Unsung heroes...

In the excitement following Derbyshire's promotion, there have been a few people overlooked whose role in things was crucial with regard to the end product.

First of all, I think it is important to pay tribute to James Pipe as physio and Luke Storey, the Strength and Conditioning Coach. To the casual observer, such roles are noted yet not appreciated, but both played a major unsung part in the success this summer. To get opening bowlers Tony Palladino and Tim Groenewald through 15 and 14 of the sixteen county championship games was a remarkable effort and speaks volumes for the way that the players are got a level of fitness and then kept at that level. I'm not for a minute decrying the personal efforts of the players, but few could deny that had we lost either of them for any length of time the title success may well have eluded us. Madsen, Durston, Redfern and Wainwright were ever present, while Tom Poynton and Ross Whiteley missed only two games each. That's eight of your side playing a minimum of fourteen matches, quite an achievement.

If they can maintain such levels next summer, it would be a foolish man who wrote off Derbyshire from the outset, as few sides would fancy facing our opening pair with whatever backup takes your fancy at Derby.

Which brings me to my second point. The pitches at the County Ground this summer were excellent. OK, if your raison d'etre in life is to score shedloads of runs to the detriment of results, they may not have been perfect, but they were good cricket wickets on which it was possible to make runs but the bowlers always had something to interest them. There was early help for seamers, enough in it for spinners to keep them interested, yet the possibility with a little application and sound technique for batsmen to make runs. We saw great finishes - fourth day finishes - this summer and the groundstaff deserve full credit for their pitch preparation and square maintenance. Coming relatively soon after the square was turned, it was especially notable.

Nor should the efforts of Andrew "AJ" Harris be ignored. You don't need to be as old as me to remember Derbyshire sides that were as profligate with extras as the guests outside of a church with confetti, waiting on the bride and groom emerging on their big day. With no disrespects to those concerned, Messrs Hacker, Base and Ali were not renowned for their accuracy, nor for keeping part of their front foot behind the line on a regular basis. There were dark days when we would concede upwards of forty extras through no fault of the wicket-keeper. This year, single figures was the norm, especially as the season reached its climax. The bowler discipline was excellent and Harris has to be congratulated on his role in helping to make it so.

One also needs to recognise the role played over several summers by Howard Dytham, who has worked with many of our young players since they were at school. Reports suggest that more players of real talent are still to emerge, with Peter Burgoyne and Ben Slater heading off to Zimbabwe and Tom Knight already in Australia. The next level down also contains good players and the likes of Matt Fletcher, Greg Cork, Harry White and Johnny Marsden have considerable potential. If only two or three of these players become genuine county cricketers then the Academy will have done its job, just as Howard Dytham is doing his so very well.

Unsung heroes? For sure. Karl Krikken and the boys have earned their plaudits but these guys have played a key role. So too has Chris Grant - but I'll leave that one for another day, another article.

See you soon.