Averages don't lie - the task awaiting Dave Houghton

Despite the best efforts of Harvey Hosein and Tony Palladino, Derbyshire's remaining hopes of a late promotion charge evaporated with a final session defeat to Kent at the 3aaa County Ground. Following on from the defeat at Hove, the remaining matches are for the dual purposes of professional pride and impressing the new Head of Cricket, Dave Houghton.

There were decent individual efforts throughout the game, but that word is key, because all too seldom we have played as a tight team unit this summer. Each game has seen standout performances, but a positive result is dependent on there being enough of them. Too often we have fallen short.

Let's look at the batting, first of all. With an average of 46 and more runs (875) than anyone in the division, Wayne Madsen still sits atop it like a colossus. Yet of the others who average 40, the benchmark of a good county cricketer, Luis Reece has played little through injury, Tom Lace is only on loan (at least for now) and Ben Slater has gone to Nottinghamshire.

The skipper, despite an outstanding RLODC and good T20, but because of his selfless earlier demotion to the middle order where he isn't suited, averages 23. Alex Hughes averages 24 and Matt Critchley a shade over 30, but with a season-best of only 86.

Good players all, but none can be happy with such returns over a summer. If three of your top six average 25 between them, you will struggle to get match-winning runs on the board. Unless one of the others is Bradman...

Then there are the wicket-keepers. We have three, but none has yet done enough to confirm the role as their own. As senior players, neither Gary Wilson nor Daryn Smit has come close with the bat. I am prepared to cut a little slack for Harvey Hosein, who continues to show potential as a batsman, but for me is some way short of the required standard with the gloves.

The bowling? It is led by the evergreen Tony Palladino, whose thirty wickets at 22 and batting average of 26 is an example of the expectation from a solid county professional. Yet he is out of contract at season end. Hardus Viljoen has 28 wickets at 33, not close, for me, to requirements for a highly paid Kolpak, while Ravi Rampaul has a disastrous eight wickets at 62.

I accept these bowlers have done better in one-day formats, but the averages don't lie. The bottom line is that Dave Houghton comes into a club where we only have three players - Madsen, Godleman and Palladino - consistently delivering an acceptable level of performance. He will take us forward if he can get more from the others, or replace them with players who can do better.

Things are in a mess, at present. Only one player in the second team, Anuj Dal, warrants a run as a batsman, but he was omitted from the team in favour of a lad we brought in from Middlesex, Tom Lace. He did well, but may or may not be with us for longer than a few games. We also brought in Sean Ervine on loan for the remainder of the summer, who played two matches and announced his retirement with immediate effect. Whether that was because Dave Houghton told him he didn't see him in his plans I don't know, but to be fair to Ervine, at least he quit before his reputation as a gutsy county cricketer is tarnished by playing for too long.

It will be a big winter for Dave Houghton, who I welcome back to the county as a good and extremely able man. His reputation as a coach precedes him, but it is not yet clear as to whether he will do some of that coaching. I suspect his appointment will see us retain the services of Wayne Madsen, who I know rates the new coach highly, but he will surely need a bowling coach at the very least.

My preference was for someone new to the county and to some extent we have that, as only a handful will know Houghton from his earlier spells at the club. I was pleasantly surprised at the announcement of John Wright as an advisor/consultant, as I didn't think he would want to stay on, but he has since said he will be here all summer, which can only be good news.  My first thought was how he could do the job at a distance, but his presence will be an asset.

Houghton has a big job and for me his first task is to look at a senior core of players who have simply not delivered, for whatever reasons, as well as ensuring that his better young players are on contracts appropriate to their talent.

I am always honest, so will say that for what we are reportedly paying them, we are not getting value for money from Rampaul, Viljoen and Wilson. Yet all are contracted for at least one, in Rampaul's case two more summers. Is coming to an agreement and paying them up an option?  Only the CEO knows the answer to that, but if we go down that route there needs to be money for cheaper but perhaps more effective replacements.

There are good players out there and the identification of those players will be part of John Wright's role. Such players as Luis Reece and Ryan Higgins at Gloucestershire are prime examples of what can be done with a fresh environment. I am not averse to a Kolpak signing per se, and look at players such as Kuhn, Morkel, Harmer, Wiese, Ingram, Ackermann and Kleinveldt for prime examples of what they can do.

For whatever reasons ours haven't done that, at least not consistently.

It may be that we have to accept next season as the start of the process, as Houghton will likely identify players he doesn't think are good enough, but cannot afford to move on. I will be impressed and astonished if he can start that process this winter, but either way it promises to be an interesting one.

The summer has not been a shambles. There have been sufficient pointers for the future from some players to be encouraged. A top three of Godleman, Reece and Madsen is something to build around. I would offer a deserved further year to Tony Palladino, possibly with a coaching remit and hope that Duanne Olivier might consider a Kolpak role, given his distance from the South African national set up.

The concern is that after that there is no one whose sustained performances this year have suggested they have a long-term role to play, though Matt Critchley and Hamidullah Qadri can only improve with greater experience. I still rate Alex Hughes as a player, but despite his fine bowling in the T20 he has scored nowhere near the runs required for a number four and at 27 this month can no longer be considered a junior.

Having said all that, I look forward to your responses.

In closing, welcome back to Derbyshire Dave.

I hope your stay is a long and memorable one, for all the right reasons.