I'm surprised that some people cannot see the 'ground breaking' aspect of Chris Grant's blueprint for Derbyshire cricket's future.
For one thing, for the first time the club, through the chairman, has nailed its colours to the mast about its future direction. We WILL play nine English qualified players in every match from 2013. That's not 'when it suits us' - it is a commitment to support young local players to come through the ranks and have opportunity at their club. As Mr Grant says, playing them for one game to cover injury and then dropping them is not going to happen.
For another, young players being offered three-year contracts will find that it is compulsory for them and an integral part of their contract to gain coaching qualifications - I understand up to level 3 - and are then required to give up to 20 hours coaching time in the mini academy or age groups during the winter. These courses will be funded by the Professional Cricketer's Association. The players will not be paid extra for this but no other county has done this on a contractual basis.
I don't know about you, but when I was a kid my coaching came from a keen PE teacher or old Sam, the grizzled longstop at the local club who 'once played for the Club and Ground you know'. I can only imagine what it would be like for a 13 year old wicketkeeper having Tom Poynton to work with you. Or having Dan Redfern, Ross Whiteley, Paul Borrington and others helping you with your game - even knowing your name! It has to be a move in the right direction, and from the personal development perspective gives the players a useful qualification for after their playing days.
You will be well aware that I rated what John Morris did at Derbyshire. I maintain we had better players at the end of his tenure than we did at the start, but the reality of the situation is that we finished bottom of the Championship last year and lost £190,000. We professed to have a youth policy but still signed overseas players and cast-offs from other counties. That will no longer happen. Our future will depend on young players who, in the right environment and with a vastly improved structure, will have an opportunity to flourish.
For me this, together with the introduction of performance appraisals, is pretty innovative. Maybe, as someone said to me in an e mail this afternoon, some were looking for Usain Bolt to show us how to run between the wickets, or Chris Backley to show the fielders how to throw. I think the blueprint, quite frankly, is the best, most invigorating thing I've seen in cricket for years. That it has happened at our club is staggering.
I am delighted to see Dave Houghton coming in for batting coaching. Regular readers will know that I was less impressed with Houghton as a cricket supremo, as he had no real structure, brought in some odd players and released our best one. To be fair, Michael di Venuto was probably released because of back trouble at that time, but Houghton should have waited to see if surgery sorted it, rather than replacing him with the not even half as good Travis Birt.
As a batting coach he has a world class reputation and the ability to strip things down to basics and improve players, something he is credited with around the world. Who knows, we may see Shane Warne in to work with Tom Knight, Jake Needham and others, while Allan Donald is mentioned as a potential bowling coach for sessions. Given that Donald has made a bowler of Boyd Rankin, I reckon he must be a little useful...
In all this innovation, with improved contracts for the players dependent on their performances, Chris Grant has still freed up enough money to double the pot we have available for the right overseas player, a position he is already working tirelessly to fill.
After 44 years as a fan, perhaps for the first time we have a structure that makes sense from top to bottom and a logical route for any young player we spot to make it to the first team of their local side. The potential is considerable and one would imagine, if all these local lads get into the senior side their pals may well be along in greater numbers than is currently the case to lend support.
I'm delighted. Carlsberg doesn't make cricket chairmen, but the signs are that if they did, he might well live in Swarkestone...
Peakfan - a great blog - agree with much - my only fear is if we are out on a limb with this youth?english qualified policy and other counties with their higher quota of overseas players and better English ones (because of the wages offered) mean we continually struggle to compete then that isn't going to bring the crowds in or enthuse me to renew my membership. A signing of Ponting or Kallis next year would - it has to be at that level - Cork or indeed Collingwood not in same league im afraid
ReplyDeletewell peakfan,ive spent a while considering these proposals now we have some details of how it will operate. I congratulate the chairman for having a clear vision of the future and broadly support his ambitions for the club. In saying that, there are still some aspects that i have concerns about.
ReplyDelete2013 is not far away. A little too close for comfort given the major restructuring of the team which is to happen by then. I have no problem with the concept, what worries me is some of those players who will be out in the middle.
