Derbyshire v Kent day 1

All things considered, that was a bit of a Carlsberg day for Derbyshire today. Granted, the Kent attack wasn't the strongest on the circuit, but you can only play against the team in fromt of you.

Matt Lineker got a score that will do him the world of good, Wes Durston got a century of apparent brilliance, while two young cricketers of massive ability gave it serious humpty at the end of the day, scoring at seven an over as they put tiring bowlers to the sword.

 It's funny, I wrote about them last night and firmly believe these lads could be the real deal. Both average around 40 this season and its not so much the runs they score as the way they make them. Confident strokes, booming drives, towering sixes. It is a pleasure to think of them as Derbyshire players for the next three years at least.

 405 in 86 overs is some going and set me thinking. How are we going to fit another overseas batsman into the side? Paul Borrington failed today, as did Dan Redfern, but we have Chesney Hughes and Garry Park outside this side, with Ben Slater and Hamza Siddique in the vanguard of the next generation. Eight batsmen have exceeded 500 runs this summer, as well as the outstanding Wes Durston, deservedly player of the year. Such a team approach to run scoring is tribute to a fine team spirit engendered by captain Luke Sutton and Karl Krikken.

Sutton has had his critics this summer, but 500 runs is a decent return from the skipper, who will probably drop down a place next summer, allowing Clare greater opportunity. If Tom Poynton continues to improve the skipper could well ease back on his playing commitments too, but we'll see about that.

Talking of next season, if I'm honest, the best overseas player that I can think of would be Danish Kaneria. His hearing in Pakistan is now at the end of this month and if, as seems likely, he is cleared of any irregularities, he will be free to return to their Test side and to county cricket. The former may be problematic, but Kaneria is a world-class performer who would strengthen any county side.

Mike Newell of Nottinghamshire has today said that they may go without one next year as the shrinking, IPL-skewed market makes signing someone decent increasingly problematic. Kaneria won't play IPL as Pakistani players simply don't get picked, but I would be very surprised if he was not near the top of Derbyshire's shortlist.

 I know we have a young Tom Knight and Peter Burgoyne on the staff, but at 18 and 17 they could be key members of a vibrant, locally-reared side for 15 years or more. As young spinners they could learn a massive amount from a world-class cricketer who has well over a thousand wickets in the first-class game, working with him in the nets and bowling alongside him in one day games, a strategy proven to work. In the Championship, the dry tracks that we have seen at times this season could see him bowl at one end when the shine is off the new ball.

 World class? Without a doubt. Derbyshire's next overseas star? I hope so. Right now I can't think of a single player in his league who would be available for the summer.