Rain washed out the final day of the Specsavers County Championship fixture versus Gloucestershire, but John Sadler was able to reflect on some encouraging cricket from his players.
Bad weather prevented a ball being bowled on the final day with Gloucestershire needing another 262 runs and Derbyshire requiring 10 wickets to win.
Despite the wash-out, Sadler saw enough from his young side to believe that they have every chance of putting a tick in the win box in the next three weeks.
He said: “It’s very frustrating, it’s a shame because we had a good day’s cricket ahead of us with all three results possible but the weather has beaten us.
“But I’m very pleased with the way we played, particularly on day two when we were in the field.
“We were up against it, certainly in the last third of the day, and the way the lads came out and showed fight and battled through was brilliant to get us back in the game. So I’m delighted with the way the lads have stuck together and worked hard.”
A career-best 140 from Alex Hughes was a highlight and Sadler said: “It was a superb innings, the best I’ve seen Alex play.
“The way he had to fight in the first hour when it was swinging and the pitch was a bit up and down by then, was very impressive.
“They bowled well and hit the pitch hard, but he battled through and stuck to his plans and earned the right to play some more aggressive cricket as the day went on. I really can’t speak highly enough of the way he played.
“We are punching above our weight a little bit at the minute. We are working hard and we’ve got some young cricketers gaining valuable experience. We just turn up every day and try and do our jobs to the best we can.”
