North stops Glamorgan hopes heading south

Australia's veteran batsman Marcus North rescued Glamorgan from another batting failure with a defiant half-century against one of his former employers on the opening day of the Division Two match against Derbyshire in Cardiff.

North, 32, the first overseas player to play for six counties, top-scored with 75 and led a recovery that earned Glamorgan a first batting point of the season after they had been in trouble at 111 for 5. He batted for nearly four hours and was well supported by skipper Mark Wallace, who made 45 out of a team total of 236, with Tim Groenewald ending with excellent figures of 3 for 34 from 22 overs.

Glamorgan would have expected more after electing to bat first but at least it gave former England fast bowler Simon Jones something to bowl at in his first Championship match for Glamorgan since August 2007, and he sent down four overs as Derbyshire closed on 22 without loss.

It was also more than the visitors looked like making when a series of poor shots handed the initiative to Derbyshire, who rested strike bowler Tony Palladino but then lost paceman Mark Footitt in only the eighth over of the morning.

Footitt pulled up in obvious distress holding his right hip and, after treatment on the field, played no further part in the day's action and will undergo a scan on Thursday to discover the extent of the damage.

Despite that setback, Derbyshire had the better of the morning session with Jon Clare following his 11 for 57 in the match at Cardiff last month by striking twice in the 13th over. Nick James started the slide when he steered a short ball into the hands of third slip and then Will Bragg obligingly slapped Clare to point. It was another soft dismissal but at least Gareth Rees was defeated by a good ball from Ross Whiteley which moved away to find the edge and was taken by Martin Guptill at second slip.

North soon looked in control in his first innings for Glamorgan and, with Ben Wright, guided the visitors to 93 for 3 at lunch. But more loose shots left them in trouble shortly after the interval. Wright launched a firm-footed drive at a wide ball from Groenewald and then Jim Allenby pulled Whiteley into the hands of mid-wicket, leaving North and Wallace to rebuild the innings.

They added 77 in 25 overs before Groenewald bowled Wallace and David Wainwright trapped North lbw on the back foot, leaving enough time for Jones to work up some pace as Derbyshire ended 214 runs behind.