. This really is a very enjoyable read, admirably researched and beautifully written, accompanied by photographs and illustrations that I had no idea existed.

While the modern women's game has come on in leaps and bounds, I would be fairly confident in saying that none of the stars have finished a game, headed off to the theatre and entertained another audience with diverse and quite remarkable skills on the trapeze and banjo...

Forgotten Pioneers: The Story of the Original English Lady Cricketers is written by Giles Wilcock and published by Pitch Publishing

Book Review: The Establishment Boys: The Other Side of Kerry Packer's Cricket Revolution by Barry Nicholls

Pitch Publishing have produced numerous excellent sports books over the years and 2024 has been an excellent one for them. 

Barry Nicholls' book is a fascinating look at the Australian cricketers who were plucked from the domestic game to take on full-strength international sides when Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket revolution was ongoing. 

It was very much, as the book says, a parallel universe. World Series Cricket was all singing and dancing, a precursor to modern franchise cricket around the world, with the best pitted against the best. 

It was very difficult for those who came into the Australian side. Not all of them were of the requisite standard and they were not especially well remunerated. The consolation was that they were now international players, although that might have been of scant consolation when they were sitting targets for the quick bowlers of the period, or handling the combined wiles of the great Indian spin quarter.

This is a book of fascinating stories, broken friendships and new experiences, with 41-year-old Bob Simpson returning to Test cricket after an absence of ten years to lead a relatively unknown group of players in the traditional form of the game. 

For players like Allan Border, Kim Hughes and Rodney Hogg there were to be good international careers when normality resumed. Others were not so lucky.

I especially enjoyed reading what happened to the participants afterwards. Some of their stories were better known than others, but I learned stuff from this book, always a good thing. 

It is a tale that needed to be told and the book has been well-researched. I really enjoyed it and it is well worth looking out for.

The Establishment Boys - the Other Side of Kerry Packers Cricket Revolution is written by Barry Nicholls and published by Pitch Publishing

Moore and Bin Naeem sign professional deals

You really couldn't wish for better news, from a cricketing perspective, than that which came from the County Ground this morning. 

Both Harry Moore and Yousaf Bin Naeem have signed their first professional contracts, which will see them initially working with the first team squad until the end of 2025. 

It is confirmation, if required, of the sterling work being done by Daryn Smit and his team on the Pathway, as well as by the two young men themselves. 

They have appeared to be outstanding talents for the past two seasons and both have impressed me immensely in my sightings of them.

Both have fathers of considerable cricketing pedigree and the support of their families will be important in the next phase of their lives. 

I hope that they get opportunity in the remainder of the season. At 17 they still have education to consider and that will continue to be a focus in the immediate future. 

It looks bright for both young men and I am sure that everyone wishes them the very best as they embark on what could well be very exciting careers.

Good day for Seconds

A good day for the second team at Rockhampton, as they recorded 359-9 against Gloucestershire. 

Anuj Dal scored 111 and Staffordshire/SACA player Hishaam Khan made 61, as they added 132 for the 7th wicket. 

Earlier Harry Came made 31, Luis Reece 41 and Matt Lamb just nine, none of them, perhaps, doing enough to force their away into the side against Nottinghamshire at the weekend. 

Worryingly, Mitch Wagstaff had to retire from his innings with concussion, which might be a problem for Friday at Trent Bridge.

The scorecard can be seen here

Morning after thoughts

We have reached the halfway point of the Vitality Blast and we're sitting with three wins and four defeats. It is generally accepted that you can only afford to lose six matches to qualify for the knockouts, so if not yet at 'last chance saloon', we are fast approaching the swinging doors at its entrance. 

I have a few observations based on these seven games. You may agree with them or not, but that's your prerogative.

I don't think we went into this competition having fully thought things out. There have been media- friendly soundbites from Mickey Arthur, saying the team is packed with 'excitement machines' and that we are going to play 'sexy cricket'. I may be in a minority of one, but I don't think such comments do us any favours at all. 

Sometimes you just have to ca canny, as they say in the part of the country in which I reside. It doesn't have to be bish, bash, bosh all the time and sometimes knocking it around, taking ones and twos then taking advantage of a bad ball, can be more effective than trying to hit it into the stratosphere. Look at Birmingham yesterday. They knew what they had to do, knocked it around, tried nothing ambitious and never looked in any trouble.

One of the better one day sides of my salad days was Somerset. They had the brilliance of Viv Richards and the explosive power of Ian Botham, but they succeeded because the rest played their natural game around them. You don't need a top order where everyone is trying to score twenty an over. It is doomed to fail, just as it usually did when Richards and Botham batted together. As the latter admitted in an interview, they just ended up trying to out-hit each other.

It is no real surprise that the three most reliable batters this year have been David Lloyd, Brooke Guest and Aneurin Donald. The first two play their game and don't deviate too far from what comes naturally. Despite being different, so too does Donald, whose approach is not markedly different depending on the game format. 

I applaud the positive way in which Samit Patel has led the team, but he has only scored runs in one innings. Again yesterday, he perished when a shot of greater common sense might have proved beneficial. We had 34 dot balls in our innings, surely far too many for an innings that only gives you 120? 

We have also struggled because there has been a drop in the output of our erstwhile talisman, Wayne Madsen. Again, he's only had one innings of note and frustratingly has been caught down the legside in the last two matches. He has been the focal point of our batting in recent seasons - pretty much since he came to the county - and the decline, hopefully temporary, has had a negative impact on the team. It was always likely to be so. 

