Final thoughts on a dire week

What happened in Derbyshire cricket this week daddy? We started it with a place in a T20 final in Barbados son, and then it went down hill from there.


There still appears to be massive confusion about what is happening with regard to the imminent elections and the club should really be making a statement sometime soon. As far as I’m concerned the elections are well and truly screwed and with the depth of feeling that I’m seeing in e mails, on IMWT and in the poll I would not be at all surprised if a vote of no confidence in the committee was proposed at the AGM. That it would lead to a period of uncertainty is likely, but at least one of those concerned has seen this sort of thing before. Read IMWT’s link to the Amott departure and see what I mean…

This, of course, is dependent on people being brave enough to say what they’re doing on a computer in front of a meeting. Its not courage in the real sense, the Helmland province sense if you will, but some find it hard to do that kind of thing and what happens from here is dependent on people being willing to do so.

If you’re a regular reader of this site you’ll know that I am a supporter of the club and as such will defend it where at all possible, but I’m finding that very difficult in the light of recent events. I have always tried to be even-handed in criticism and constructive where at all possible, but I’ll tell you areas where I have major issues with recent events and where the actions of those involved have given me serious cause for concern:

1 We’ve heard Don’s story but we’ve still not heard a peep from the three villains of the piece to say that he got it all wrong. Why is this? Quite likely because he didn’t.

2 If there is any truth whatsoever that committee members wanted a say in team selection, they should go. Quite simply it has nothing to do with them. We pay someone to do that and any variant will take us back to the days when England teams were picked by panels who had poor knowledge and were too parochial. There's not a coach worthy of the name would take that - would you?

3 For me, the actions of the tricky trio were an ill-thought, knee-jerk reaction to a situation that really wasn’t there. The two people who mattered – the Chairman and Chief Executive - were in control of last year’s loss, had put procedures in place to reverse it this year and should have been left alone to carry on with what they have thus far done very well.

4 These discussions should have been on a full committee basis, not just what seems to be three conspirators and a chairman. Whether it was a sub-committee or not,  this is the impression given and the track record of one of those concerned, as highlighted in recent historical press accounts on IMWT, only fuels that argument.

5 The reality is that any committee should be representative of the views of the membership and should do just that in their actions. If they had a mandate from the membership to address the financial situation that would be a different matter. They didn’t, as there was no vote, so we now have three committee members saying that a second paid employee – the Chief Executive – is effectively wrong in his summation of our financial state.

The Derby Telegraph earlier in the week said

“An emergency committee meeting is to be called soon to gauge reaction to Amott's resignation. After that, the club has to face its members at the AGM on March 30, when there could be some awkward questions to address.”

If the people involved in this scenario hold an emergency meeting and come up with any other conclusion than that the weight of opinion is firmly against them, they are too blinkered to be holding office. Likewise if the membership tolerate their actions and say nowt at the AGM then they deserve everything they get in the future.

If John Morris has presented a five-year plan it suggests he is prepared for a long haul. With Amott as chairman and Loring as Chief Executive we had nothing to worry about. Having lost one, there is a risk that another could feel it is not worth the hassle and the third would be increasingly isolated.

I think there is still an opportunity to persuade Don Amott to return, but a condition of that would almost certainly be that three others, whose actions have been out of order, resign for it to happen. If they cannot see that, in order to flourish in this economic climate, the club needs Amott at the helm far more than it needs them, they are doing a club they purport to support a grave disservice.