2010 started so well for perennial strugglers Derbyshire with two wins from their first three matches, but by the end of the season the county had returned to its familiar position at the bottom of the table having won only one more game. So how do prospects for 2011 fare?
Strengths
Luke Sutton returns from Old Trafford as the new captain and runs should flow from Usman Khawaja and Martin Guptill who will share duties as the overseas player. Elsewhere Wayne Madsen is a decent opener and whilst Chesney Hughes isn’t quite ‘the one and only’, he is promising young batsman.
Weaknesses
Losing Chris Rogers is likely to prove akin to having a leg chopped off and it is difficult to have any confidence in a raw and largely untried bowling attack.
Main man
Usman Khawaja has a first-class average touching fifty and made an impressive Test debut at Sydney earlier in the year. Yet another Australian who is likely to flourish at the County Cricket finishing school.
Look out for…
Victories – they could prove as infrequent as Haley’s Comet for Derbyshire in 2011.
Prediction
9th – consistency personified and the wooden spoon again
Where next?
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Yorkshire
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Worcestershire
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Warwickshire
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Sussex
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Somerset
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Nottinghamshire
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Lancashire
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Hampshire
County Championship Preview - Division 1: Durham
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