County Cricket: Derbyshire v Gloucestershire day 1

Wayne Madsen

The frustrating thing about being a Derbyshire fan in the early weeks of this season has been the way in which we have found so many different ways to shoot ourselves in the foot.

I'll not go over old ground just now, but today we appeared to have made a really good fist of our innings after losing another important early season toss. Whichever side had won it was going to bowl after a delayed start, so the portents appeared far from good.

Nonetheless, after the early loss of Stephen Moore, Wayne Madsen and Paul Borrington took us to the calmer waters of 74-1 at tea and we looked set for a decent first innings tally. Then Borrington was sent back, going for a third run and the descent began, ending with us 166-6 after 71 overs. There were cameos by Messrs North, Hughes and Cross, but only Scott Elstone showed the combination of technique and resolve to stick in there, ending unbeaten on 36.

It was disappointing, but we live to fight another day and there's enough batting left to get us towards 250 tomorrow. Whether that is likely to be anywhere near enough to stay in the game is anyone's guess at this stage, but we'll know more around this time tomorrow.

Finally tonight, I've just watched the most extraordinary run chase as Mumbai scored 190 in 14 overs to beat the Rajasthan Royals and qualify in the IPL. It was a remarkable effort with a series of bludgeoning blows from Kiwi Corey Anderson, who made an unbeaten 95 from just 44 balls. The match-winning six came off the very last ball and was hit by Aditya Tare off the only ball he faced. Breathtaking stuff.

You'll gather from that my cricket was cancelled today. So from my great weekend as referred to on Friday, Derbyshire lost, Derby County lost and the cricket was off. Good job I had a great night out with friends last night.