Essex v Derbyshire Day 1

James Porter took 4 wickets for Essex

Every game at Chelmsford this season has seen the team winning the toss bowl first. On each occasion, the batting side has failed to make 200 and the bowling side has gone on to win the match.

Against such statistics, the breaking news this morning that we had lost the toss hardly filled me with excitement. Our batting is low on confidence and at present I had little expectation of a score that might enable us to dictate the game.

My worst fears were realised inside the first hour and although Shiv Thakor and Wayne White gave an element of minor respectability to the innings, we folded for under 150.

By the close, Essex were only forty behind with ten wickets in hand. Hard as it is to say it, the game is as good as gone after the first day's play

As regulars will know, I am a positive bloke, but June has largely been a horrible month. The expectation of April seems a long way off right now and there's much work to be done to get things back on an even keel.

Disappointing really. It is hard to say otherwise.

Match summary:

Derbyshire 148 all out (Thakor 44)Essex 108-0