Yorkshire v Derbyshire T20

Derbyshire 128 (Amla 29, Hughes (C) 27, Poynton 27)
Yorkshire 131-3 (Cotton 2-19)

Yorkshire won by seven wickets

I'm not going to be too harsh on Derbyshire today.

For one thing, they were playing the best team in the country and were soundly beaten. They were short of some of their best players (though so too were Yorkshire) and they at least bowled pretty well. The four-over spell of Ben Cotton for just nineteen runs is something to build on, while Shiv Thakor also did a good job.

The bottom line, however, is that you will win one game in twenty with a score like that, only then if you are playing on a dirt track. I am sure we are a better side than we showed tonight, but appearances on paper need to be backed up by on-field performance. To go from 66-1 to 82-6 in four overs is amateurish. The game is all about partnerships and we didn't get any going after the second wicket fell.

Tom Poynton struck some lusty blows, but we need some of our older heads in to give a greater balance to the side. Whether they will be fit for Leicestershire next week I don't know, but we have to do much better with the bat.

There is little point in comparing ourselves to Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire, however. At this stage they are a long way ahead of us. What we need to do is pick ourselves up and do a whole lot better against Leicestershire.

They are beatable, but only if we up our game by one hundred per cent. They worked hard at the T20 drills over the winter, but the batsmen were found sadly wanting tonight.

Finally for now, congratulations to Mark Footitt for being selected to work with England ahead of the first Test against New Zealand. Maybe some fast yorkers on the toes of the other seamers are called for to force the hands of the selectors...

Also worthy of note is the top score of Hamish Rutherford for New Zealand today. It augurs well for his spell with us later in the summer.

Just a pity he wasn't in Leeds tonight, preferably with a few mates.