Derbyshire clinch convincing victory on eve of Australia match

Mark Footitt

Derbyshire 361 and 72-3

Northamptonshire 116 and 316 (Duckett 154, Durston 3-55, Palladino 3-62)

Derbyshire won by seven wickets

Rumours of the demise of Derbyshire's championship season were proved to be a load of old cobblers down in Northampton today (see what I did there?) The side did everything that could have been expected of them in concluding an emphatic seven-wicket win, well inside three days.

Wes Durston took three of the last four wickets, the innings being wrapped up by Mark 'Fifty Wicket' Footitt. The tall left-armer deserves great credit both for the quality of his bowling over the last couple of seasons, as well as his level of fitness, which has been an object lesson to all.

We lost a few more wickets than we would have wanted in the final innings (I draw back from calling it a run chase, which 72 in five sessions really isn't). The biggest trauma was the blow on the head taken by Chesney, which resulted in his retiring hurt as a precaution.

Next up is our match against 'Orstrylia', that starts on Thursday. It is a chance for some of our young players to pit themselves against the world's finest and, much as it did when we played India last year, represents an opportunity for touring players to see our ground and maybe, just maybe, take a notion to playing for us at some point.

With Lancashire and Surrey easing away of the chasing pack, we have only pride to play for in the remainder of the championship season, but we can still ease through for third or fourth place, giving us something to build on next year.

Twelve months on some of these young lads and they will be starting to really show their worth.