Head of Cricket, Dave Houghton, admits Derbyshire’s form has not been good enough, but hopes the young squad can take lessons from facing experienced players into their development.
Aside from Ravi Rampaul and Alex Hughes, the side is currently made up of players with limited List A experience, with the likes of Ben Aitchison, Connor Marshall and Nils Priestley among those making their first appearances in the 50-over format.
Injuries both before and during the competition have decimated the squad, while the loss of three key players in Leus du Plooy, Matt Critchley and Luis Reece to The Hundred has meant there’s regularly been between just 12 and 14 players to choose from.
Derbyshire have lost four of their opening five matches in the Royal London Cup, with the other against Glamorgan being a washout, and Houghton says they simply haven’t matched the more experienced players when facing them, but he believes there are huge opportunities for the youngsters to learn and grow.
“The last thing you want to be doing is showing your youngsters how to lose,” he told BBC Radio Derby.
“It’s important that the guys learn how to play positive cricket and learn how to win. We’re struggling at the moment, because the other sides are playing better than us. Northamptonshire batted and bowled better than us. As long as we’re learning every time and getting better each time, there’s progress, but it’s not going to get any easier now.
“We do a lot of work behind the scenes on growing as a side, but getting the experience is one thing and putting it into practice is another. So learn from anything you’ve done wrong today and put it right next time.
“There’s no point saying ‘we need bowl a better line and length up front next game’ and then not doing it. Fix that and then maybe you find something else to improve, but you slowly learn in that way.”
Watch Derbyshire in the Royal London Cup!
50-over cricket returns to Derbyshire this month, with tickets on sale now for all home games, including the local derby against Nottinghamshire at The Incora County Ground and the fixture against Yorkshire Vikings at Queen’s Park, Chesterfield.
