Yorkshire 450-5d (Brook 126*, Root 119) Derbyshire 190-3 (Madsen 88*, Guest 74*) Derbyshire trail by 260 runs Well, what a magnificent day of sport that was!  After Derby County secured promotion to the Championship with a 2-0 win over Carlisle, Derbyshire overcame a tricky start to their innings against Yorkshire to reach the close of play at 190-3.  That they did so was thanks to a magnificent stand between Wayne Madsen (88*) and Brooke Guest (74*) which added 167 runs for the fourth wicket. There was an heir of inevitability about the proceedings of the morning, with both Ro ..read more

Yorkshire 276-3 (Lyth 97, Root 65*, Brook 44*, Masood 40) v Derbyshire I am trying really hard to be impressed by Derbyshire this year, but I have to admit I am struggling at the moment.  David Lloyd continues to do the first thing that a captain should and win the toss. Nor can you fault the decisions to insert the opposition on pitches tinged with green and offering more than a little assistance to the bowlers.  Yet time and again we blow it. Chances were again dropped today, three before lunch, one after it and we didn't bowl especially well. I thought there was too much wide ..read more

Earlier this afternoon I watched a brilliant century by Ross Whiteley in a losing cause for Derbyshire Seconds. He hit seven sixes in reaching three figures in 92 balls, against what was a pretty decent Nottinghamshire attack. Liam Patterson-White took nine wickets in the second innings for the home side, who won by an innings and plenty after three players, including Tom Moores, made centuries.  The only other Derbyshire to score runs was Savin Perera, who made a good fifty before being undone by one that kept low. Some might remember him playing for the South Asian Cricket Academy at t ..read more

Leicestershire 574 Derbyshire 167 {Lloyd 54, Donald 45) and 224-6 (Madsen 59*, Thomson 46*) Derbyshire trail by 183 runs Given the weather forecast for tomorrow, Derbyshire may escape from this game with a draw. Yet even the most partisan supporter would struggle to say that they deserved it.  After chasing leather for five sessions, they lost four wickets last night and a further twelve today. Let us not forget that this is against Leicestershire, more specifically a largely second choice attack in the absence, through injury, of their first choice bowlers. On the same pitch, lest we ..read more

There were a lot of comments after yesterday and some of them I declined to publish, because there was no name appended and they were too much of a rant - and personal, in one instance.  I am sorry, but I am prepared to have my name and face on the blog and will be critical if I feel it is deserved, happy to do so face to face if it came to it. But I will not be personal and everyone should remember that sports people don't set out to have a bad day. Neither do you, but it happens I always welcome comments, but I must insist on either you creating a Google account, which doesn't take lo ..read more

Leicestershire 574-7 declared (Harris 214, Cox 69, Handscomb 68 Tickner 2-83) Derbyshire 54-4 (Lloyd 40*) Well, that was all pretty horrible, wasn't it? Somewhat ironic that the first pleasant weather of the season produced a thoroughly unpleasant performance by Derbyshire. After being hit around the ground, pretty much at will, by Leicestershire as they amassed 574-7 declared, Derbyshire slipped to 54-4  by the close, trailing by 520. We can't blame Kookaburra balls this time, but I am not convinced, despite the late in the day collapse, that there is much in the pitch. Leicestershir ..read more

Leicestershire 168-2 (Harris 77*, Hill 34*) v Derbyshire I don't know about anyone else, but I found it all a little underwhelming today.  David Lloyd did the first thing a good captain should do and won the toss under cloudy skies -  and with the expectation of some early movement.  It was there but three dropped catches before lunch saw Leicestershire eat in better fettle than Derbyshire. Then came the rain and although they returned for eighteen overs late in the day, everything suggested that the pitch had already flattened out and the next three days will offer little ..read more

Derbyshire return to the Incora County Ground tomorrow, with a local derby against Leicestershire. It is again, on paper, a winnable fixture for us and the game would appear to be blessed by four days of dry weather. All we need now is for good Derbyshire to turn up and the pitch not to be one where a squillion plays a trillion in the first innings. If we can get something similar to Cardiff last week, that would do me fine, with the eleven  tweaked to enhance our chances. Leicestershire are missing several bowlers, including Josh Hull, Roman Walker, Chris Wright, Rehan Ahmed and Wiaan ..read more

I was always likely to enjoy Matthew Appleby's second cricket book. I enjoyed his first, about his father, his love for cricket and the literature of the game. He has a style of writing that is enjoyable and the theme of this one was very much up my street.  There are similarities with my own second book, In Their Own Words, In that the author has sought out heroes of yesteryear who in some cases have disappeared from the public conscious.  Others are better known, such as Mike Selvey and John Barclay, while the pieces on Chris Cowdrey and Geoffrey Boycott are enjoyable. Yet f ..read more

Glamorgan 237 and 361-7 Derbyshire 198 and 225-3 (Reece 91*, Guest 72* Harris 2-24) Match drawn There may be those who are thinking tonight that Derbyshire should have had a go at the run chase at Cardiff. It was never on. The loss of overs in the morning and a further stoppage after lunch meant that the run rate had climbed and, having lost the wickets of David Lloyd and Wayne Madsen before lunch, it would have been very easy for the side to have capitulated.  That they didn't was due to fine innings from Brooke Guest and Luis Reece. Both are players of high quality and I never felt ..read more