DERBY (final day): Derbyshire: 270 & 417-6 v Warwickshire 310 & 160-4. Derbyshire (9pts) drew with Warwickshire (10pts).

The pursuit of a personal milestone took precedence over all else as Freddie Klokker recorded his maiden championship century on Saturday.

A match that had been beautifully poised at the start of the last day was rendered almost meaningless as Derbyshire allowed Klokker, resuming on 76 not out, 100 minutes to score the remaining 24 runs he required for a maiden championship century.

The achievement will, no doubt, mean much to the 25-year-old Dane. He has worked in vain for several years to win a contract with a first-class county, including playing two games for Warwickshire in 2006, and it was hard not to be pleased for him as he punched the air after cutting Jimmy Anyon to the boundary to complete his century (278 balls, eight fours).

Derbyshire immediately declared but Klokker's innings killed this match stone dead. It took so much time out of the it that neither side had realistic hopes of forcing vic-tory and highlighted one of the flaws of the way the game is played; personal milestones so often impede the progress of a team.

Derbyshire's conservative tactics also played into the hands of Warwickshire. On a pitch offering variable bounce to bowlers of all types, Warwickshire started the final day very much on the back foot and were relieved to face only 69 overs to survive. The notional target of 378 was never a possibility on this surface.

Perhaps the hosts' caution was understandable. Warwickshire chased down 388 to win on the final day against Northamptonshire only a couple of weeks ago and the Derbyshire attack was severely depleted. Graham Wagg missed the game after suffering an asthma attack that left him hospitalised while Rikki Clarke had a badly-bruised thumb that kept him off the field and Tom Lungley was suffering from horribly open blisters on his feet. Even so, their lack of ambition was regrettable and strange after their contrived success against Essex in the previous round of matches.

Warwickshire still suffered some awkward moments on route to safety. Ian Westwood soon prodded at one he could have left and gave a catch to slip before Darren Maddy, dropped at slip on 15, was caught at silly point off bat and pad. Ian Bell, timing the ball beau-tifully, somehow managed to edge the worst ball he received, a wide long-hop, to slip, to leave Warwickshire wobbling on 59 for three.

A stand of 89 in 29 overs between Michael Powell and Jonathan Trott made the game safe. Had Derbyshire declared an hour earlier, it could have been much more uncomfortable for Warwickshire.

As it was, they left Derby with some concerns over both batting and bowling. Some batsmen, such as Bell and Powell, are failing to convert their form into runs. Others, such as Westwood, are simply horribly out of form. He averages just 11 in the championship this season. Giles and co. will, quite rightly, bear with him for some time as he searches for form, but the propensity to prod at balls out-side off stump is a fatal flaw for an opening batsman.

The bowling is more of a concern. It says much about the Warwickshire attack that John Clare, Lungley and Klokker recorded career-best scores in this game. Clare (59 balls, 11 fours), at least timed the ball nicely on Saturday and looks a highly-promising all-round cricketer.

That Klokker averaged 31 for Berkswell in the second division of the Birmingham League last year says it all. He is a limited player, accumulating his runs almost exclusively behind square on the leg side, and on this type of pitch and at this level, really should not be prosper-ing. It was a point that Giles made with some force at the end of the game.

"I wouldn't say I'm frustrated," he said, sounding frustrated, "but we should be beating teams like this; counties like Derbyshire. We should be better than this. We had two opportunities to nail this game and we've let them both slip. When he had them 128 for seven on the first day and when we were 238 for three we had big chances, but we let them back into it.

"We need to be harder on ourselves. We need to stop hiding behind excuses, or look-ing for the answers in lap-tops, and we need to get better. It's no coincidence that the harder people work the more success they have. We have to work harder and be more demanding of ourselves.

"Our skill levels have to be higher. I don't want anyone saying 'it was one of those days' or saying 'they're only young.' I think there

may have been a tendency to do that in the past but they're not that young now. I want them to look at themselves and be honest. We won't get better unless we do."

Giles did, however, have warm words for Trott. "I've never seen him bat better than he did in this game," Giles said. "He's hitting it better than 'Belly' in the nets at the moment and he just needs to cash in when he's in this sort of form.

"Derbyshire's tactics were negative. They've let a personal milestone get in the way of team success and in the end their decla

ration was generous. I suppose we put them on the back foot by chasing so well at Northants but they did leave the declaration too late. We had two guys injured [Ambrose and Salisbury] so I was surprised how defensive they were.

"Obviously you don't want to leave guys stranded just short of a century. But if you let them know how much time they have at the start then you can avoid that."

But perhaps Warwickshire could learn much from Klokker.

He may not be the most talented cricketer but he has made the most of his ability and deserved his day in the sun. Several of Warwickshire's players would do well to heed his example.

Meanwhile, Warwickshire have named a young side for the first-class match starting at Fenner's today. The 19-year-old Richard Johnson will male his first-class debut the day after his List A debut while 20-year-old Andy Miller and 21-year-old Nick James are also in line to make their first-class debuts.