After taking a few days break from blogging, it's time to return with a few updates.
The draft for The Hundred takes place on Sunday. Not that I am bothered, but I fully understand why people whose job is cricket have put their names in the frame. From my cursory look at the players in the draft, the only Derbyshire players not in for it are Tony Palladino, Harvey Hosein and Dustin Melton, none of them with a T20 record to speak for them.
What amused me was that of eight players with a reserve price of £40K, one was Wayne Madsen, which I fully understood, and the other Hamidullah Qadri. The latter astonished me and suggested a player poorly advised, when one looked at the talent pool with no reserve price, some from overseas. His chances of being picked up, I would reckon, are slightly better than mine, especially at that price.
Bizarre.
Anyway, I will henceforth only write about that competition as it affects Derbyshire. We will know soon enough who will miss a part of the county season, the only concern for me. My guess is that Madsen, Critchley, Rampaul and Reece will get a gig, but others may be unlucky. We'll see.
As for the blog over the winter, I will naturally report on any news and offer my thoughts, as well as running a fascinating interview that I did with Tony Palladino before the end of the season. Tony discussed his long and impressive career with me and gave his thoughts on a number of things that interested me.
I will also, as the club prepares for its 150th anniversary celebration next year, be writing about my memories of the 100th anniversary in 1970, which is still one of my favourite cricket seasons.
It was a summer when the South Africans were banned from touring, so a Rest of the World side played England in some enthralling matches. A year when Ian Buxton led the Derbyshire side well and to a Sunday League challenge, and when Chris Wilkins exploded onto the county scene with a series of punishing displays in both three and one-day cricket.
A summer of three formats, memorable matches, considerable sunshine and golden memories for me, as my Dad and I travelled the length and breadth of Derbyshire in his Ford Anglia. I probably saw more cricket in the flesh that summer than since, on reflection, as our travels took us from Derby to Chesterfield, Buxton and Ilkeston.
There was much to enjoy and I hope our 150th proves equally memorable.
I just have to write it now...
Is the Derbyshire squad for next season contracted to play for Derbyshire between April to September?if so do these players need Derbyshire’s permission to go and play in the 100?i know they won’t be refused but it just makes a nonsense of it all to squeeze another competition into an already con jested season
ReplyDeleteThe counties' agreement with the ECB provides for the release of players if they are picked in the draft, and stipulates that players selected have to repay 12.5% of their county contract value to their club. Much as I dislike this competition, I'm inclined to think it's important for recruitment and retention of players that ours are picked for the 100. The last thing we'd want is players getting the impression that playing for a county like Derbyshire reduces their chances of getting into the draft if their form justifies it, and choosing either to leave or not to join to improve their chances.
DeleteI was astounded as well to see Qadri going in at £40,000, but I'm not sure it's as crazy as it looks. There are literally hundreds of players in the "no reserve" group who have not played any or much t20, who have no chance of getting into the draft but who presumably have been told by their agents or the PCA to get their names out there for future years. Qadri has elevated himself out of that morass of names, and as a result is getting attention from the cricket press as "one to watch" purely because of his price tag - almost a matter of "wow, he must be hot to be that valuable. No less than Wisden has singled him out as one of "5 young guns...that could be shrewd buys" alongside Zak Crawley, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope and Scott Steel, and that absolutely wouldn't be happening but for the ridiculous price tag. He wouldn't have got picked with no reserve price anyway, so he hasn't reduced his chances of getting picked, but is certainly getting attention. Given the knowledge among the head coaches about English cricket, they'll probably see his price, that he's from Afghanistan, and think they're getting a top mystery spinner.
Thanks notoveryet. I take your point on Qadri, but I think at this stage he s some way removed from a 'shrewd buy'. Sometimes attention isn't always a good thing...
ReplyDeleteTypically ironic for Derbyshire is that by having the best T20 season in our history could cost us next season with Madsen, Critchley, Reece and Rampaul on the radar for the Hundred. Any other season we would have only prob lost Madsen.
ReplyDeleteI'm writing this 2 hours before draft starts which might make this message redundant when most people read it.
loss of 4 key players then - Mads, Ravi, Reece and du ploy - to be fair all were excellent in the t20 so not a surprise - i also hough the draft programme was quite good on Sky although not overly keen on the format - it does give a chance to others though and im also looking forward to seeing some games at places away from the big grounds
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