Searching for bottle

After another miserable Championship season Derbyshire are determined to stop the rot and Dave Houghton, the coach, has set his sights on a high-profile bowler for next summer as the top priority.

At least seven players will be on their way out of the Racecourse Ground, including Luke Sutton, the popular captain, who seeks pastures new, be they at Old Trafford or Edgbaston. Jamie Pipe has already been recruited from Worcestershire as a replacement keeper and Houghton insists that his side can turn round a record of just four wins in 45 Championship matches, spread over three seasons.

"We were six runs short of a win over Somerset, three runs shy in the draw at Durham and Lancashire beat us by one wicket," he says. "There has been an improvement in our cricket although we haven't gone the final mile and turned good positions into results. But the squad will be cut from 21 to around 16 or 17 and, with those savings and extra money being made available to strengthen the playing side, I expect to see a marked improvement."

Michael Di Venuto will return as one of the overseas players. "It's not just about finding good cricketers," says Houghton, "but cricketers with character like Graeme Welch who has made 700 odd runs and taken over 50 wickets. That's the sort of man we want, someone with ability and the bottle that sees you through when things get tough."

Moment of the month Coming within three runs of a first Championship win of the season at Durham.