Jon Lewis column: Our continuing inability to win County Championship matches at Cheltenham is, quite frankly, baffling to me.

I have been reminded on several occasions this week that it is now eight seasons since we beat Sussex to prevail in a four-day game at the College Ground.

That particular record of under-achievement was brought into focus on Wednesday when we suffered another depressing Festival defeat, this time at the hands of Derbyshire, who leapfrogged us at the top of Division Two.

Talking to journalists after the game, I admitted I couldn't quite put my finger on why we should be struggling so much at a venue which has traditionally been such a stronghold.

In this instance, our batting let us down and we were always under pressure after being shot out cheaply in our first innings. The strange thing is that the ground suits batsmen, yet we struggle to score runs there.

Alex Gidman, Hamish Marshall and James Franklin are all in fine fettle, but none of the others are in particularly good form and the batting unit is misfiring as a result. To be honest, given the attack at Derbyshire's disposal, it should not have been beyond us to save the game on the final day.

It would be wrong of me to attribute our failings at Cheltenham to the batters alone. We have been bowling sides out this season, but could have done a lot better against Derbyshire.

One obvious area in which we have encountered problems is the spin department and our deficiencies in that sphere have contributed, in no small part, to our poor Festival record in recent years.

Despite suffering a second successive four-day defeat, we are still in there fighting and, providing we can rediscover and maintain the form that was winning us games earlier in the season, we can still challenge for promotion to Division One.

I'm sure there will be changes ahead of next week's game against Northants. Those changes are unlikely to be wholesale, but John Bracewell will want to bring in players who are hungry to succeed in order to keep the rest of us on our toes.

Will Porterfield is back from international duty with Ireland, Grant Hodnett and David Brown have scored runs in the seconds and Ian Saxelby has recovered from injury and illness and is sure to come under consideration.

If our four-day Festival form has fallen beneath the standards we set ourselves, the same cannot be said of our one-day fortunes. Cheltenham remains a fortress when it comes to the Pro40 competition and, again, playing at the College Ground offers us a fantastic opportunity to get off to a flying start.

Because we know how the ground plays, having three home games at Cheltenham represents a significant advantage, one which we have, by and large, made the most of down the years.

We play Worcestershire, Essex and Durham over the next week and, without taking anything for granted, we fancy our chances of making a clean sweep. If we win all three, it would set us up for the remainder of the season in a format which amounts to a sprint these days.

Our performances in the 50-over Friends Provident Trophy have been good this season and we feel very confident when it comes to one-day cricket. Certainly, we are capable of doing well at the Festival.

We know there are certain areas where it is always possible to score runs and, for the most part, our bowlers know where to put the ball. That can be a tricky proposition for guys who are not familiar with the ground.

Owing to our heavy playing schedule, I was unable to watch much of the first Test at Cardiff last weekend. But I did find the time to watch Marcus North make his maiden Ashes hundred. I got to know Marcus pretty well during his time with Gloucestershire last year and it was nice to see a former team-mate do so well on the big stage. Of course, I would be far happier were he to score big runs and Australia lose!

His success did not surprise me. You can never be sure how a player is going to react when promoted to the international stage, but Marcus is the kind of character who thrives on pressure and raises his game when challenged.

Of course, it was a hugely exciting game and England were fortunate to get away with a draw after being outplayed. They would definitely have lost had the likes of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath still been on the scene.

But Australia's bowling attack is not what it is and, having made their great escape in South Wales, England can go on to prosper. Australia have already played some of their best cricket and now have to maintain that standard, which is no easy matter.

Providing they learn from their Cardiff experience, England can play an awful lot better in the Test matches to come.