Then there is Ross Whiteley. For some reason he seems to be viewed only as a bloke who can come in and slog a few in the last five overs. Might it not have been beneficial to let him come in during the Powerplay and bat when the first wicket falls? Boundaries are boundaries at any time of the innings, but to give him the best opportunity, why not give him the maximum time available in which to do damage? There is a greater chance of a mis-hit falling clear of fielders in the Powerplay, while he could also put an innings out of sight. Could you imagine Ross and Nye batting together for a few overs? There's even a left/right combo there, if it floats your boat.

It isn't fair to criticise someone who only gets in during the closing overs with the expectation of 'slogging it'. The likelihood of consistent success is slim and I don't think his role has been especially well thought out. 

Then again, nor was overseas recruitment, as I have mentioned ad nauseam before. It was clear to me that greater balance in T20, if it was to be the focus of our summer, was in the signing of a player who could hit a long ball and bowl some spin. The stronger suit didn't matter, but the flexibility afforded by such a player was obvious. 

Following the signing of Blair Tickner, I wrote that the second signing would be crucial. As it has turned out, Daryn Dupavillon has bowled well, but we still had two seam bowlers with no pretensions to batting, potentially in the eleven. When Pat Brown and Zak Chappell were always going to play, it left the attack somewhat formulaic, the side unbalanced. It also meant we played the opening games with only one overseas player, when this was seemingly realised too late. 

That we initially played the wrong overseas player, with a lesser record in the format, is also undeniable. 

Cam Fletcher has done okay so far, without setting the world alight. He has looked a decent batter, without yet going on to a big score, he is an asset in the field but he is also a third wicket-keeper. So the role of fifth bowler hasn't been nailed down by anyone, though Mitch Wagstaff has shown potential. Whiteley has been tried, but too often seemingly as an afterthought (where was he at Headingley?) while Thomson must be baffled, in a season of more ins and outs than your average hokey cokey. For the record, I rate Alex as a four-day bowler, but have never seen him as a T20 regular. 

So we approach the mid-season break with a first choice side not yet settled upon. Mohammad Amir will be here soon, apparently, after an international return that was probably ill-advised. But presumably he plays in place of Dupavillon, who has done little wrong since he got into the team. Otherwise we omit Fletcher, who at least offers batting depth to a side that has hardly been consistent in that department. The alternative, of playing Chappell, Amir, Brown and Dupavillon, requires another rejig of the batting, the order and opposition pitches. Because against that attack I would prepare something conducive to spin...

It has all been a bit of a mess. We could still qualify, but clarity of thought process has not been especially obvious along the way. 

Were I a betting man, I wouldn't be putting my pension on our doing so.

It actually hurts to say that, but I am now erring on the side of realism, not optimism.

Derbyshire v Birmingham Vitality Blast game 7

Derbyshire 133-7 (Lloyd 50, Guest 33*)

Birmingham 136-3 (Mousley 66*, Hain 43, Brown 2-25)

Birmingham won by seven wickets

Derbyshire did the right thing today, in winning the toss and electing to bat on a used pitch. 

But we didn't score enough runs. I said to my daughter after two overs of our innings, if we could get 150 I fancied our chances. We didn't get there, despite the best efforts of David Lloyd and Brooke Guest, but it was a good game of cricket. 

To be honest, I enjoy that sort of game more than when 220 plays 215. I just feel it is a better battle between bat and ball. The difference today was that the visitors had four good spin options and we had two, plus Wayne Madsen, who hasn't bowled for a long time. 

It was never easy to score runs, that much was obvious when Nye Donald was struggling to get it off the pitch. Lloyd and Guest gave us something to bowl at, but another twenty might have made them fret a little.

As it was, after a good power play, they only needed to knock it around. One player to bat through was the requirement and Mousley and Hain showed great common sense in their approach as Birmingham won with relative ease. Derbyshire took it deep, which is some consolation, but we will want to win the next one and go in to the break at 4/4. 

The group is wide open, everyone in it seems capable of beating everyone out, so there is still a lot to play for. 

More from me soon.

Derbyshire v. Northamptonshire Vitality Blast game 6

Northamptonshire 193-7 (Breetzke 94, Raza 34 Dupavillon 3-43, Chappell 2-34)

Derbyshire 123-3  in 11 overs (Donald 68, Lloyd 34*)

Derbyshire won by 24 runs (DLS)

Derbyshire moved into third place in the northern group tonight, with a rain-affected win over Northamptonshire.

Truth be told, had Aneurin Donald been available for the first two games, we might even be doing better. Another pulsating innings tonight, 68 from 26 deliveries, put Derbyshire well ahead on the Duckworth Lewis equation and in the process he equalled his own club record fastest fifty in just 19 balls. Eight sixes flew from his bat, another club record. While watching him I was thinking back to other big hitters I have seen and he is up there with Kuiper, Wilkins, Guptill and De Freitas.

On his dismissal, there was a similar wobble to the one we experienced at Headingley, with Madsen well caught down the legside and Patel going to a stunner on the boundary from Vasconcelos. It was a shot he didn't really need to play, having previously hit the bowler for six, but we are playing 'pedal to the metal' when batting and, just as we enjoy the carnage when it works, we must accept when it goes wrong on occasion. 

There was no repeat this time, however, with David Lloyd playing an excellent innings to anchor things and Cam Fletcher showing his own six-hitting credentials before rain ended things once and for all. 

Earlier Matthew Breetzke scored an excellent 94 for the visitors from 54 balls, which appeared aggressive until Donald came in later. Raza threatened but was undone by Brown's variations and Chappell closed the innings out with a final over that included three wickets. Dupavillon started with a maiden and his first three overs were very good, although he did get hit in his last. 

The rate at which Derbyshire scored their runs was sufficient to boost their net run rate considerably. If they can follow this excellent performance with another win against Birmingham on Sunday, they might just dare to dream, with Mohammad Amir coming in, that the knockouts are very much within reach. 

