It was hard to work out what we needed, to be honest, although a top batsman who bowled penetrative fast medium looked like it would cover obvious batting and bowling weaknesses. As a batting side we were fragile to the extreme, while our bowling seemed overly dependent on Alan Ward, fast but increasingly prone to injury, with back up from a lot of unproven seamers led by Mike Hendrick. Only the spin department seemed to carry potential, with Geoff Miller seemingly set for the big time and Bob Swindell showing himself a bowler who could really turn it, capable of taking advantage of turning tracks on his occasional appearances, taking five in an innings on four occasions.
So we signed a world-ranked off-spinner. The rationale was that playing alongside him would improve both Miller and Swindell, a logic that even distance struggles to justify. The likelihood of playing two off-spinners, let alone three, in any match was slim, so one would always miss out, usually both. When they did play, Venkat, as he was known, rightly got choice of ends so the youngsters rarely had the best opportunity. With Fred Swarbrook also in the mix, a spinner seemed the one thing that Derbyshire didn't need. Bizarre is the best word to describe it...
My school mates had a field day when the news broke.
"Can't wait for the fans to start chanting 'Gimme an S...gimme an r...gimme an i'" said Neil. "They'll have bowled ten overs by the time they've done. "Rentacaravan" was one moniker given to him, a lack of deference for a bowler of genuine quality. Mind you, they were Nottinghamshire fans, so it didn't really count...
That was the thing. Venkat WAS a class act. 450 wickets before he came to England with the Indian touring side of 1971, then 63 wickets on a tour where he was the fourth in ranking of a never surpassed quartet with Bedi, Chandrasekhar and Prasanna. He was, however, the best batsman and fielder of the quartet and showed himself a dogged tail end batsman with some nice shots. He was 28 when he arrived at Derbyshire and took 72 wickets in 1973, bowling well over 800 overs.
He scored over 400 runs and held over 20 catches too, fielding very well in the close positions, so his season was a long way from a failure. A second campaign saw a reduction to 49 wickets at nearly 40 each and question marks over his signing continued. In 1975 he had his best summer, taking 68 wickets at just 21, at the end of which the club declined to renew his contract.
Former team mates remember a gentle, thoughtful man whose subsequent success as a top umpire came as no surprise. He didn't drive in England, instead being ferried around by colleagues who enjoyed his company.
They enjoyed his ability to spin the ball too. From a short run up, a quick arm action sent the ball fizzing down the wicket, often fairly flat and almost always accurate. Eripalli Prasanna might have been the more favoured off-spinner by his country's selectors, but Venkat was a class act himself. 1390 career wickets at 24 confirms that and Derbyshire have had few, if any, better spinners in their long history.
Little footage of him in action survives, though he can be seen on Youtube, bowling the first ball on the footage and several others against England. He was just the wrong man at the wrong time, though those of us who watched him bowl long spells will remember a beautiful bowler; a man of genuine humility and a ready smile.
His umpiring success came as no surprise and he became one of the best in the world. History will not see him go down among the very best of our overseas recruits, but he was a long way from being the worst.
And if I see a better spinner in Derbyshire colours I will be a happy man.
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