By Neil Hallam at Derby
First day of four: Derbys (70 & 112-3) lead Essex (65) by 117 runs
IT may seem improbable, after a day on which 23 wickets fell for only 247 runs, to suggest that the pitch was largely blameless but that was the concensus among players and umpires, leaving only incompetent batting, good seam bowling and smart catching to explain the two lowest first-class scores of this season.
Derbyshire's decision to bat signalled that a pitch less green than many at the County Ground was no ``terror track'' but the ball did swing lavishly and seam occasionally to exploit technical flaws and errors of judgment as two struggling sides capsized before tea.
Derbyshire's 70 from 33.3 overs undercut the previous lowest score of the season, Durham's 74 against Yorkshire last month, but they owned this unhappy distinction for less than one session as Essex subsided just as feebly for 65 in 32.2 overs.
There was, after recent downpours, moisture in a surface which produced variation in bounce but it was what the ball did through the air and what the batsmen failed to do which contributed most to Mark Ilott's six for 20 in Derbyshire's collapse and the four-wicket returns of Phil DeFreitas and Kevin Dean as Essex proved even less durable.
Some order was restored as Derbyshire recovered from 47 for three to 112 for three in their second innings with Kim Barnett in the process becoming the 115th player in the history of the the game to score 25,000 runs.
Derbyshire's decline from third in the table to fourth from bottom has revealed a worrying lack of substance in their batting, nowhere more disappointing than in Michael Slater's failure to score a single championship half-century by July.
He perished twice to balls which might well have defeated a batsman in the runs, Ashley Cowans making one bounce and leave him in only the second over and Ilott punishing ill-judged lunges from Adrian Rollins and Barnett before swinging one into to flatten Matt Cassar's off-stump.
Tim Tweats continued a desperate run with a 10-over duck and Ben Spendlove nudged carelessly down the leg side to leave Derbyshire at 18 for six, a position redeemed only to a limited degree by the more watchful Steve Griffith and Glenn Roberts.
Essex began almost as wretchedly as Dean and DeFreitas kept the ball up to the bat and Darren Robinson, Paul Prichard, Paul Grayson and Stuart Law proved unable to apply a workable antidote.
Ronnie Irani picked up Dean for six over square-leg but when he chipped to cover, the collapse became headlong, their last six wickets falling for 10 runs.
Slater was torpedoed across his stumps when Derbyshire's second innings began and both Rollins and Tweats got good balls before Barnett and Cassar proved that survival was possible with application and restraint.
Day 2: Derbyshire graft lines up victory
By Neil Hallam at Derby
Essex (65 & 92-4) need 233 runs to beat Derbys (70 & 319)
THE application and technique so patently lacking on a wicket-strewn first day were discovered in generous supply as Derbyshire took command against a drooping Essex attack to set a victory target of 325.
From 112 for three overnight Derbyshire grafted to 319, with Kim Barnett and Matt Cassar setting the tone of responsible acqusition with a stand of 95, the biggest of the game, and the last two wickets adding 106.
Derbyshire will not need reminding that Essex scored 442 for six in the final innings to win on this ground in 1992, but there was little evidence of the durability required to succeed again as they lost four wickets in reaching 39 and limped to 92 for four, still 233 adrift.
Trevor Smith, a 21-year-old seamer in his second championship game, nipped one away to remove Darren Robinson, had Paul Prichard held at gully and, after having a fierce chance to second slip missed off Stuart Law, tempted him to drive the next ball to extra cover.
Ronnie Irani, who survived a sharp chance to mid-on against Kevin Dean on 12, fell working across the line to raise Derbyshire's hopes further on a day when Essex's failure to hold four chances proved crucial.
Day 3: Smith adds fizz to Derbyshire attack
By Neil Hallam at Derby
Third day of four: Derbyshire (70 & 319) bt Essex (65 & 143) by 181 runs
DERBYSHIRE, who were reaching for the hemlock after plunging headlong from third in the championship to fourth from bottom, supped champagne instead after beating Essex with more than five sessions
They required fewer than 22 overs yesterday to sweep away the resistance of the last six wickets, claim a third win of the season and prompt chairman Vic Brownett to send the bubbly into the home dressing-room.
To win by such a margin from the rickety platform of 18 for six and 70 all out in their first innings was remarkable and the fact that Trevor Smith, a 21-year-old seamer playing only his second championship game, applied the coup de grce with six for 32 was grimly revealing of Essex's flimsiness in four-day cricket.
At 92 for four overnight in pursuit of 325, the odds against Essex winning were always heavy and they lengthened sharply as Paul Grayson drove to mid-on in Smith's second over and Stephen Peters shuffled in front in his third.
The ball again swung consistently and late for those bowlers who maintained a full length but nightwatchman Peter Such, patient and selective, showed what was possible with two cover-driven fours off Kevin Dean and a pull to the boundary off Phil DeFreitas en route to an unbeaten 19.
Kevin Dean pinned Barry Hyam half forward and victory was complete four overs later as the left-arm seamer finished with a spell of four wickets for two runs in 13 balls and match figures of eight for 66.