2021 results:
Championship Division 3: 5th
Vitality Blast North: 8th
Royal London One Day Cup Group 2: 9th
Captain: Billy Godleman
Head of Cricket: Micky Arthur
Overseas: Suranga Lakmal (SRI), Shan Masood (PAK), Dustin Melton (ZIM)
Derbyshire have started the season strongly, and with recently appointed Head of Cricket Micky Arthur at the helm, a mix of youth and astute overseas signings could make for a powerful concoction.
A faultless four days against Leicestershire saw them earn an innings victory, thanks largely to a score of 219 from overseas star Shan Masood, which was nicely aided by a ton from Mattie McKiernan and 94 from the evergreen Wayne Madsen.
Despite a share of the 20 wickets in that win, Sam Conners and Suranga Lakmal have started the season with intent, with 16 and 13 wickets, respectively.
Most recently, a draw at home to Glamorgan became a final-day thriller after the visitors went for the victory, chasing 331 in 55 overs.
In a game both sides could’ve ended up winning, Aussie-born Ryan Sidebottom took the crucial wickets of Marnus Labuschagne and Sam Northeast, but it was batsman Brooke Guest who impressed throughout.
Scores of 109 and 138 look to have recaptured the form of last season that saw him rack up 744 runs. The 24-year-old wicket-keeper/batsman piled on the runs down at the Incora County Ground following a slow start by his standards.
Shan Masood leads their batting averages as expected, having already managed an incredible 713 runs at an average of 118.83 in only six innings.
In the four matches played, scores including two declarations and first-innings totals over 300 would suggest this Derbyshire side has progressed over the winter and most definitely isn’t of the same mentality that recorded only six wins in all competitions last campaign.
LAST 5 MATCHES:
WORCS win by an innings and 23 runs – 27/5/2021
MATCH DRAWN – 15/4/2021
DERBYSHIRE won by 82 runs – 7/7/2019
WORCS won by an innings and 42 runs – 19/5/2017
WORCS won by 9 wickets – 20/9/2016
Dillon Pennington was the star of the show last time we met Derbyshire, a match where he took his maiden five-wicket haul to achieve his personal career-best figures of 5-32, a record that still stands today.
Even more impressively, nine for 76 runs as his match figures proved his importance as we secured a win by an innings and 23 runs.
Our last trip to the East Midlands side saw us take 14 points in a drawn match thanks to a gutsy final day rear-guard led by Ben Cox, who finished unbeaten on 60 having faced 148 balls.
Only Middlesex and Derbyshire remain unbeaten in the County Championship Division Two with only two rounds of fixtures to go before the start of the Vitality Blast. That said, this week’s play (starting Thursday) looks set to be an incredibly important one.