We are taking alot for granted with this. The assumption seems to be that we suddenly have an abundance of players who are all knocking on the first team door and are ready to perform at this level. I cant help thinking how few players have made the grade over the last several seasons. You certainly don,t need an A level in maths to count them. It goes without saying that for every youngster that proves a success there are countless others who fail to reach the required standard. That,s always been the case, but suddenly we are looking to field virtually a full team of these players. Yes, there are players knocking on the door, but not very many at this stage.
It is pointed out there are significant financial benefits in persuing this philosophy. Thats very true and the amounts are not insignificant, but i just hope the thinking isn,t "Stuff the consequences,let,s take the money and run".
The team needs a nucleus of good experinced players. Youngsters learn little from each other and the last thing we want is to go through 2013 and beyond with a team that knows nothing except how to lose. I know i,m sounding a bit pessimistic here and that,s not the intention, but by this magical date it is likely that Jones, Smith, Groenewald and Sutton may not be around,for one reason or another. That leaves us very short on experience. I would hope the club will still look to recruit from outside, should a player who would be of obvious benefit to the team become available.
In saying all this, i hope the policy works,for all our sakes. For now, the chairman deserves support and i offer mine. In the absense of any plan B, all our eggs are in one basket. I hope it,s a well made one. I conclude by congratulating Karl Krikken on his new role and hope his relationshipe with Luke Sutton is more productive than the previous combination.
Where is everyone???. Im amazed nobody has blogged on this. There were enough "anons" coming on over the Morris affair,yet something like this has provoked little reaction.
ReplyDeleteDo you agree with these proposals. Are you like me,agreeing in principal with reservations,or do you disagree. you,re allowed to. Im sure peakfan wont cast anyone into the fires of hell if they take a contrary position to his,or mine for that matter.
Im not sure whether silence means everyone agrees or disagrees. So come on fellas,lets have a few more opinions. After all,we are talking about things that will fundamentally affect the club for years to come.
All in all, i think that the proposals are a big step forward. Bringing in outcasts from other conties and Kolpak players hasn't really helped us over the pastfew years and we're still struggling at the bottom of the pile, whilst also making a financial loss.
ReplyDeleteThis move will surely be of a financial benefit to us, whilst also in the long term increasing the ability of the team and enabling the club to attract top youngsters. Hopefully a marquee signing can be made as well, attracting support.
A positive move by Mr Grant, and one which i believe will bear fruit in the long term
you,re right Washy. This chairman clearly means business and in place of the usual fudges we have a defined pathway forward. As i said in my piece,there are a few aspects im a bit uneasy with,but taken as a whole it,s difficult to argue against the logic of what,s been said.
ReplyDeleteThat Dave Houghton has returned to coach is a good move. He was a unmitigated disaster as head of cricket, but will be very useful in a coaching role.
The more i think about it, the decision to show Morris and Brown the red card makes even more sense now. It was right to have a fresh approach,with people in clearly defined and different roles. I think it would have been very difficult to have incorporated all these new ideas within the old regime,irrespective of any other reasons for their departure.
The chairman has been brave and decisive and would no doubt have faced some opposition. For the next three years let,s wait and see how things pan out.
Excellent comments once again guys. You're absolutely right Marc, no fiery pit for dissenters but hopefully the sceptics realise that this was a brave and potentially effective move.
ReplyDeleteTime will tell and we now need to give the chairman, head of cricket and players that time.
And support them wholeheartedly!
We might have had only a few comments on the latest 'what the chairman says' stuff because it is getting a little tedious! To be honest I am well fed up of listening what the chairman thinks, what the chairman wants, what the chairman says and who the chairman says we have got to pick. It has become boring! Please let the Head of Cricket get on with it and gag the chairman!
ReplyDeleteSorry but i cant agree on this. We have to have someone,whoever it may be, to take a lead on this. For donkeys years we have been saddled with a committee that has been utterly useless and a complete waste of time. Why on earth does it need 14 people to supposedly run a cricket club?. Good grief,the cabinet to run the second world war wasn,t that big.
