The hiding at the NCG put the first real pressure on head coach David Capel this season.

You're nobody if you get turned over by Derbyshire on your own patch and if you lose one more early in this league you rarely get promoted.

Although promoted to what? With T20 deliberately scheduled on Sundays this year, the bite-size cricket took a big nibble out of the financial credibility of the 40-over on comparative attendance, and so was enough for the ECB to can it.

This even though their very own survey that harvested fans' opinions on the game said the Pro40 was cherished by two-thirds of those who filled it in…the T20 helping to boost Pro40 crowds.

But the ECB want to cut the smaller counties' subsidies through T20 gates, and so that was that. One loyal family of Northants members of 20 years' standing won't be renewing in 2010 because of the T20 expansion. I'm sure they are not alone.

Whether the ECB like it or not, the members are a big part of the game and, like New Labour and the unions, if you turn your back on your hardcore contributors and take easy money elsewhere then it all comes crashing down.

On the pitch it was very poor in all departments for the Steelboks, weather included. Capel has found only two wins in 10 now, which is last year's disastrous form.

If you think of the quality and expense of the side at his disposal, then it is fair to ask if problems in the dressing room are to blame for this worrying dip.

There was Johan van der Wath sulking around all last week looking as if he needed a break, and one or two others carrying injuries to the detriment of their performance.

Fingers need to be pulled out of a certain orifice this week because we can still get that double promotion.

A total of 222 was easily 30 runs short in front of a healthy crowd, only Sales (96no) and Boje (59) managing to get some sort of score with an excellent hundred partnership.

But the Phantoms knocked it off with embarrassing ease and there's now real concern the season will dribble out into nothing on this lethargic showing.

Capel's selection of three guys that were always likely to get hit in the middle overs was always going to hurt us. A creaking Lance Klusener and the surprise selection of Mark Nelson were easily smacked around, the latter batting ahead of Hall who had just scored 50 two days previous and has the second best one-day batting record!?

The bowling was just too light and the reason we lost.

I presume the younger ones were thrown in on Sunday to persuade them to stick around next year (an approach is expected very soon for one of our under-19 lads) and so be prepared for later T20 games, which the Pro40 is now just a testing ground for.

If we don't go up in the championship with this team then there's no hope at Wantage Road and the proposed floodlights will illuminate a very poor, rain swept future.