If Donald can maintain this form, nothing is impossible. 

100% home record maintained. If they can keep that going, they won't be far away. 

That was a good effort tonight.

Weekend cricket preview v Northamptonshire and Birmingham

Mickey, Arthur has named a squad of fifteen for the two weekend fixtures, at Derby against Northamptonshire tomorrow, then against Birmingham on Sunday. 

Realistically, I don't expect a great deal of change from the Yorkshire game. The only decision, for me, is whether to recall, Mitch Wagstaff in place of Alex Thomson. I would do, on the basis that Mitch has done little wrong and offers depth to the batting, something of an unknown quantity to the bowling and excellence in the field. 

If we can win two of the next three games, we will be in a very good position to progress in this competition. There is certainly the talent in the side to do so, if everyone goes out with the same level of focus. 

Likely side: Donald, Lloyd, Madsen, Fletcher, Patel, Whiteley, Guest, Chappell, Wagstaff, Brown, Dupavillon

Came, Dal, Thomson, Conners also in the squad.

There is no news of the Northamptonshire squad as I write, but former England man Ravi Bopara is having an excellent competition and they are currently sitting in the top four. Derbyshire can replace them tomorrow, if they turn up with their best form. The game at Northampton could have gone either way and Derbyshire will hope to be on the right side of the result this time.

In their last game, Northamptonshire edged out Worcestershire and fielded the following side: 

Breetzke, Vasconcelos, Willey, Bopara, Raza, Zaib, McManus, Bartlett, Sanderson, Heldreich, Weatherall.

Former Derbyshire man George Scrimshaw is going to be out for some time with an unspecified injury. I just hope it isn't a recurrence of the back problems that plagued his career at Worcestershire and wish him well.

As for the game on Sunday, Birmingham have a 14-man squad named for the game against Yorkshire tomorrow and against us:

Alex Davies
Hassan Ali
Ed Barnard
Chris Benjamin
Jacob Bethell
Danny Briggs
George Garton
Richard Gleeson
Sam Hain
Jake Lintott
Craig Miles
Dan Mousley
Chris Woakes
Rob Yates

The forecast for Sunday appears favourable, but the ones that I have read suggest that play tomorrow may well be restricted to a shorter game, with a fair amount of rain forecast for the Derby area. 

Fingers crossed for that to pass us by and also for the right results. I think we are good enough to win both of these games, but it depends which Derbyshire side shows up. 

What do you think? 

Quick, fun question

Thought I would get you all to don your thinking caps, while we await the next game. 

You are head of cricket at Derbyshire. Which two players from other counties would you bring to the club to improve our fortunes? 

Keep in mind central contracts, because you would hardly ever see those who are on them. You are not allowed an overseas player as one of them. 

I look forward to seeing your answers and I will give you my duo after the weekend.

Seconds lose but Wagstaff shines

If today's Second Eleven fixture against Lancashire at Blackpool was a shootout for a spinning role at the weekend, it is fair to say that the duel was won by Mitch Wagstaff.

He top scored with 47 as Derbyshire struggled to 129-8 in their 20 overs, then took 2-15 in his four overs, including the wicket of Rocky Flintoff, son of the former England all-rounder. Haris Ajaz also returned excellent figures of 1-17 in his four overs, but Alex Thomson struggled and went for 39 from his three overs. 

I have to say I'm not sure what Mitch did wrong to drop out of the eleven, but I dare say he must have a very good chance of returning on Friday night, against Northamptonshire.

The scorecard can be seen here as Lancashire scored the winning run in the final over.

Meanwhile, Chris Woakes returned to the field for Warwickshire Seconds today, so may return to senior action on Sunday. The former England all-rounder took a break from the game following the death of his father.

Two very big games this weekend. Hopefully we see a repeat of the Nottinghamshire form, rather than that we showed against Yorkshire.

Puzzles from Headingley

There were a couple of puzzles for me in the defeat against Yorkshire.

First up, the change in the batting order. When you are 110-0 at the halfway mark, you are flying. Even when David Lloyd was caught, it just needed common sense batting to make 200. Ninety from ten is not a challenge in modern first class cricket, but why we moved Cam Fletcher, a proven quick run scorer, from three in the previous game to six is a puzzle. I could understand Wayne Madsen coming in at three, but Fletcher should then have followed on his quick dismissal, knocking it around, giving Nye Donald the strike.

Secondly, the treatment of Alex Thomson.

I don't think he has been well managed this year. After taking 12 wickets in the first game, he finds himself dropped in favour of a loan spinner, Jack Morley from Lancashire, after Mickey Arthur claimed 'spinners don't take wickets at Derby.' It was a comment hardly conducive to the success of either, when their chances are written off in an interview by their manager. It was also wrong, as proven by the spinners of Northamptonshire, who took nine wickets as they nearly beat us subsequently.

Alex is then recalled for the T20 at Northampton, bats well to give us something to bowl at, then is dropped again, in favour of Mitch Wagstaff. 

He was restored to the team at Headingley, but given the opening over in the Powerplay against Malan and Lyth, two very good opening bats. Perhaps it harked back to Chesterfield last year, when he did well against the same opponents, but that run chase was much more onerous, the pressure greater, the pitch at Leeds a belter.

I wouldn't have thought Alex's confidence is especially high after all of this. It is professional sport and you need to be tough, but it poses a question.

Why would you give a two-year contract to someone who, by inference, you are saying is not going to take wickets in fifty per cent of the games? Speaking as a long-time manager of a lot of people, not as a cricket coach, getting the best from them is in building confidence, gently massaging egos and plenty of encouragement. Saying such a thing when Alex is the only bowler averaging under fifty wasn't the brightest of ideas, for him, for Morley or for the seamers who presumably should have been taking wickets, but weren't.

