Despite being outscored by Worcestershire in their final match of the highly successful pre-season tour, Derbyshire and Graeme Welch will be well satisfied by their efforts.
In so far as playing people into form is concerned, it was a great success, though raising as many questions as it provided answers. If one assumes that Moore, Madsen and Chanderpaul are the fixtures in the batting line-up, the other candidates all did themselves favours.
Wes Durston may well be the number five, but so too could be Chesney Hughes, or Scott Elstone for that matter. Maybe even Alex Hughes, though his early season performances may be in the one-day games. Chesney could also open, but both Paul Borrington and Ben Slater made fine, unbeaten half-centuries today that kept both of their names very much in the frame.
It is a dilemma but one that only Welch and his coaches can resolve. So too, assuming that we go into games with one regular spinner, the issue of which front-line seamer misses out from Palladino, Groenewald, Clare and Footitt. For that matter, does David Wainwright remain first choice spinner, or has Tom Knight's impressive form got him ahead in the race?
So many decisions and that's before he decides between two very good wicket-keepers in Tom Poynton and Richard Johnson. Welch and his coaches will keep a close eye on everyone in the days ahead and the decisions, while tricky, are better than the alternative where you only have eleven fit and decent players.
We will be going into the season in good shape and with plenty of reasons to be cheerful.
Can't wait to see how it all unfolds!
I've just read an article on the Notts page about Bilal Shafayat, who at the age of 29 is currently without a county. I've seen him bat several times, most recently for Hampshire in the game we won promotion, and I thought he was one of their best batsmen! He looked like he had a decent technique on what wasn't exactly a belter that week. He'd add a bit of depth to the batting if we were to get several injuries, is fairly flexible in where he could bat, and I can't imagine his salary would break the bank?
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