We haven't won anything yet, but to be second in the table - and unbeaten - as we enter June makes this a giddy time to be a Derbyshire supporter. The team is playing as a unit, not a group of individuals and it is so refreshing. Some of the credit has to go to Wayne Madsen, who has lead the side with flair and by setting an example, but only the real curmudgeons will dispute that Arthur has done a fine job, along with his coaching team.
He seems a changed man this year. His interviews are less bullish, less full of 'spicy' rhetoric about performance and individuals. He is letting his team do the talking and they are responding to a man. It's not 'sexy cricket', they're not 'entertainment machines', they are a squad of players working with and for one another.
Let's be honest, his recruitment has been spot on so far. Caleb Jewell, Martin Andersson, Jack Morley, Blair Tickner - they have all come in and produced fine form, enhancing the side with bat and ball. Jewell and Andersson have also taken their places in a much-improved close catching unit, all of them into double figures already.
Watching him today as the players came off the field, all of them receiving handshakes and hugs, suggested that he has a better handle on how to work with the group. Equally, it is fair to say that they better understand their roles within the team and they are delivering to a man.
It is not just the first team. The second eleven is playing some excellent cricket, players are emerging through the pathway and everyone who gets into a team at any level is making a strong case to preserve their position.
It has been a number of years since we could last enjoy a domestic summer as we have the first two months of this one. It is unrealistic to expect it to continue without a defeat or two along the way, but if they continue to show the fighting qualities that have been so evident during the first half of the red ball season, they will continue to surpass expectations.
So it is only fair to say well done to Mickey for his efforts this year. It was also right to be critical of last year especially and to my last breath I will contend that a mistake was made when he was allowed to take on the Pakistan role, which sent completely the wrong message at the time. Now, fully-focused on Derbyshire, the dividends are starting to be reaped. There is a swagger in the demeanour of the players, a willingness to fight for the win, and even greater one to battle against defeat. That Jewell, Madsen and Reece are averaging over 50 maybe isn't even as surprising as Tickner averaging 34, Chappell 22 and Morley 28 with the bat. Kudos to batting coach Ben Smith in this too, while five players already in double figures of wickets suggests Ajmal Shahzad is earning his corn, too.
The renaissance in the career of Luis Reece is a clear example of improved man management. Given a development plan and a defined role in the side as middle order bat and opening bowler, he has responded with arguably the form of his life. At the start of the summer I feared that this might be his last year, unless something special happened. With a batting average of 71 and 23 wickets at 21 he is again a key man in a side that bats long and often has seven bowling options.
I am sure Arthur is already looking at options to take the squad on again. There is the much-anticipated arrival of Allah Ghazanfar to enjoy and the knowledge that we have a vested interest in the second half of the red ball season since the last time I had hair. The signing of the young Afghan hero made the cricket world sit up. A player from the ICC white ball team of the year coming to Derbyshire? Who else knew he was available? Definitely one from the contact book, that close connection with Mahela Jayawardene bearing fruit.
Were you a betting man, the odds on Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Glamorgan being one, two, three at half way would have been long. Just as with Kent and Lancashire being two of the bottom three, but those positions are on merit and performance, or lack of it.
If we get to the end of September still in the top two, this will be a season that lives long in the memory.
If it isn't already.
