RIKKI Clarke  has dropped himself for Derbyshire's LV

County Championship match at Northampton, starting today.

In a move of startling honesty, the county captain has

admitted that his form with both bat and ball is not good

enough to warrant a place in the side and he will play for the

seconds at Dunstall while the first team takes on

Northants.

In his first season as Derbyshire skipper, former England

all-rounder Clarke has failed to hit the standards he is

capable of with his own performances.

With only one Championship half-century to his name, his

first-class batting average has slipped to below 27 and he has

taken only 11 first-class wickets at a cost of over 32

each.

Though the team has responded well to his captaincy and he

has proved to be an outstanding slip catcher, Clarke approached

head of cricket John Morris at the end of the game against

Leicestershire on Monday to say he believed he should be left

out.

“That's the kind of honesty there is in our dressing room,”

said Morris.

“The captain is not in particularly good form at the moment

with bat or the ball.

“He's catching pigeons at slip still but that's not enough.

He knows that, we've had a conversation about it and he thinks

he shouldn't play at Northampton.

“I agree with that and I still support him 100 per cent,

because he's still got a massive future here.

“He still wants to play for Derbyshire and at least he's

shown he's big enough to consider leaving himself out. That's

admirable.

“He should go and get some runs in the second team, get his

confidence back up and get back in the side.

“Sometimes, you have to take a step back to start moving

forward again.

“There are no issues, it is a proper sensible decision by a

player who is struggling for a bit of form right now.”

Clarke will return to lead the side in their opening Pro40

League fixture at Northampton on Sunday and will then play in

the three-day match against Bangladesh A at the County Ground,

starting on Monday.