I said from the end of last year that we needed a spinner, ideally one who could bat. Alex could have continued his cricket education with such a player and the pitches could have been produced to bring them into the game more often. With our many seam options, we could have accommodated two spinners and we missed a trick there.

But we haven't done any favours to the one specialist spinner we have.

Yorkshire v Derbyshire Vitality Blast game 5

Derbyshire 179-7 (Donald 84, Lloyd 41)

Yorkshire 180-1 (Lyth 84, Malan 79*)

Yorkshire won by nine wickets 

Despite a magnificent start given to them by Nye Donald and David Lloyd, Derbyshire blew an excellent opportunity at Headingley today.

The Welshmen put on 114 in the first ten overs, but only 65 came from the final ten, as the powerful middle order tried to outmuscle one another, going for boundaries, rather than playing their natural games. Yorkshire also bowled better in the second half of the innings, which was hugely disappointing after the pyrotechnics of Donald, in particular.

He scored the fastest 50 by a Derbyshire player and it was magnificent to watch, but thereafter the collective batting was a major disappointment on a very good pitch.

With Root, Malan and Masood in the opposition lineup, we needed a good score, but the execution of shots was very average after the opening pair had been dismissed.

Nor were the bowling or fielding anywhere near previous standards, as Yorkshire chased it down with ease. It was always likely to be so, with three international players in the top four and perhaps the dice was cast when Yorkshire won the toss, but after the excitement of Derby on Friday night, this was poor.

Lyth was especially destructive and by the time that he was well caught by Fletcher at long off, the game had long gone. While the home side's spinners slowed the Derbyshire charge, Thomson and Patel went at ten an over as Malan showed his international class. Dupavillon was the best of the bowlers but they were firmly put in their place today.

They can do better than this and next weekend, against Northamptonshire and Birmingham, they need to do so.

Cricket World Cup: the local connection

Many of you will have watched fascinated, as the USA cricket team beat mighty Pakistan in a super over finish on Thursday. 

Perhaps not many are aware of the local connection in that American side.

Nitish Kumar is a Canadian national who switched to play for the United States. However, he went to school at Repton and played cricket for Ticknall, where he did very well, as well as for Chesterfield.

He also played for Loughborough MCCU where he scored good runs, including a century against Northamptonshire. So highly was he rated that the then Derbyshire coach, Karl Krikken, was interested in taking him onto the Derbyshire staff. 

Kumar was loathe to give up his overseas status, however, and so it came to naught.

Fast forward around 12 years and he is hitting a four over mid off from the final ball to take his side into a super over finish against Pakistan. 

Now 30, he has had a good international career since becoming the second youngest player, aged 15 and 237 days, to play one-day international cricket.

So if you are looking for another local connection to follow in this World Cup, Nitish (known as 'Tendulkar' by team mates) is perhaps your man.

He got one over Mohammad Amir's boys, anyway! 

Yorkshire preview and final thoughts on the Nottinghamshire win

In all of the euphoria following Derbyshire's win against Nottinghamshire last night, it is important to keep a sense of perspective. No matter the landmark and emphatic nature of that win, it was still just one game and two points. In isolation, it doesn't amount to much more than a can of beans. 

It affords local bragging rights, for the first time since I had hair, I think, but it needs to be the catalyst for the Derbyshire season. 

More by accident than design, we have come across our best side. A friend pointed out to me yesterday that I had said Derbyshire's second overseas signing would dictate our fortunes this year. When that second signing turned out to be another non-batting fast bowler, I was unconvinced, despite the last two games suggesting that Daryn Dupavillon is going to be a good asset in this format.

Yet with Blair Tickner sadly having to return home, the signing of Cam Fletcher offers the balance that I said we needed when I said a batting spinner or spinning batter was required. Okay, we got a batting keeper, having already got two of those, but the signs last night were that Fletcher will offer much needed additional power in the batting, as well as being an asset in the field. 

We shouldn't forget that we started with the wrong overseas player in this format, DD having a superior record to Tickner in T20, nor that we fell into the same trap as last year, opening with batters who, while talented, are not scoring quick enough.

While we had lost four wickets by the halfway mark last night, we had scored quickly enough to not need to panic. If you only have 60 on the board at that point, there is additional pressure, but we were around 80, which afforded opportunity to regroup.

Aneurin Donald failed last night, but I am confident that he and David Lloyd will get quick early runs on the board for us. There are then good options down to number seven, with the order largely irrelevant. The role of Ross Whiteley has to be fluid, but I think Mickey Arthur got it right last night. With four wickets gone, there was a need to rebuild and Brooke Guest is perfect for that role. 

The thing about Brooke is that he manages a game situation so well. He will never be as powerful as Whiteley, because he is built differently for the role that he has, but he works the gaps, runs hard and is still capable of reaching and clearing the boundary. 

The team looks completely different with Donald, Madsen and Fletcher in it. Indeed, there is potential for this side to go a long way, because it now bats down to number nine and has bowling options for most eventualities. There was also a confidence, almost a swagger, in the field, which I have seldom seen from a Derbyshire side.

I have no complaints about the bowling and fielding in four matches. You will get hit for fours and sixes - after all, opponents are allowed to play well. But after a mistake in the game at Northampton, where Samit Patel miscalculated his bowling options and left Luis Reece to bowl the last over, he has handled his bowling well and set fields shrewdly. In return, they have broadly bowled to those fields.

There might be a case for Samit to take an over in the Powerplay, rather than entrusting it to Whiteley or Wagstaff, because he seldom gets hit. So far he's only going at six an over, which is extraordinary, but he seems in control, has the respect of his teammates and seems genuinely motivated to succeed. 

