Tuesday 17 July 2018

Better news as Conners makes England under-19 debut

It has been a rough week or two for Derbyshire, but the news that Sam Conners has joined Alfie Gleadall in being selected for England under-19s this summer is encouraging.

I have seen them both in action and both are lads with talent. Gleadall is the fastest, but will need to not push his young body too much in that respect as he grows. It was a problem we had with Will Davis, who has gone from 'boy most likely to' to 'boy who may not make it' in two summers where he has played little cricket.

When I saw Will at Belper recently, his pace had dropped considerably. Quick enough to take wickets at second team level, but without, perhaps, the resilience to make it, mentally and physically. We will see, but professional sport is unforgiving and both Gleadall and Conners appear to have overtaken him at this stage.

Conners isn't as quick as Gleadall, at least from the boundary edge it appears that way, but he is quick enough to be handy and zips it around. Both of them are young enough to learn and develop still further, which is the important thing.

It is also why today's news that Lockie Ferguson will stay to the end of the summer is encouraging. He can help the lads in his time with us and they can tap into the psyche of the fast bowler from New Zealand.

I'll be back tomorrow with a preview of our televised game at Northampton on Thursday.

Both sides are currently winless, so something has to give..

5 comments:

  1. Well done to the two young lads. I must say re Ferguson this is where I think the club can communicate better. I always saw his announcement as purely for the blast. Then people said it was till the end of the season but I hadn’t seen it anywhere. Then a few weeks back it was mentioned in an article he was staying and now it’s official. Lots of blurred communication of you ask me. Indicative of what’s happening behind the scenes perhaps? Maybe I am being daft.

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  2. Kevin Dean speaks very highly of Sam Connors in today's Derby telegraph Peakfan.
    I've seen him a couple of times for Ockbrook and Borrowash this year and he looks quite sharp.

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  3. It's an interesting juxtaposition of bright hope for the future in two of our young bowlers being selected for England under-19's and what reads suspiciously like a premature obituary to our last young bowler to play for England under-19's. I was struck by your phrase regarding Davis "without, perhaps, the resilience to make it, mentally and physically". This is quite a strong judgment about a young cricketer in the last year of his contract, and I hope it doesn't reflect a view about him within the club.

    I haven't seen him in the second XI this year but in the one first team appearance he's made at the end of April, he looked as quick as ever, and certainly sharper than Viljoen and Rampaul. As always, he took wickets, and apart from his pace, this is what has always marked him out for me. It's striking that his first class championship record, with 40 wickets at 31, is much better than his second XI championship record, with 18 at 35, with a best, I think of 3-37. I've no idea why this should be, but I'd suggest that it shows that his second XI performances aren't a reliable guide to what he does in the first team. Apart from Sussex last year on his first game back from injury, I've never seen him bowl without posing a threat and looking as if he was capable of taking wickets.

    As to his resilience, he's clearly injury-prone, but that's hardly surprising for a young fast bowler. I recall the words of Iain O'Brien, who said that a fast bowler is going to get serious injuries, and it's better to get them early and learn from it than to get them late when your body recovers less easily. Certainly, a number of distinguished bowling careers would have been cut short if judgments were made about their physical resilience at the age of 23. I also think he's not been helped by the thinness of Derbyshire's bowling resources in many of the games he's played, where he has been the only serious threat, and as a result has been allowed or encouraged to bowl flat out too much and in too long spells. It's sad that as soon as we have an attack that would allow him shorter spells and better rotation, he's not been given the opportunity.

    As to his mental resilience, I don't think any of us can comment from a distance. But anyone who saw him bowl at Colwyn Bay two years ago when he just kept on running in or against Worcs at Derby in the same year when he bowled for most of the last session trying to force a win will confirm that he's not a player who lacks determination and competitive spirit.

    I notice that he hasn't played in the second XI since the end of June, when, slightly bizarrely, he scored 99 and didn't bowl. I assume that means he picked up another injury while batting, though as a Derbyshire supporter, you always worry when a player (particularly in the last year of his contract) disappears without comment. If he's injured, it's academic, but you wonder if he's going to get the opportunity to develop into the bowler that many of us think he can.

    It also begs the question of why so many of our young players flare brightly and are discarded quickly. Cotton, Taylor, Knight, Burgoyne, Redfern, and Needham come to mind just in the last few years, players who in an alternative universe might still be the experienced and mature spine of a largely home-grown Derbyshire team, but never develop. Of course, some may simply not have been good enough, and every county can point to similar examples. It's a repeated pattern for us, and it's very striking how few players ever reach the natural end of their professional cricket life with Derbyshire. Young Gleadall and Connors might look at the examples of Davis, and before him, Tom Taylor, and wonder what comes next for them.

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  4. As ever a good post notoveryet. No my comments are not based on an opinion within the club but on the reality that in his last year of contract he has pulled up no trees for a county that struggles for cash.

    We have spent what we have poorly and I hope that Will comes again. I agree he has always looked like taking wickets but he needs to have good closing weeks when crucially he stays fit.

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  5. i too was at the Belper 2nd game and would concur with what Peakfan says.

    Sadly, a fair bit of immaturity showed on that occasion when his bowling was getting some stick, which resulted in a loud expletive heard by all. This caused the umpires to issue a warning to both him and the captain as to his future conduct in that game. I and those watching, were not favourably impressed.

    That incident, coupled with his general body language gave me the impression that all is not well with him mentally and his bowling was far from stellar (despite taking a few wickets) on that occasion. I know people talk about big game players who don't perform in a less prominent stage but he is too young to have that sort of attitude.

    All is not well with him I suspect at the moment - whatever it is must be sorted out and rectified by the senior pros who are in a position to nurture and advise, as there is big talent going to waste there otherwise.

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