Don Goodman: My predictions for the 2011-12 Championship season

Chris Hughton has experience of getting out of the Championship, and could lead Birmingham back to the Premier League. Photograph: John Sibley/Action Images

Birmingham have lost key players such as Roger Johnson, Ben Foster and Barry Ferguson, but in Chris Hughton have a manager who knows how to get out of this division … Blackpool lost Charlie Adam, David Vaughan and, most likely, the goals of DJ Campbell – a massive setback, but Ian Holloway will still have his team playing the right way … Brighton have the talent to do as Norwich did last season: come up from League One and make a huge impact … Cardiff should have done better last season. Jay Bothroyd has gone but Malky Mackay still has a very good squad … Hull finished strongly last season and, with Nigel Pearson making some decent purchases, they should push on … Ipswich always look like a side capable of challenging for a top-six place and have a hugely experienced manager in Paul Jewell … Leeds were top scorers in the Championship last season but struggled badly defensively. If they fix that they should be challengers … Leicester have spent hugely – but Cardiff had the best players last season and look what happened to them … Middlesbrough recovered well under Tony Mowbray last season and should push on … Nottingham Forest brought in Steve McClaren, which should provide unity between boardroom and dugout … Portsmouth are dark horses, with stability off the pitch and a talented, experienced manager in Steve Cotterill … Southampton can use promotion from League One as a springboard for even more success … And West Ham have a manager in Sam Allardyce who will restore the team's passion and fighting spirit.

Bristol City finished 15th last season and it's hard to see them doing much better this time around … Burnley have a talented manager in Eddie Howe but have lost Chris Eagles and Tyrone Mears … Crystal Palace were steadied by Dougie Freedman last season and can really push on this year … Derby County started brilliantly last season but their struggle with consistency means they cannot expect to finish too high up … Millwall's loss of Steve Morison is a huge blow to their chances – it's hard to see how Kenny Jackett will replace his goals ... Reading have already lost Matt Mills and are likely to lose Shane Long, too.

Barnsley's lack of resources means it's hard to see how Keith Hill will be able to improve on last season's 17th … Coventry have lost Marlon King who was crucial last season ... Doncaster simply do not have the wherewithal to compete strongly in this division. They finished one place above relegation last season and will do well to improve on that … Peterborough have lost Craig Mackail-Smith, robbing them of any momentum from winning the play-offs last season … Watford, like Peterborough, have lost their top scorer – but even with Danny Graham, manager Sean Dyche would have struggled this season.

View the original article here

Derbyshire 252; Middlesex 397-9 | Championship match report

Dawid Malan scored a career-best 143 to move Middlesex into the driving seat against Derbyshire at Lord's. Photograph: Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Five days ago, Lord's was bouncing to the egalitarian beat of People's Monday. On Saturday, it buzzed, albeit at a much lower pitch, to another unaccustomed innovation: Ladies' Day.

It was the fourth incarnation of this Middlesex venture linked to Breakthrough Breast Cancer, an alliance that has imbued the county's sober navy livery with a splash of pink and turned their one-day shirts into a Battenberg cake.

So rather than anoraks and scorebooks it was fascinators and flowery dresses. Champagne flowed – free for women, along with admission to the ground – in the Harris Garden, where there were as many quaffing as there were watching the cricket in the stands.

Regular Middlesex supporters, who would normally be in shorts and ill-fitting replica shirts, were suited, booted and with female accompaniment. Think the Major in Fawlty Towers: "I took her to see India." "India?" "At The Oval."

The Derbyshire 12th man Mark Footitt, walking round the boundary, was persuaded to exchange his county cap for a fascinator belonging to a young woman. This is probably not how those Middlesex grandees Gubby Allen and Pelham Warner would have defined progress.

Steven Finn, the Middlesex bowler who has spent much of the past few days driving to and from the Test at Nottingham, tweeted "it could get messy", in reference to the free champagne.

It seemed appropriate that the first two wickets were taken by a bowler with a girl's name. Jonathan Clare, a 6ft 4in all-rounder from Burnley, whose progress has been hindered by injury, broke Middlesex's century opening stand with the 10th ball of the day. He then dismissed Chris Rogers, whose innings of 11 was strangely fraught against the side he used to captain.

By mid-afternoon, Middlesex had crept into the lead, but, with five wickets down, they seemed to have missed an opportunity. The pitch, which was used for the one-day game between the sides on Thursday, was wearing fast and the prospect of a sizeable fourth-innings chase is not one that Middlesex – second in Division Two – would wish to contemplate.

But a career-best 143 from Dawid Malan converted Middlesex's slender lead into a meaningful advantage. By the time he was ninth out, slashing Clare to Wayne Madsen at gully four overs before stumps, Middlesex were 135 in front.

Malan, 23, Roehampton-born but raised in South Africa, was Middlesex's leading run-scorer in the championship in 2010, but had not passed 50 in the competition this season until Saturday. He was initially watchful, taking account of conditions that were trickier than most of his colleagues were prepared to acknowledge. But once in sight of his century, he let the cover drives and pulls flow. His only scare was a big lbw appeal on 99 against the lively Mark Turner, one of eight bowlers used by Derbyshire who flagged after tea on a hot afternoon.

Earlier, Sam Robson, the opener, made 94 for the third time this season. On the other occasions he was not out in successful run chases. He had looked untroubled and set for a century until he reached for a wide half-volley and was caught low in the gully. Robson, comes from Paddington, which sounds standard fare for a Middlesex batsman except this is Paddington, Sydney. Since re-establishing himself in the side in May, the 22-year-old has been a key component in Middlesex's promotion push.

View the original article here