Tomorrow we head to Headingley and another good test. Yorkshire are really struggling to keep seam bowlers fit and have had to loan Conor McKerr from Surrey for the rest of the competition. Conor is slowly working his way around all of the counties, having previously had a spell with Derbyshire, of course, as well as Nottinghamshire and Kent.

With Coad, Fisher, Milnes, Edwards and Leech out, Ottis Gibson hasn't had a lot of luck and the home side's batting looks their stronger suit. As I write this, there is no news on their squad, but the likelihood is in little change from the side they fielded last time out, against Northamptonshire:

Malan, Masood, Root, Ferreira, Wharton, Bess, Thompson, Revis,  Chohan, McKerr, Moriarty.

Adam Lyth and Matt Fisher may be fit to return, but we will await the squad announcement later.

As for Derbyshire, you don't fix what isn't broken. We fielded what I regard as our strongest side for this format last night. Barring injury and the potential addition of Mohammad Amir, I don't expect many changes to that for the rest of the competition. 

Let's see if we can build on last night.

If we can get to four, ideally five wins from eight games before four-day cricket returns, we will be very much in the mix.

Post script - Matthew Fisher is out of the Yorkshire squad, as is overseas wicketkeeper bat Donovan Ferreira, who has returned to South Africa for a family wedding.

Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire Vitality Blast game 4

Derbyshire 198-6 (Madsen 53, Whiteley 46, Guest 32, Stone 3-42)

Nottinghamshire 102 (Dupavillon 3-15, Brown 3-17, Whiteley 3-23)

Derbyshire won by 96 runs

Wow.

I called the team last night, Mickey Arthur picked it today and that performance gave me hope that we can now progress in this competition.

It is one performance, one game but Nottinghshire were not just beaten for the first time since 2015, they were outclassed and outmanoeuvred.

Derbyshire were magnificent. This was a perfect performance.

It didn't look that way at the start, when Nye Donald went at deep midwicket first ball, but there were pleasing cameos from David Lloyd and Cam Fletcher, on debut. Both went too quickly for comfort and Patel, after promising something special against his old team mates, perished near the boundary edge.

Yet they were the aperitifs for a sumptuous main course. Madsen, thankfully restored to fitness and the team, looked in nick from the start and batting with common sense and the panache to which we have become accustomed, rebuilt the innings with the reliable Guest. He was motoring through the gears and reached an excellent fifty before sending a catch to Hales at deep mid off, having batted just 32 deliveries.

Then came Ross Whiteley. With the score looking like topping out around 160-170, he was quickly into his stride. Sixes and fours rained from his bat as he showed the power and finishing ability for which he was signed. Guest sensibly gave him the strike and although he was caught on the boundary from the final ball of the innings, Whiteley, with 5 sixes and 3 fours, put Derbyshire in a very strong position, on a wicket that at times looked two-paced.

It looked one-paced - quick - when Daryn Dupavillon removed one of Nottinghamshire's danger men, Joe Clarke, with a fast, short, first ball of the innings. Alex Hales didn't last long either and it soon became clear that this was going to be Derbyshire's night.

Dupavillon was excellent, as was Pat Brown, but the surprise package was Whiteley. Pumped after his batting display, he, like the others took three wickets in a complete all round performance. 

The fielding was excellent, Brown excelling on the cover boundary, but showing safe hands as befits wicket keepers, Fletcher and Donald each took two catches. Lloyd also held an awkward one as Derbyshire outplayed their opponents.

The side was well led by Patel, who clearly had a point to prove here. It was a complete and total victory, playing the kind of cricket I had hoped to see from a Derbyshire side this season. 

With Madsen and Donald back in the side and Fletcher promising additional power, the team is now well-balanced.

There is potential to do well in this competition and many more displays like this will gladden the hearts of supporters and make others keep a wary eye on Derbyshire. 

That was quite superb.

New records for the Peakfan Blog

I don't often do the blog on my laptop anymore.

Partly because my laptop is old and needing replaced (which will be sometime soon) but also because I can largely dictate the blog into my phone, edit it quickly and save my fingers. 

But I needed to go on the laptop today and checked up on a few figures regarding the blog. I'm delighted to say usage this year is the highest it has ever been and last month there were over 97K views, also a new record. The counter doesn't register views from mobiles, so there is quite a discrepancy between the blog statistics, behind the scenes, and what the counter picks up.

To be setting such records in the 17th year of doing the blog is something I am very thrilled about.

With games against Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire this weekend, hopefully there will be a bumper number of visits and I can report back on a new record at the end of June. 

Thank you so much to everyone for your continued engagement. It is always a very great pleasure to read your comments and appreciate your support of our club. 

Long may it continue!

Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire Vitality Blast preview

I have to admit that when I saw the tweet headline 'Fletcher is a Falcon' today, my first thought was that Derbyshire had somehow persuaded Nottinghamshire to loan us Luke Fletcher ahead of the Friday night East Midlands derby...

I must also confess not knowing much more than any of you about Cam Fletcher, the New Zealand wicket keeper bat who will play the remainder of the Vitality Blast, but his statistics are good and he seems to be a middle order finisher who can hit the ball a very long way. 

There is a nice article about him here

With Brooke Guest and Aneurin Donald already on the staff it seems unlikely we will see him with gloves on, but his ability to score quickly will be much appreciated. He batted at four for Glamorgan in a three-match stay last year and an average of 35 in the format is good going, so too a strike rate in the mid-130s.

While I have been critical of Mickey Arthur in his overseas recruitment so far, Fletcher seems absolutely the sort of player we should have had from the outset. Fair play in recognising this and doing something about it. 

