County Championship preview: Derbyshire

2009 in a nutshell A promotion challenge in the championship for much of last summer was less impressive than it sounds, as they still managed to win only two matches all season. Batting depth and a strong spirit made them tough to beat. LV County Championship Division 2 6th Pro 40 Division 2 7th Friends Provident Trophy 3rd in Group D Twenty20 Cup Finished bottom of North division What they'll be playing in this season LV County Championship Division 2 Clydesdale Bank Pro 40 Group B Friends Provident Twenty20 – North Captain Chris Rogers. An Australian captain is no help to English cricket, but it sums up how much Derbyshire have come to rely on Rogers. He got the job in the middle of 2008 and has not stopped scoring runs since. Head of cricket John Morris. Morris was viewed as a careless talent during his batting heyday at Derbyshire in the 1980s, but the county became harder to beat under his stewardship last season. This is an important season for him. Ins and outs In Robin Peterson (Kolpak), Steffan Jones (Somerset), Lee Goddard (Durham), Mark Footitt (Nottinghamshire) Out Stephen Stubbings, Dan Birch, Wavell Hinds, Charl Langeveldt, Dominic Telo, Mark Lawson (all released), Jamie Pipe (retired) Overseas players Rogers (Aus), Petersen (SA, Kolpak), Loots Bosman (SA) for T20. Loots Bosman is the sort of belligerent batsman that most people imagine when they discuss Twenty20 specialists. He struck 94 from 45 balls against England in a T20 in Centurion last November. It would be a brave official who denied him a work permit. Key player Wayne Madsen, a 26-year-old from Durban, has become the latest South African-born batsman to seek English qualification. He made a prolific start last season – including 170 not out against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham, the highest score by a Derbyshire debutant in the championship. Ashes factor It is a long time since Derbyshire produced England cricketers; unless Devon Malcolm makes a shock comeback at 47 that is not about to change. Prediction for 2010 Ninth in Division 2. Derbyshire, like Lancashire, will join every other county in playing on a north-south square this year so the setting sun no longer disrupts floodlit matches. Turning the county around will be more difficult. One-day cricket can offer most excitement, under their new guise of the Falcons, a reference to the peregrine on top of Derby cathedral.