Breaking news today is that South African born but English-qualified all-rounder Tim Groenewald has left Warwickshire with a year to go on his contract to join Derbyshire.
Like Garry Park, he was a player that the county wished to retain but he has opted for the greater opportunities at Derby than there would be at Edgbaston, where the legend that is Rikki Clarke stands ahead of him...
He has a tough act to follow, as the previous all-rounders we signed from the Bears, Graeme Welch and Graham Wagg became huge favourites at Derby. A fast medium bowler and big hitting batsman, he has hit more sixes in limited over matches than he has fours, which suggests that life will not be dull when he goes in next season.
It also means that with Wagg, Smith, Clare, Park, Needham and now Groenewald we have plenty of all-rounders to call on next year. It's a good job the ex-captain did leave, as he would have slipped back to seventh best all-rounder at the club!
While Groenewald's first class record isn't spectacular, he has done enough to suggest that there is something there and I'm quite prepared to trust the coach's judgement on this one. I've not seen enough of him to comment, but players take a while to settle in the County game and I'd suggest that there is potential, just as long as we don't expect the new Ian Botham.
So we "give" them Botha, Rankin and Clarke and have had Welch, Wagg and Groenewald in return (OK and Tim Munton, who was unlucky with injuries)
Think we've done better in those exchanges, don't you?
When I heard that Derbyshire had signed a Durham allrounder I thought that the rumours about Plunkett being unhappy up there were true.
ReplyDeleteI then heard that we had signed a South African with a 'funny' name and thought that Herschell, Kruis, Klusener, Du Plesis, Van Wath and Ackerman were sort of 'funny'. I wasn't feeling so funny when I heard it was none of them. Hopefully John Morris has a big signing up his sleeve otherwise the increased memberships that we have been getting might not happen. Our failures in the past have been because we keep signing players that are not good enough to get in other teams. There have been exceptions of course and I am hoping that Park and Groenewald will be exceptions.
Although I understand the sentiment that Park & Groenewald aren't 'Galactico' (to mix sports for a minute!) signings, I think they are the sorts of signings (possibly along with Lawson) we need to make to move forward. Although they're joining us in different circumstances, I'm hoping there'll be similar to Waggy - young(ish) but unfulfilled players who have the potential to improve with both bat and ball and thus develop into very solid county players.
ReplyDeleteLook what happened last winter when we signed a 'superstar' - and conversely, if you pack the team with 4-5 kids fresh from the academy, it's very unfair to expect them to play consistently well match after match. If Park & Groenewald can respectively become 1000 FC run and 50 FC wickets a season men (while also chipping in with the other side of their game) and can serve us for 5-8 seasons they'll have been very worthwhile signings.
Financially, it just isn't possible for us to pack the team with guys who have years of proven pedigree behind them, so packing the team with guys who have proved they can play a bit, while wanting to make the next step up and play more regularly (as these two seem to want to) is surely the next best plan?
Couldn't agree more Matt! They are players who will not have cost a fortune and could be real finds. Both are originally from Natal and should make a big difference to our one day side. If Groenewald is a direct replacement for White it strengthens the squad considerably. He's a player of talent who can only get better.
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