The signing comes about because Blair Tickner and his wife are returning to New Zealand to continue her treatment for leukaemia. I have massive respect for Tickner in the way that he has gone about his work with a smile on his face and giving everything, when so much is going on in the background. No one could fault his effort and I am sure I speak on behalf of everyone in wishing the family the very best for the future and hopefully a full recovery.

Wayne Madsen and Nye Donald are both named in the 15-man squad for the game at home tomorrow against Nottinghamshire, as well as the fixture against Yorkshire at Headingley on Sunday. It will be a huge asset to have both of them back in the side alongside Fletcher, especially for those all important early overs. Sam Conners is in the squad too, after bowling well for the second team. 

Were I selecting the side I would go with this: 

Donald 

Lloyd

Madsen

Fletcher 

Patel

Guest

Whiteley 

Chappell

Wagstaff

Brown 

Dupavillon

Also in squad: Came, Reece, Conners, Dal.

Depending on the pitch, Reece or Conners could play instead of Wagstaff, but for me the above eleven gives us power from the outset, which we have so far missed.

As for our visitors, they look vulnerable if you can expose the middle order by getting Hales and Clarke early. The loss of Christian, Mullaney and of course Patel leaves less experience, which Derbyshire will hope to exploit.

They announced a squad of fourteen for the game against Worcestershire at Trent Bridge tonight and I suspect it will change little from this for tomorrow: 

Hales, Clarke, Haynes, Martindale, Harrison, James, Lister, Montgomery, Moores, Patterson-White, Pennington, Pettman, Stone, Young.

No Slater, Hameed or Fletcher, though Pennington and Stone could make for a lively opening pairing. 

If this Derbyshire side played to potential and plays the opposition on merit, rather than reputation and past form, we can win this game. I just want to see Derbyshire play with the foot down from the outset. Continue to bowl and field as we largely have done from the start of the competition, show no fear with the bat. There is talent in that side to hurt any opponents. 

Let's hope that we can do so tomorrow night.

Postscript: Nottinghamshire are currently hammering Worcestershire, although the latter to be fair have batted poorly.

Post postscript: they blew it. Wow...

Book Review: Getting Out by Jonathan Campion

Before reading this book, I had no idea that cricket was played in Ukraine. 

Yet by 2020 there were 2,000 Ukrainians playing regular cricket, much of it down to a South African named Kobus Olivier, who had travelled the world as player and coach before settling in the Ukraine in 2018. 

An opening bat not quite good enough to do it for a living, he had fielded as 12th man for Western Province, Derbyshire and Kent in the 1980s before becoming a teacher.

Ending up in Ukraine, he encouraged private schools in Kyiv to put cricket on the curriculum and it took off, in a manner that reminded me of my introducing cricket to a state school in Scotlsnd in the 1980s - batting in the centre circle of football pitches.

This is a complete history of cricket in the country. With eyewitness accounts of the start of the war with Russia, the book manages at the same time to be heartening and sad. There are many light-hearted stories, including the team where no one in it wanted to bat or bowl, yet the final chapter, a guard of honour of sports people who have died in the ongoing conflict, shows the sad reality of life in that country.

A recognised national team from it may never take the field, but they were taken to the brink by individuals whose love of the game took it into new areas. 

You might not look at this book as your first choice of cricket reading. But you will be very pleased if you do. 

I finished it feeling inspired and motivated. That is quite an achievement, for any book and any author. 

Jonathan Campion has done a sterling job here and again Pitch Publishing are to be applauded for getting this book into print. 

Getting Out: The Ukrainian Cricket Team's Last Stand on the Front Lines of War is written by Jonathan Campion and published by Pitch Publishing

Book review: Playing To Fix by Paul Radley

Paul Radley is a sportswriter who has lived and worked in the UAE for a number of years and this is his first book.

I am sure that it will not be the last, because this is a fascinating read that is at times like a fast-moving crime novel. 

Events on the field are described in some detail, but the time spent looking at the backgrounds of the players involved, as well as the history of UAE cricket and its place in society helps the reader get a better handle on the affair that wrecked the country's dream of playing at a World Cup.

I had no Idea about the rewards received by players in that part of the world, but assumed that they were more lucrative than in reality. The author makes the very good point that cricketers of this level are more likely to be tempted, because it is worth their while to do so. The money now on offer to top international players and those in franchise cricket around the globe is such that it is hard, if not impossible in some cases, to tempt them.

The UAE scandal and the way it unfolded and was subsequently dealt with has never, to my knowledge, been dealt with in such depth. I ended the book feeling sorry for the former Scotland, England and Warwickshire all-rounder Dougie Brown. A highly regarded coach who was once in for the Derbyshire role, he had got the national cricket team to number twelve in the world rankings then saw his team pulled apart. In a book of fascinating insights, his thoughts on the team that he had and their roles in T20 cricket are eye-opening.

Yet I also felt sorry for cricket in that part of the world. Once it is tarnished, perhaps people never look at it in the same way - I know that scandals surrounding the IPL in the past changed my attitude to and interest in it. Reputational damage, even by association, is hard to shake off.

Like several others this year, it is a shame this book needed to be written, but it is to their great credit that Pitch Publishing took it on. 

In doing so they are to be applauded. 

This is a very good read.

Playing to Fix: from the streets of Dubai to the brink of cricket's World Cup and back again is written by Paul Radley and published by Pitch Publishing 

Two wins for Seconds against Nottinghamshire

Derbyshire easily won the first of today's double header Second Eleven T20 against Nottinghamshire. 

David Lloyd scored 58, Harry Came 56 and Luis Reece 54 from 32, 33 and 45 balls respectively, as Derbyshire amassed 206-4 in 20 overs. 

