Lancashire v Derbyshire day four

Lancashire 458 and 184-7d

Derbyshire 314 and 220-8 (Came 63, Andersson 43)

Match drawn

It was a fascinating final day at Old Trafford, with a generous Lancashire declaration giving Derbyshire a sniff of a victory. Even if, as I wrote the previous evening, the pitch wasn't really conducive to an aggressive run chase. Both sides knew that and the home side gave themselves every chance of a win with an early closure to their innings.

For Derbyshire to get those runs, one of the top five had to score a century. When that didn't happen, the only alternative was to shut up shop, which they did admirably once Harry Came's fine knock ended. The battling of Anuj Dal, Ben Aitchison and Jack Morley was a joy to behold, from someone who has witnessed more than enough capitulations over many years. Nuj faced 114 balls for his 13 runs, Aitchison 21 for none, Morley 36 for the same. It would never have won an award for brighter cricket, but it was crucial. Those draw points kept us ten points clear of third place, a position we would never have imagined at the start of the summer. It was also one in the eye for someone on social media who asked 'How do you want to go about the win?' to home supporters..too much chicken counting, methinks...

I think Hartley missed a trick in the final innings, bowling over the wicket and allowing far too many deliveries to be padded away when they pitched outside leg. In my opinion, he was outbowled by Jack Morley in this game and the Derbyshire man impresses me more with every game.

It is nice to write these words from a position of strength, sitting where we are, but it is clear where we need to strengthen. There is a long way to go, but if we were to go up, it would be a huge ask for the current squad to stay there. 

We need a top bat. We have five players who average over 40, which is good, but there have only been three centuries so far, only one of them - Madsen of course - from the top five, the others from Martin Andersson. To chase those runs down yesterday, we needed a Chris Rogers, Simon Katich, Marcus North or Dean Jones. Caleb Jewell may yet go on to score big, but that is the role and responsibility of the overseas bat. Are such players still available? Would they come to Derbyshire? The relative failings of the top order are being masked by the battling qualities of those lower down, but we need to post bigger first innings totals and the top five have the key role there.

We also need something different in the bowling. Watching closely over the last two days, in the absence of Luis Reece there was no variety to the Derbyshire attack. Tickner is by a distance the quickest, but a good bat could pretty much line up the rest, right arm medium fast. Jack Morley bowled very well, but the need for someone with an X factor was clear. Does Mickey's contact book have an Aussie or South African with a UK passport? Or can he successfully utilise the loan market?

Look at Leicestershire. They are running away with the division at the moment and you wouldn't say their team was much stronger than ours. But Ian Holland and Ben Green have come in on loan and given something to the attack, 48 wickets between them. There will be similar players out there, worthy of consideration, craving opportunity.

I am a little concerned at the form of Anuj Dal and Zak Chappell. Nuj is averaging 19 with the bat and over 40 with the ball, Zak's twelve wickets are costing 52. Both are some way from their best and perhaps Zak might benefit from a break before the T20, as he has bowled more overs than anyone this year apart from Jack Morley. Whether we have enough fit men for that is a moot point, of course.

But this is hopefully construed as constructive criticism. The team is doing well and I feel supporters are more behind them, as a consequence, than in many years. The T20 is coming, which will give a breather to a few people, but a good performance against Kent, starting on Friday, would see our team get to the halfway point of the four-day season daring to dream.

I can't thank anyone is disappointed in that.