Jones a 'maybe' for Derbyshire role

The cricket writer Huw Turbervill did a piece in the latest issue of The Cricketer, on Dean Jones wanting to return to Derbyshire to settle 'unfinished business'

According to the article, the then Derbyshire chairman, Mike Horton, a year after the Australian had led us to second place in the County Championship, told him that he had to inform half-a-dozen players that they were no longer required  at the end of 1997, the year after that fine achievement. The plan was for Dominic Cork to succeed him, as Jones was also deemed surplus to requirements.and he left early, in June.

Having gone from 14th in 1995 to second in 1996, Derbyshire slid to 16th in 1997.

The 'Deano effect' was astonishing and for one golden season he made watching Derbyshire a constant thrill. My Dad and I still talk about some of the games that summer, when a fine batting side seemed capable of chasing down most targets, something not seen since the heyday of John Wright and Peter Kirsten.

Jones remains the best pacer of a one-day innings I have seen. Michael Bevan ran him close, but Dean Jones timed a ball so well and ran so hard that when the field was out there were easy twos. When they came in, he hit over them and placed the ball to perfection. Without seeming to hit a ball in anger he would have reached thirty and the fielders were scurrying everywhere to try and stop the inevitable. He was a hard task master but demanded nothing of anyone that he wasn't prepared to do himself.

Since retirement as a player he has been prominent in the media and fell foul of it in 2006, when referring to Hashim Amla as a 'terrorist' during what he thought was an advertising break. It was a flip, but undeniably silly and unnecessary comment for which he apologised, but he lost his role with Ten Sports as a result.

We all make mistakes, of course and Jones steered Islamabad United to the Pakistan Super League in 2016 and 2018.

'Maybe' he said on Twitter yesterday, in response to the article. No doubt he would need assurances for the role and that would be understandable. Life would not be dull and his coaching and management style would likely not be to all tastes. It wasn't to that Derbyshire side and having spoken to a few of the players from that time he was the quintessential Marmite player and captain.

And yet...maybe, to use his word, he is what we need at the club. Someone to galvanise and improve the best of the players and weed out those who are not performing. The bottom line is that Dean Jones got results.

We have been through too many good people in too short a time. John Morris was a great spotter of talent and brought some fine players to the club, but was dispensed with mid-match in a move that did little for our reputation or image. Karl Krikken took over, a different management style and one that took us to a championship in 2012 and relegation the next year. To my mind he should have had longer, but Graeme Welch was brought in and seemed to struggle in the move from bowling coach to overall supremo.

Then came Barnett, and you know the rest. There will be some good candidates applying and I am sure they will come from around the globe. I hope that we have had the nous to put feelers out among umpires and Cricket Liaison Officers to get recommendations, because this is a key role and a key time for Derbyshire.

Whoever comes in needs to be given the complete control that the job description suggests and given the time to do the job properly. This will be a tumultuous winter and I expect departures, but the right person appointed might just make a few people think 'this could be interesting' and stay.

Could that be Dean Jones?

Yeah. Maybe.