Gloucestershire v Derbyshire day 1 report

Tony Palladino

Scores: Gloucestershire 304-6 (Tavare 135, W. Gidman 88 not, Taylor 3-43, Palladino 2-41) v DerbyshireHaving won the toss at Cheltenham today, Gloucestershire understandably chose to bat first and did a good job on the first day, despite a bowling display of considerable discipline by Derbyshire.Tony Palladino again bowled with exemplary accuracy and conceded less than two an over in 22 overs, while Tom Taylor continued his impressive transition towards being a county cricketer with 3-43 in 16 overs. For once, in the championship this summer, Mark Footitt's radar was off-kilter, but he still managed to remove the dangerous Michael Klinger early.Will Tavare continued the excellent impression that he has made this summer with a fine century, while Will Gidman ended the day a dozen runs short of a well-deserved century. I have to admit that Gidman is someone I would love to see in Derbyshire colours, very much the sort of player we are looking for to improve our side: a hostile and committed bowler as well as an aggressive batsman.So you could say that where there's two Wills there's no way, but Derbyshire stuck at it well and are still in this game as long as they finish off the Gloucestershire innings quickly tomorrow and then bat much better in their first innings than they have done in recent matches.If they lose this one, the likelihood of any progression in the County Championship is slim, but a win sees the pack in the middle of the table a little more accessible.That's something to play for.In closing tonight, congratulations to Tom Wood of Ticknall CC, whose century for the Academy in their match against the Army at Denby took his side close to a 305-run victory target.They finished seven runs short, but that sounds like an excellent day's entertainment to me.