Fascinating email

I got an email the other day from 'Long Time Supporter' which I found very interesting and thought provoking.

After gaining his permission, I publish it below. Your comments, as always, are welcome and appreciated.

OVERVIEW

Taking into account injuries and loss of form. It is becoming increasingly obvious that very little proactive planning is taking place and as a result, the club is not making progress on the field.

CAP AND COLLAR

As I understand it, the ECB have set counties a minimum cap of 0.75m and a collar of £2m for cricket payments. This will be increased in 2024 to 1.5m and 2.5m respectively. How this is calculated differs from county to county with some including just what is paid out on behalf of the players. Whilst other counties included expenses, coaching and support staff payments in the cricket budget. Unless the ECB have sorted this out and not made it widely known this mess needs urgent attention. We will then know by how much Derbyshire will eventually be required to increase their cricket spending. 

CURRENT FINANCIAL POSITION 

It will be very surprising if Derbyshire has not made a substantial loss when the accounts are published in 2022. This may change if money from the Hundred is received in time and the club is allowed to set it against any recorded loss. These are exceptional times that will hopefully be never repeated in future seasons.

NEXT FINANCIAL YEAR

If the cricket budget for 2022 is increased by a minimum of 10% from that year’s Hundred pay-out, also, if other economies were made within the cricket support structure and off-field without damaging the income streams, it should be possible to add at least £200,000 to the playing budget. However, it is important to not place too much reliance on the Hundred budget, as it may not continue to be available in the long term. The better the team’s results the greater the income generated. Profits from events and other non-cricket activities should also improve year on year.

MANAGEMENT BOARD

The members of the Management Board except for Colin Tunnicliffe have been appointed for their business expertise which is invaluable to the running of the club. Cricket is an area where the board seems to be poorly represented and the excellent Colin Tunnicliffe deserves more support. The addition of two other cricket representatives would help support the on-field performances of the team. All members of this small group would need to be given areas of special responsibility to work hand in hand with the coaching team (i.e. - to support the acquisition of new players, finding new sources for academy recruitment and marketing and the supply of information to members).

The suggestion that Adrian Rollins is asked if he would be prepared to sit on the board is a great idea. He would be looked up to both by white and non-white schoolboys who probably have never thought of taking cricket all that seriously. The third cricket representative, preferably a former cricketer, would be someone particularly adept at making presentations at all levels. Good ideas would then be properly debated.

COACHING

If David Houghton decides to retire or is not offered a further contract. An enthusiastic and inspirational leader should be appointed as Head Coach who relates to the modern generation of cricketers and is well respected for his coaching ability. Derbyshire is not a wealthy county and does not have a large squad of players and needs to act accordingly. The long-term objective should be to have a batting and a bowling coach one of whom would act as the Head Coach. The latter would largely be relieved of his office workload by the club administration to ensure he was left free to coach. If Wayne Madsen could be persuaded to help support and mentor some of the young players it would be a bonus.  The role of the academy coach is vital, but it must be borne in mind that the players are not available during the day except at weekends and holidays. This means he will have time to coach and support senior players.

RECRUITMENT 

Even if a new coaching structure is put in place it will struggle to bring anything more than marginal improvements in performance without additional funding. This is a priority for the management board if substantial progress is to be made.

In the short term, it will probably be more difficult than usual to sign players from other counties because of the extra demands placed on their squads when the Hundred is in progress. This will probably mean that if we wish to improve the quality of the squad, we will have to look at players born abroad who are eligible to play as non-overseas.

Currently, we have several players at the end of their contracts who might ordinarily be considered surplus to requirements. It may be necessary to give most if not all of the borderline cases a one-year deal. Replacements able to play in the first team without looking out of place will be difficult to find. The problem is that the squad has already been cut to the bone and add to that we are losing Fynn Hudson-Prentice at the end of the season.

Injuries have been particularly bad this season. But sadly, we can almost guarantee several fast bowlers will break down every season with either short- or long-term injuries. Batsman and wicketkeepers are not immune either. Some would say the squad that started the season was at least two adequate players short.

The recruitment of overseas players and the preparedness to be flexible if circumstances change is a must. Knowing what eligible players are emerging on the other side of the world and their suitability to English conditions is vital. It would seem unrealistic to sign a fast bowler for a full season and expect them to play in virtually every match. A batsman for a full season is more acceptable but somewhat unlikely.

THE FUTURE

With the right leadership both on and off the field, I am quite optimistic about the future. We have several young players who will improve particularly if they play alongside more experienced players and not too much is expected of them. If a bowler and batsman of first-team quality can be signed as well as two/four accomplished overseas players we could have a decent season in 2022. What we cannot afford is to carry on like we have been doing.

WILDCARD

Warwickshire signed wicketkeeper Alex Davies from Lancashire for the 2022 season and have Chris Benjamin a promising 22-year-old keeper on their staff. This would seem to leave current wicketkeeper Michael Burgess in limbo and Warwickshire might be persuaded to let him go. Why should this interest Derbyshire they already have two good wicketkeepers? Well, his first-class batting average is 34.2, which would probably improve if he gave up keeping. The other point is can Derbyshire do any better? If so, forget it. This is a very wild wildcard that I do not expect to come of anything. It is interesting to note that if England selected Bairstow, Butler and Pope for a test-match they would be playing with three wicketkeepers!