ReplyDeleteAsk 14 people,whoever they may be, to select their best Derbyshire team from the players we have now. I will guarantee there are 14 different teams put forward. So what does that prove?. Precisely nothing. Committees are nothing more than a safety in numbers syndrome. Nobody wants to take responsibility and more to the point,nobody is prepared to take the blame. In Chris Grant we have a chairman who seems prepared to break the mould and has the courage to stand by his own convictions. If it fails,im sure he wont look to blame anyone else. This is his baby and the book will stop with him.
The head coach (Krikken) along with Sutton know exactly the lines along which they are expected to work. Im sure the chairman will give them license to do things according to their own judgement,within the boundaries they have been set. Give this a chance,at least. If it doesn,t work then we shall obviously have to look at alternatives,but give the man a chance. He might fail,then again he could be the best thing that,s happenened to Derbyshire cricket for years. We all complain if we are kept in the dark about what,s happening at the club and rightly so. For years there has been far too much of this cloak and dagger nonsense, with supporters often left scratching their heads wondering what is really going on. Here is someone who has taken the trouble to explain things in fine detail. When was the last time that happened?. I have some reservations,as no doubt others do aswell,but what is the alternative to this plan?. If anyone has a better idea then now is the time to speak!.
The plan has obvious advantages: having a clear direction that also maximizes the financial benefits available to us.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have some major concerns. Firstly, personalities. Sutton, Krik and the new top signing sounds dangerously close to too many cooks. Sutton and Krik must be given a major say in the new man and they must stick together and take the team with them, particularly if results don't go our way. The Chairman is right to cite Dean Jones but when results went badly in early 1997 we collapsed into political wrangles and Jones left.
Secondly, ability. If the policy is not to sign other counties cast offs or Kolpaks then there has to be a major increase in the amount and level of talent coming through the academy. In recent years we presumably would not have signed Madsen, Groenwald, Wagg, Welch, Pipe etc as they all either Kolpaks or other counties rejects or both. We would have been minor counties standard quite frankly.
I fail to see how making all the youngsters do coaching and giving them all slightly longer contracts and more support is particularly groundbreaking or will lead to the large increase in talent coming through that we will need.
The plan is a long term one that is presumably intended to yield results some time around 2014 - 2016. My worry is that we simply won't have a competitive team then.
I have said my piece now and hope that I'm wrong. But playing the youngsters with a couple of older heads to guide them (which, on the pitch, is all this really amounts to) does not impress me as either groundbreaking or likely to bring success.
Spireite Tim
My concern is that there simply isn't anywhere near enough local talent to put together a team of sufficient quality to be succesful. However we can't afford to keep losing large amounts of money. The bottom line therefore is that we dont have sufficient crowd revenue or other funding to have any chance whatsoever of competing with other counties.
ReplyDeleteWe need to focus on an overseas player who will be available for the whole season and will be good in all forms of the game, something which hasn't been the case for a few seasons.
I think thats a good point John about an overseas player for the season. It would allow continuity and a degree of stability. The main problem this day and age is all the international cricket these people play. I hope we can overcome this. The best bet might be a player who no longer plays international cricket. Good point though.
ReplyDeleteBoth yourself and the previous commentator have touched on the main aspect that concerns me. The quality of those players who will inevitably be thrust into the team. That,s one reason i believe it would be a mistake to close the door on players other than our own youngsters at this juncture. There may come a time when we are lucky enough not to need outside help but im not sure we are there yet. Im not suggesting we sign players for the sake of it,as we have in the past,but if someone like Collingwood became available we would be foolish to ignore it. I name him merely for illustration purposes,but i think you know what i mean.
This policy could fail as ive said already,but i think we have to bear in mind that previous policies,taking a different path altogether, have also failed. I share some of your concerns that we might be running before we can walk. All we can do is wait and see what happens. Next season should give some indication as to what we can expect, as i would predict a number of young players will be given extended runs in the team,if not this season.
We,ve lit the blue touch paper. All we can do now is stand back and see if the rocket takes off.
Thanks guys. No more comment from me needed - you all know my thoughts!
ReplyDelete