Home sweet home

The Racecourse ground, once the butt of cynical jokes, now looks a picture with the new pavilion ready for business and permanent floodlights due to be in use for the first time during the totesport League fixture with Leicestershire in early August. The six-pole system will also come into play for the game against Nottinghamshire in the same competition later that month but, while Derbyshire make great strides off the park, things are not so good on it.

Injuries to key players meant that only four men played in all the first six Championship matches and they carried a heavy burden. "Take the case of Graeme Welch," says David Houghton, the director of cricket. "He's supposed to be a change bowler but because of all the problems he's had to take the new ball and had bowled over 200 overs in the Championship alone by the end of May. That puts him in line to bowl 600 in the season which is a big workload. But, credit to the lads, they have battled away and not let it get them down. But I've never known anything like it and, with a small staff, injuries hit you very, very hard."

Not even Mike Hendrick, the bowling coach, escaped the jinx and he required an operation on his knee after straining for a bit more pace in the nets in preparation for a Bunbury's game. "You'd think at my age I'd know better," the hobbling former England man Hendrick says ruefully.

Moment of the month Opening the new peanut brown pavilion.