Sorry about the lack of blogging since the weekend, but varying commitments have left me with precious little time to do anything outwith work and family requirements. Not that I grudge them, of course (certainly not the latter) but it's meant that I haven't had time to do the blog.
I have to say that I am loving the soundbites coming from the County Ground at present. It was heartening to read how Graeme Welch rates the current Academy graduates and feels they are as good as anything he had to work with at Warwickshire. It would be easy to dismiss this as a flip comment, but I don't get the impression that Welch is that sort of man.
I had an idea that he would like the look of Ben Cotton, Jon Marsden, Greg Cork and Tommy Taylor, while I assume he is also referring to the likes of Matt Higginbottom, together with spinners Peter Burgoyne and Tom Knight. There's a lot to like and it is telling that his qualification of the comment was that they need to get fitter. All would appearhave a decent chance of making county cricket if they are prepared to put in the hours to get to the requisite level of fitness.
As I have written before, the key to success in the next few years is in getting a better strike rate in the academy talent establishing themselves in the county game. The only one to get close to doing so thus far is Tom Poynton, a very good wicket-keeper and improving batsman. Dan Redfern looked like he had, but fell back badly last season and is still looking for a deal elsewhere, while Ross Whiteley hinted at the requisite standard before also going off the boil. While the county game has plenty of examples of those who have made early impressions, never to be fulfilled, we need to get some of those named above through as county regulars.
Of course, batsmen Alex Hughes, Paul Borrington and Ben Slater will all be fighting for senior recognition, but all will need to produce at league and second team level to support their cause. The expanded coaching staff will doubtless spread their net wide in watching league cricket and it will be interesting to follow the progress of the batsmen under John Sadler's tutelage in the twos.
Elsewhere this week, Yorkshire have followed the very shrewd signing of Kane Williamson as overseas player with that of explosive Aussie Aaron Finch. The latter will share overseas duties with Williamson and they will make an exciting double act in T20. Finch is a basher and such predecessors as Loots Bosman and Dave Warner will vouch for the fact that twenty over cricket in this country is not perhaps as easy as they might have hoped. I think Finch will make a positive contribution at Yorkshire, but there will be a learning curve on some of the greener tracks.
It is a similar deal that Derbyshire will presumably seek for the second overseas, or at least the cover for Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Whether our more modest budget covers a 'name' is a moot point and we still don't know the full extent of the West Indies tour commitments this summer. Nor do we know the sort of player that Graeme Welch wants, but I wouldn't say no to a player like Australian George Bailey.
I see him as a player that a discerning county could lure here, especially after he missed out on the South African tour. Like many before him, Bailey may see good form in the English county game as a route back into the national side and his excellent T20 record would be a major plus to anyone looking for a quality player.
Mind you, as his country's one-day skipper he wouldn't come cheap, nor would he lack for suitors if he intimated his availability. Perhaps our horizons may perforce be more modest, but Welch will have a network of contacts and I have confidence that we will pick up a very good cricketer.
More from me at the weekend, including the latest in the A-Z of Derbyshire Cricketers.
Up until now the main criticism levelled at our academy has been a lack of real quality to emerge from it. We have seen several players flirt with the first team,but in reality,only Poynton has emerged to reach a required standard.
ReplyDeleteOf the older generation,only Redfern could lay claim to being anything like a regular and for all his good points,even he left a large number of questions unanswered.Prior to his departure, it was becoming increasingly obvious that Whiteley was going to fall short and Borrington will almost certainly follow suit.
We have other players in the pipeline,some of whom have already debuted,but all still have much to prove. We need some of these second generation lads to make the grade. A number of the first team squad are now at the peak of their career,at least from an age perspective,but there will come a day when they will have to be replaced and we need to be ready.
The philosophy of rearing our own players is a sound one and there are few reasons to argue against it,at least in theory.At the moment though,theory is all it is. The success of the policy will be determined by how many players establish themselves over the next few years and to what level they are able to perform.