Kent v Derbyshire day one

Derbyshire 389-2 (Madsen 147*, Reece 123*, Donald 55, Came 35) 

v Kent

Wayne Madsen won the toss at Canterbury this morning and elected to bat. 

Little in the surface subsequently suggested that it was anything other than an excellent toss to win, as the Derbyshire batters progressed serenely to 389-2 by the close of play.

Nye Donald set off in something approximating T20 mode, setting the tone for the day. His half century was full of the crisp stroke play to which we have become accustomed, but he will have been disappointed to get out to Mikey Cohen, when the job was only half done. He was on course for a century before lunch, but such is the way with the mercurial Welshman. Enjoy it while it lasts, but don't anticipate him being there all day..

Harry Came also batted stylishly, before being beaten by the flight and turn of Matt Parkinson. I am sure the visiting dressing room will not have been disappointed by that turn on day one and Jack Morley must be getting his fingers flexed in the pavilion.

Then came the skipper, needing forty runs to reach his thousand for the season. It never seemed in doubt that he would get there and he batted almost without blemish and in his usual fluid, imperious style. Only Grant Stewart was able to induce a false shot or two, wry smiles being exchanged between the two Italian internationals. After reaching what always appeared an inevitable century, he cut loose against Corey Flintoff, in a manner similar to the bowler's father in his prime.

Throughout it all, Luis Reece played a proper opening bat's innings. Solid till lunch, more expansive in the afternoon and reaching a well-deserved century after tea. He really is a very fine player and has enjoyed another excellent summer. Hopefully he has a few more in him yet, after he gets his longstanding ankle injury sorted in the winter.

The Kent bowlers ran in hard but they looked dispirited by late afternoon as the score continued to mount. You could see why they are bottom of the table, even if they are missing their share of regulars and the end of season probably cannot come soon enough. Stewart and Evison were the pick of the bowlers, but they had a hard slog today, as it has been for much of the summer. That a few deliveries kept low in the final session, with 300 on the board, probably didn't enhance their mood..

The day ended with Derbyshire in total control, two men past the century mark and with power to add tomorrow on a stand currently worth 231. Days don't get much better than that.

Finally, the stream...not the best, was it? I will always preface these comments with gratitude at being able to see something, but surely a county headquarters in 2025 can do better than a fixed camera - and a shaky one at that?

Postscript - it was good to see Derbyshire today confirming their stance on the proposed changes to the schedule next year. This had already been communicated to the members, but I was unaware of it going further before now.

Thankfully, common sense has prevailed and the feeling from the club is that the amount of cricket is fine, so long as the schedule is better arranged. 

There will be twelve, instead of fourteen Blast matches next year, but there will again be fourteen red ball fixtures. In a season that runs between March and the end of September, it should be perfectly possible to play the current quantity of fixtures and still allow downtime for players. The Blast will also be played in a block, so overseas players can hopefully participate in the knockouts and Finals Day, if required.

The amount of discussion, the uncertainty caused and the unnecessary disruption and hostility that hours of work have created has been a disgrace. We have the greatest of games seemingly run by people who would be flattered at being labelled amateur. 

There should be no further discussion on the structure of the game for at least five years. To have member clubs playing for a following season, the structure of which had not been clarified, was a disgrace.

It must never happen again.