THE most intriguing of the current season's fixtures, when they were announced way back in the cold depths of winter, was the trip to Whitgift School.

This is only the 10th season that Surrey have taken games to the grounds of the South Croydon school and Derbyshire had not previously been given the chance to provide the opposition, so last week counted as a rare treat.

It is a lovely setting, if you can blank out the noises of a busy main road just beyond the hedges and tall trees.

A steep grass bank on the opposite side of the ground gives it the feel of an amphitheatre and among the peculiarities of the venue are that peacocks roam freely around the school.

There was even a fairly big exhibition of treasures recovered from the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's flagship – and, before you ask, no they did not find Derbyshire's trophy cabinet on the wreck.

It was all very pleasant and a perfect illustration of how much more memorable it can be to watch cricket on out-grounds rather than at the county headquarters.

Sure, the attraction of covering a game from a tent only holds for as long as the weather is suitable and there is often no hiding place for supporters when it does rain.

The players have to make do with fewer home comforts as well – their changing room at Whitgift was a Portakabin with a few plastic chairs and not so much as a coat hook – but they too cannot help but notice that a game on an out-ground carries a greater sense of occasion.

Matches away from headquarters are special and have an atmosphere that touches everyone. Even the stewards, whose sole purpose at The Oval seems to be to tell you what you can't do and where you can't go, were smiley and chatty.

Derbyshire have been quite fortunate with the number of matches they have played on out-grounds this season.

There is Chesterfield, of course, which is thankfully now re-established as a regular venue for Derbyshire home matches for 10 days of the season and remains one of the prettiest grounds in the country when the sun shines. We have a further five days at Queen's Park to come later this month.

Cheltenham College was fabulous and there is still the prospect of a trip to Uxbridge to come, though that is reputedly not as nice as Southgate, Middlesex's other home away from Lord's.

Nevertheless, it will be a different experience and, bearing in mind that it is not so long since the out-ground was in danger of slipping off the fixture lists altogether, that can only be a good thing.

Grounds on which Derbyshire have played first team cricket through their history as a first-class county. Whitgift School is the 154th and 32 have been for one-day games only.