Something for the weekend

In his interview with Billy Godleman on the club site, Tom Holdcroft  has done a very good job.

The interview shows why the talented batsman chose Derbyshire and it is telling that his relationship with David Houghton was important. The Derbyshire batting coach wants him to play more like he did when he was 18, relaxing more at the crease and being unafraid to play his shots. It is obvious that he is seen as a key component of the one-day, as well as four-day sides and I have a feeling that the County Ground could be the making of the lad.

To a great extent he has 'snuck in' under the radar this winter, most of the publicity having rightly been garnered by the legend that is Chanderpaul. Yet if he can form a solid opening pairing with, presumably, Wayne Madsen, it will go some way towards helping us to become established in the top tier.

For a middle order batsman there's a big difference in coming in to bat with a few runs on the board and shine gone from the ball. If we're going to make the runs required to force wins this summer, the lead given at the top of the order will play a major role.

Don't be surprised to see a batsman of obvious talent score runs this summer as it progresses. Like all of you, I will watch his progress with considerable interest.

Elsewhere, Yorkshire have said that Ryan Sidebottom is likely to be rested from 40-over cricket this summer, which is an eminently sensible move. Given that this is the last summer of the competition in its current form, I wouldn't be surprised to see a few counties use it for development purposes if they lose a few early games - and that includes Derbyshire.

Of course we will take it seriously and a trophy is a trophy, but the competition also offers an opportunity to blood young players such as Peter Burgoyne, Alex Hughes and Tom Knight among others, all of who may not necessarily be seen as part of a first choice championship side at this stage. However, exposing them to a good level of senior cricket, especially away from the manic nature of T20, is part of their continued development. So too is ensuring that bowlers who are key to four-day success aren't overworked.

Burgoyne and Knight, in particular, could find themselves in the T20 side, especially given the proven strategy of slow bowlers being more difficult to get away. That side, in my opinion, will be less experimental, as attracting sizeable crowds will be important for the club this summer, something you can only realistically expect to do by fielding your strongest team.

The club's forums with regard to the proposed new structure have now finished and would seem to have been a success. I just hope that those who attended listened to the rationale behind the proposals and then voted in support. News of the result of this vote is the first key result of the summer for me. A vote in favour allows the very able people in charge the mandate to move us forward.

Without that support, I will have very strong reservations about the viability of our medium to long term future.

If you have still to vote, just remember that.

Postscript..In the original version of this post, I suggested that Tom Holdcroft had now left the club for pastures new, when it is, in fact, Nathan Fearn who has done so. This was based on as couple of e mails received.

Apologies to Crofty for the error. Here's hoping you're around for a long, long time mate! Nathan - thanks for your efforts on the club's behalf and good luck in the future.