Derbyshire appeal to ECB against the sun

The players depart after the day-night match at Derby was delayed by sunset earlier this month © Getty Images

Derbyshire have submitted an extremely unusual request to the ECB to try to get round the problems with conditions at their ground which led to a day-night match earlier this month being delayed because of the setting sun. They have asked for permission to bowl all their overs from one end of the pitch.

The square at the County Ground faces east-west, meaning that on sunny evenings the sun is almost directly behind one end of the pitch as it nears dusk. When Derbyshire played Nottinghamshire in a day-night match in the first week of June, the umpires suspended the game because bowlers were blinded as they ran in.

Another less-than-acceptable alternative appears to be for play to be suspended for up to an hour while the sun sets, or for matches to be shortened.

"When you have your biggest crowds of the season and people here who don't normally watch cricket, you don't want to have to explain to people why you aren't playing on a lovely summer's night," Tom Sears, Derbyshire's chief executive, explained to PA. "It seems a simple solution to a potential problem. As long as the boundaries are the same and the opposition are in agreement we can't see a problem with it. There is a potential loss of six or seven overs. The same overs can be bowled at the same end in the second innings to make sure it's fair."

The matter has been referred to the ECB with a decision set for Wednesday, which is too late for Derbyshire's first Twenty20 contest of the summer on Tuesday. For once, county executives will be hoping that the weather then is anything but bright and sunny.