Di Venuto relishing county living

By Martin Gough

The sun is out as Derbyshire complete their pre-season fixture list, and life is good for Australian batsman Michael di Venuto.

There's a completely different feeling in the dressing room - there's a lot of energy and competition for places Michael di Venuto

September saw him come back from a career-threatening back injury

In February his home side Tasmania lift the domestic one-day trophy - their first title in 26 years - and late in March his first child, Sophia, was born.

After a frustrating English summer in 2004, when back surgery to remove a piece of a bulging disc forced him to miss the whole season, he is back with a radically-overhauled Derbyshire side.

And he expects to be celebrating in September, if not because his county have secured promotion then at least because his childhood friend Ricky Ponting will be carrying off the Ashes.

"It's a great time to be in England, a great time to be an Australian in England," he says of this Ashes summer.

"It should be an outstanding series - it's been pumped up and rightly so.

"Australia really clicked in New Zealand recently, they put it together as a unit where recently they've been pulled through by individuals.

"And England have been playing terrifically."

DI VENUTO'S SEASONS IN THE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP 1999 (Sussex) 1067 runs at 41.03, best 162 2000 (Derbys) 725 runs at 32.95, best 92* 2001 (Derbys) 1082 runs at 45.08, best 165 2002 (Derbys) 1538 runs at 61.52, best 230 2003 (Derbys) 1520 runs at 49.03, best 150

While he might exchange the odd text message with Ponting, though, he is not holding out much hope of a call-up to the Australian side.

He scored two half-centuries in nine one-day internationals as an opening batsman.

But the 31-year-old has not been given a chance since the overhaul that preceded the 1999 World Cup triumph.

Instead he has been content to make mincemeat of county attacks - 5,932 in the Championship alone since joining Sussex in 1999.

"It's good way of life for second tier Australian players to play 12 months of the year," he tells BBC Sport.

"I'd like to think we're entertaining and give good value for money."

Di Venuto (top centre) was part of Tasmania's one-day triumph

Maybe the money side attracted Derbyshire to Di Venuto in 2000, at a time when they threw pound coins around like manhole covers.

Times are better at the Racecourse Ground now, with permanent floodlights and a brand new pavilion gleaming where a derelict grandstand used to be.

But so far that success has yet to be reflected on the field of play, where they finished second-from-bottom in both the Totesport League and the County Championship last year.

An injury crisis, which began with Di Venuto and Derbyshire's other planned overseas signing, Damien Wright, ended up spreading like a contagion.

"We went one place up on the year before," Di Venuto half-jokes.

"But we showed a lot of fight and played out some draws when we could have been bowled out on the last day.

"Even though the places won't show it there were some great performances and it was the start of the change."

DI VENUTO'S ONES TO WATCH Ian Hunter Joined us from Durham late last year; bowls with pace and gets swing; has been given a second crack and is doing well Nick Walker An exciting young player who has been bowling well and likes to have a hit as well

The change started the year before, when former Zimbabwe captain David Houghton arrived as director of cricket, prompting the departure of captain Dominic Cork.

Houghton has switched the focus from other counties' cast-offs to a group of developing youngsters.

But this is still a team stacked with European passport-holders born in other Test-playing countries.

Di Venuto, by the way, holds an Italian passport though his parents but will occupy one of the overseas spots for the next two years at least.

"There's a completely different feeling in the dressing room," he says. "There's a lot of energy and competition for places.

"Promotion has to be an aim but realistically we've just got to look to improve our individual games - then the rest will take care of itself."

The same goes for the batsman himself. He adds: "In the last two years here I've been pretty successful so my thoughts are to overtake that and improve.

"I don't go out expecting to score 1,500 runs but I've done it twice before and I'm fully capable of doing it again."

Any thoughts of an Ashes call if a couple of batsmen go down with injuries?

"Maybe if 10 blokes went down."