Despite a half century by Hasib Hameed, Nottinghamshire were never in the hunt and were 160-9, with three wickets for Nick Potts and two each for Mitch Wagstaff and Pat Brown. Daryn Dupavillon returned figures of 1-19 in his four overs.

The scorecard can be seen here

In the second game, Derbyshire made 194-4 with  Wagstaff making 53 from 29 balls and Reece 61 from 39 balls. Anuj Dal made  31 from 26 balls, while Yusaf bin Naeem blasted an unbeaten 29 from just 16 deliveries. A younger attack made regular inroads into the Nottinghamshire batting and they were 171 all out. The oft-impressive leggie, Harris Ajaz, taking 3-29, Alex Thomson 2-24 and Sam Conners 2-27, despite another half century for Hameed

The scorecard can be seen here

Two good wins then - we would settle for the same on Friday night!

Finally - and its a shame to have to write this - last night some clown sent a lot of messages, purporting to be from regular correspondents but in pretty unnecessary language they wouldn't use. They must have taken a fair amount of time to write, but literally took five seconds to mass delete. 

Anyway the IP address used is blocked and they will now go straight to trash. They will never be published anyway, as the system is set so anything with a swear word is automatically deleted anyway, before I get to approve it.

Just to save you a little time, should you try it again..

Amir signs and thoughts on the next match

So it is now confirmed that Mohammad Amir WILL become a Derbyshire Falcon for the last six fixtures in the Vitality Blast. Always assuming that he doesn't get injured in the T20 World Cup, which is par for the course for us so far...

He has been a very fine bowler and of course he will considerably enhance the attack. Though I have to say when I saw the news of a new signing, my first hope was that we had picked up a handy bits and pieces player or a dasher at the top of the innings, our greater need, in my opinion. Where is Hayden Kerr when you need him? 

Hopefully we are in contention if and when Amir makes an appearance. I will hold my breath on this one, because most of you will recall he was signing as an English national, which became overseas player for the first half of the season, which morphed into 'but limited to perhaps five first class games' and finally 'after the World Cup, maybe.' 

If he arrives, if he plays, if there is a point at that stage, I will get excited. 

Between times, Derbyshire need to win win a few matches. That the presence of a fully fit and firing Amir at the end of the group stage will help us is undeniable. But our problem so far is a batting lineup in which I don't have the greatest confidence. 

We don't know yet if Nye Donald will be fit for the Nottinghamshire game. Concussion can be a challenge and the effects can last a while. Hopefully he is fit for Friday, but we need to wait on that. Certainly his free-scoring would be an asset in the first six overs. 

Nor does it look good about Wayne Madsen. He had shoulder surgery in the winter and after landing on it in the field against Leicestershire, he couldn't raise his arm yesterday. There will doubtless be scans and x-rays today, but I would be very surprised if he was going to be available anytime soon.

So where does that leave our batting? 

Somewhat ironically, the man who could perhaps have been an asset for us is commentating on local radio. Tom Wood was probably worth a T20 contract, because he either scored quickly or got out. It isn't an option now though, for me, because he's not playing in the Premier League with Ticknall and the leap is too great, even if his fitness was there.

Maybe the loan market? But realistically, how many clubs are so awash with talent that they can loan a gun 20-over bat to someone else? Mind you, Leicestershire picked up Lewis Gregory from Somerset and Ian Holland from Hampshire, so it can be done.

Another overseas? If two is company and three is a crowd, four is surely a waste? To my dying day, I will never be convinced in the merits of signing three bowlers, none of them with any major pretensions to batting. Nor is it easy for someone to fly in and hit the ground running. Remember Hilton Cartwright? 

So we must make the best of what we have. I would go for the following side, if Donald and Madsen are unavailable for Friday:

Came

Guest

Lloyd

Patel

Lamb

Whiteley 

Reece

Chappell

Wagstaff

Brown

Dupavillon

I have said before, Guest is technically the best bat in the club and can play any format. He is used to facing a new ball, good at rotating the strike and as fit as a flea.

Guest and Came would be quick between the wickets, Reece would be coming in, hopefully, against the seamers and old ball. Lamb is not very quick between the wickets, perhaps a legacy of last year's back injury, but we are not overly blessed with batters and he is a powerful bloke. Yet outside that eleven you have seamers Tickner, Conners, Potts, maybe Moore and Aitchison back soon...not to mention Dal. I always thought he might play a similar role for us as Dan Christian and Steven Mullaney did for Nottinghamshire, but he doesn't appear to be considered as a bowler in this format.

Interestingly, DD over his career goes for 7.7 an over in T20, while Tickner goes for just under nine. I thought he bowled really well yesterday, until he got his length wrong in his final over, so I would go for him in this game. If he can do what Nathan Rimmington did and castle Alex Hales in his first over it would do nicely!

Anyway, let's see what the next few days brings. The northern group is very open but I expect Birmingham and Lancashire to be two of the qualifiers. 

The other two places are very much up for grabs.

Lancashire v Derbyshire Vitality Blast game 3

Lancashire 179-7 (Bohannon 39, Bruce 35, Chappell 3-38, Brown 2-37)

Derbyshire 122 (Came 42, Green 4-12)

Lancashire won by 57 runs

The bottom line, at the end of Derbyshire's second defeat of the tournament, is that a small squad cannot afford the absence of two of its major batters. 

The loss of Nye Donald so far and of Wayne Madsen for this game hurt Derbyshire. Then again, as a friend said to me at the fall of the third wicket, how nice would it have been to have had a hard-hitting overseas all-rounder at that point? Or indeed, opening the innings, as Peter Handscomb did so well for Leicestershire yesterday?

