When it came, the end was an anti-climax, in no way worthy of the performances that had lit up the month of August and most of September. It was, I think it's fair to say, more redolent of April to July.
The stuffing was well and truly knocked out of our side yesterday and in the closing stages of Tuesday. When that third bowling point was missed, the writing was on the wall, the side likely to need 350 runs to retain parity with events at Trent Bridge. As Nottinghamshire and Somerset traded big scores to end our hopes, the fight disappeared for the first time in some while and the end, when it came, was actually a relief.
The post mortems on the season can come in the days ahead, certainly on this blog. Within the club, there will doubtless be discussions over the season just finished, the slow start, the serious loss of form by too many players, the way ahead. Yet, as the season's embers died came news to cheer supporters.
Mark Footitt signed a new two-year deal, despite having been offered terms by other counties, most notably Surrey. While Mark remains an enigmatic cricketer, one who is still capable of bowling with a worrying lack of control at times, there were some outstanding performances over this season that suggested he is on the verge of becoming a very good county bowler, one set to become a key component of the new-look side.
We have a lot of good young players at the club, but the reality, as we go into a long close-season, is that places in around half of the side are up for grabs. It is safe to say that Madsen, Chanderpaul, Poynton, Palladino, Groenewald and Footitt would make up half of the first choice side for most supporters. The other places are there to be fought over between the rest of the staff and any close-season signings.
It is a great incentive for the young talent ahead of the winter. They can and will get fitter and stronger, will work on their techniques and be well aware, after the travails of this summer, just how great the demands of the first-class game can be. It is unfair to be overly critical of young players in their first summers of professional cricket, but how they move on from the collective dipping of toes into the water will largely dictate how quickly we are able to return to the top tier of the professional game.
It is one for another night and I look forward to exchanging thoughts with you all.
Thanks for your contributions over the course of the summer. Over the weekend I look forward to sharing plans for the winter blog with you all.
And as always, I look forward to your comments.
Do you think Chanderpaul's a cert to return? I'm not so sure personally.
ReplyDeleteHe's contracted mate. As much as that means these days, but I think he's quite settled here and I hope he does.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteSo that's it, our foray into Division One has ended with a whimper rather than a nerve wrecking conclusion that we were expecting when Warwickshire were 7 down on Tuesday.
Today, I saw us lose our last 14 wickets for 179 runs in just under two sessions with a largely abject display of batting (Shiv's 50 and Tom's 40-odd apart). A more damning statistic is that since Shiv was out in the 1st innings versus Durham two week's ago at 206-3, Derbyshire have manage to lose their last 35 wickets for only 378 runs - or put another way, we would have needed 3 and a half innings to claim 4 bonus points -.
Where do we go form here? I've read on the forum that "heads must roll". While I can understand the sentiment, the realism is that some players have been found out at this level and some have tried their level best to compete and one or two have risen to the challenge.
Obviously, I would expect the players to learn from this season and they should perform better in Division 2.
However what this season has shown to me is how big the gap between us and the other 8 in Division 1 is, not just on the field but off.
The chairman rightly pointed out that we have a playing budget of half of most other counties, and that needs redressing urgently when we are to compete again n Division 1.
My point is that at present we cannot compete at Division 1 level without a major sponsor, given our small membership and other income streams.
Other counties have managed to bridge the gap by developing or moving grounds, enhancing their facilities and offering alternative forms of entertainment.
I feel Derbyshire missed the boat some years ago as they have failed to replace the big sponsors that we had such as Bass's, Birch plc and Ward's. I believe there was no other way to fund the team we had in the late 80's - mid 90's unless the aforementioned sponsors "paid for it all". I also believe that had a big sponsor been secured last winter, then this year might have worked out differently. Therefore, the recruitment made last winter was based on a lack of a sponsor rather than anything else.
Hopefully this will be corrected soon.
Anyhow, many thanks for the blog - as interesting as ever - and can I recommend the latest issue of Backspin magazine as it contains some interesting articles and more relevant a colour photo of the Derbyshire squad from 1969.
Also I think the chairman and chief executive is on Radio Derby tomorrow (27/09) between 9-10am for a 'phone in, might be worth a listen.
Many thanks again
Jeff
Very good post Jeff - thanks for your contributions!
ReplyDeleteIt was like a ghost town yesterday at the ground,only short of a few tumbleweeds blowing across the pitch. So the end came with nothing more than a whimper in a match similar to some earlier in the season. It still cost £16 to gain entry and quite frankly I spent most of the time wondering why I bothered.
ReplyDeleteThe battlements had long since been abandoned and the white flag hoisted by players who no longer had the will or the stomach for the fight was all that was left to see. A sad but predictable end to the season.
As suggested,we do have some players who will form the core of next years team,the worrying thing for me is who fills the remaining places. You can shuffle the cards all day long but it wont change the suit or the numbers. I wouldn,t be too hard on the likes of Slater and Alex Hughes,the former has shown some promise,the latter is still only 19. Both have looked out of their depths of late but so too have a number of other players.
I don,t know how much room for maneuver Krikken has with most players still on contract but unless he can do something to improve the batting, I can see this years problems haunting us again in the future. We have too many average players and even describing them as that is perhaps too high a compliment for some. If we can,we should make every effort to sign Will Smith who is just the type of player we need at the top of the order.
I must admit,the thought of Chanderpaul not returning has crossed my mind recently. It wouldn,t surprise me if that were the case.At 39 and following a season less productive than expected,i,m sure the thought of putting his feet up will at least have passed through his mind. Being the man he is,if he did decide to pack up i,m sure we will know about it sooner rather than later.