Championship Rewind: Derbyshire v Warwickshire, 1990

June 16th, 1990. A breezy morning in Derby. At the Racecourse Ground, Warwickshire captain Dermot Reeve wins the toss and put the home side in.

For the Bears, it doesn't go well. At close of play on the opening day of the three-day championship match, Derbyshire are 408 for two.

Against a bowling attack of Gladstone Small, Tim Munton, Adrian Pierson, Roger Twose, Tom Moody and Asif Din, the home side's numbers one two and three - Kim Barnett, Peter Bowler and John Morris - all score centuries.

Not the ideal platform for a victory.

Day Two was heavily rain-affected. Derbyshire advanced to 475 for four declared, then the Bears reached 25 without loss, meaning that, as so often in the wake of weather damage in the three-day format, the only way out of stalemate was collusion. So captains Reeve and Kim Barnett for their heads together.

On the third morning Derbyshire deployed declaration bowlers to allowed the Bears to accelerate to 125 for one. Then the home side forfeited their second innings to set Warwickshire a victory target of 350.

That was a stiff challenge in damp conditions against a high-quality and varied home attack including Devon Malcolm, Alan Warner, Geoff Miller and Kim Barnett, and the Bears started unevenly. They lost Andy Moles (three), Jason Ratcliffe (25) and Asif Din (30) with only 80 on the board - but then Moody got going.

While the big Aussie found his range, Geoff Humpage gave the chase momentum with a quickfire 34 and then Reeve added a busy 25. A pulsating contest developed and it was right in the balance when, at 272 for six, Moody was joined at the crease by young Dominic Ostler, playing only his second championship match.

The sons of Adelaide and Solihull dovetailed sweetly to add 63 to take the Bears to the brink of victory. Moody departed for a brilliant 168 with just 16 required, after which Ostler saw his side home. His polished unbeaten 42 hinted at the great Bears career which lay ahead.

Moody's time with the county was to be much briefer than Ossie's - but was still pretty spectacular. Twelve championship innings in that, his only, season brought him 866 runs, including five centuries, at an average of 86.60. A fleeting but mighty contribution from a top-drawer overseas Bear...and it all began on a damp day in Derby.