I won't keep going on about it, because the die is cast as far as Mickey. Arthur is concerned. We went for an unnecessary second overseas seam bowler and in situations like this are paying the penalty for not having additional batting firepower. Even someone like Chris Green, maybe not a world beater, but capable of powerful shots, tidy offspin and excellent fielding.  He would have been perfect for this side and there are plenty like him around the globe.

Lancashire's overseas players registered second top score and and figures of 4-12 respectively, after Green also made the difference at the end of their innings with 22 from 11 balls. 

We fielded one overseas player, again.

I find myself pining for last year and a combination of Haider Ali and Zaman Khan would have given me greater confidence than I currently have. For all his faults, Haider got runs quickly and was a powerful presence when he got his range.

I thought we bowled decently again today and the fielding has maintained its intensity through the first three games. Dupavillon did very well in his first three overs, but the final one was what hurt us. It happens though and it is rare for a bowler not to go around the park in the last few overs. Only a Rampaul, Langeveldt or Zaman Khan can prevent that and we don't have anyone of that calibre.

I was a little surprised to see Mitch Wagstaff bowling in the powerplay, but he again did pretty well.  None of the bowlers let us down, but the top order isn't firing and in the absence of Madsen, Patel needed to go big, which he can't do every time.

Guest offered the only real resistance and there is an argument, as I have said before, for him to be going in at the top of the order. His speed between the wickets is a real asset and he can hit as cleanly as anyone else. He is used to facing a new ball and I would regard him as being the second best bat in the club. 

The place of Luis Reece would be under threat if everyone was fit for the Nottinghamshire game, because he isn't looking like scoring runs at the moment. I'm not overly fussed about a left/right partnership at the top, if we have the best players for the positions.

It was a winnable game, as was that at Northampton. But we go again and must hope our injured players are fit. At won one, lost two we aren't out of this, but we need to sort out our best batting order fairly quickly. Oh, and ideally find a good overseas playing in the leagues that we can register...

One disappointment today was the Lancashire stream. It is all singing and dancing, but I can live without regular shots of people waving to the camera, spotting 'lookalikes' in the crowd and focusing on the fielder throwing the ball in, rather than what is happening between the wickets. Several times we saw the bowler in his follow-through, while I lost count of how many times we saw the fielder throw the ball in, with no idea whether it was close or not. 

Things to work on for them. Just as Derbyshire have plenty to work on themselves.

Derbyshire v Leicestershire Vitality Blast game 2

Leicestershire 176-6 (Handscomb 75* Ahmed 36* Patel 2-21)

Derbyshire 178-6 (Patel 64, Madsen 43, Guest 20*)

Derbyshire won by four wickets

 

As a Derbyshire supporter, I don't ask for much. Just that the team goes out, competes and wins a few games along the way. The more the merrier, of course, but the signs from the first two games are that we might just do all right in this competition. 

The victory at Edgbaston today was exciting, in a game that ebbed and flowed quite beautifully throughout. Peter Handscomb showed himself a very fine cricketer for Leicestershire, but Derbyshire came through a troublesome position with sterling efforts from skipper Samit Patel and the evergreen Wayne Madsen. At the death, when cool heads were required, we had one of the coolest in Brooke Guest, who orchestrated the final chase beautifully.

Patel's timing and placement was excellent, while Madsen lent good and sensible support. Reece and Came struggled early, but Lloyd got the ball of the game from Ben Mike and could do nothing about it. 

I thought we bowled and fielded well again today. Catches were taken, the field intelligently set and the bowling was good, especially on a pitch where one boundary was significantly shorter than the other.  

Chappell was excellent until his last over took some stick, but this happens against good players. Brown was also very good and I maintain, as I did pre-season, that we have traded up in swapping him for George Scrimshaw. He is brilliant in the field, besides what he offers with the ball and it was nice to hear the commentary team noticing his return to form.

Special mention for Mitch Wagstaff too today. He came into the side and did a fabulous job with his leg spin. Bowling straight through, he was loudly encouraged after every ball by Guest, while the occasional word and pat on the back from his captain was good to see. 

Samit turned the clock back. His bowling was niggardly, which we have come to expect, but his batting rekindled memories of his very high quality prime. He had a little luck and should have been held twice, once from a routine catch that Ben Cox probably drops once in every five thousand attempts. But his batting and a century partnership with Wayne Madsen turned the game on its head. 64 off 32 balls gave us the sort of power we have often lacked in the past as five times he cleared the ropes.

I have seen Derbyshire capitulate plenty of times when faced with the equation of the final two overs. But an exquisite six over extra cover by Guest steadied the nerves and a less well-timed one from the fine ball of the nineteenth started a party, at least in this house 

How can we improve? I could almost copy and paste from last night, because 17 from the first three overs and 39 from the Powerplay will not be good enough towards the business end of the competition. The return of Donald will undoubtedly help, but we cannot end the fielding restrictions playing catch up all the time.

Again Daryl du Pavillon was missing, though it is hard to see where he fits in on merit. Were I on the club board, I would be a little concerned that someone we had brought from South Africa, paid flights, accommodation, maybe a car and a decent salary to couldn't get into a first choice side. A mistake has been made. I won't accept 'rotation' as an excuse, because teams bring over two overseas players to enhance their squad. We are only playing one. 

But tonight, with a smile on my face, I will focus on the positives. This was a good Derbyshire display and you could tell what it meant to them. Lancashire await, but with their England men missing, they are beatable. 

The little tweak to the side today brought dividends and Wagstaff was definitely an enhancement, both to the bowling and the fielding, while he is a handy lad to be batting at nine. If Donald can return after this weekend there is power to add.

Let's see what happens at Old Trafford tomorrow. 

But that was a good effort today. Samit's Soldiers are on the march!