THE ankle problem which has left him unable to bowl was behind Rikki Clarke extended absence from the first team for their Championship match against Northants.

It was expected that the captain would make his return after missing the meeting of the sides at Northampton two weeks ago, especially after he batted well in the Pro40 League match against Essex on Monday, scoring a half-century.

But head of cricket John Morris made the bold decision to stand by the batsmen who did well at Northampton, though he said it might have been a different story if Clarke had been able to bowl.

“He was close to playing but the team is what is important and Rikki is not fit to bowl,” said Morris.

“I would have had to have left one of our other batters out to accommodate him.

“The ones who played at Northampton are in really good touch, so I have stood by them.

“There is still a lot of cricket to be played this season and I would like the captain to be ready for when we play Surrey on Sunday.”

The biggest problem for Morris at the end of the first day was another finger injury for wicketkeeper Jamie Pipe.

He hurt the index finger of his left hand – the same one that kept him out of the side for a month earlier this season – dropping a catch and an x-ray this morning will show whether or not it is broken again.

“We know he's had a problem with the finger already this season and we hope it's an injury that's not going to cause us any problems,” added Morris.

“If he's out for a month again, we'll have to cope with it but we'll see how the x-ray goes first.”

Northants gave their permission for Derbyshire to replace Pipe behind the stumps with young wicketkeeper Tom Poynton.

“I appreciate Northants allowing us to use Tom Poynton to replace him behind the stumps and he's a more than useful deputy,” said Morris.