Thoughts on Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire

I didn't see all of the play, as work took precedence, but I think Derbyshire did just fine in the two - day game against their near neighbours that ended today.

The scores don't really matter as it was more a case of bowlers finding rhythm and batsmen getting their hands and feet moving.

Broadly speaking, they all did that. Brooke Guest would appear to be getting the nod at three over Luis Reece, but we will perhaps know more on Saturday at The Parks. 

The batsmen seem collectively to be playing straighter and look better for it. Leus du Plooy is much more still at the crease and will likely reap the rewards, while there is still much joy to be found in the batting of Wayne Madsen.

I was impressed by Harry Came in both innings. He wasn't 'pushing' at the ball so much outside off and played lovely shots around the wicket. If he and Tom Wood can put pressure on the likely incumbents we should do OK in division two. 

The bowlers were a mixed bag, but all ran in well and will benefit from overs in their legs. Sam Conners was the pick for me, but Nick Potts showed promise and it was good to see Mikey Cohen back after injury. 

Mattie McKiernan, like Alex Thomson in the first game, took wickets and provided a good option. Both also know how to bat, so there may well be good competition for that role.

The importance of Suranga Lakmal was clear and I can see him adding a lot to a young attack. There were a few too many 'four balls' in there for comfort, but it is early days.

The season proper starts on Saturday. 

Can't wait! 

Derbyshire bat through the day

It was perhaps not with the elan that Mickey Arthur wanted, but Derbyshire made 217-9 today against Lancashire.

The batting fell apart in the morning against, let's not forget, a good division one attack. A few got in and got out again, but Mattie Mckiernan made a nice 49 and Anuj Dal looked composed before being bowled by a quicker ball. Alex Hughes and Alex Thomson both had useful time in the middle, while Madsen and Du Plooy played some nice shots in their time out there. 

At the end of the day, Harry Came looked in decent nick, despite his early departure in the morning, while the skipper got some valuable time in the middle too. 

Things to work on, for sure, but no need for people to put some of the silly comments seen on Twitter earlier 

We move on from here.

Thoughts on Derbyshire v Lancashire day 1

Lancashire 260-9 v Derbyshire 

Notwithstanding that it was a friendly and the object was for everyone to get a few overs, I thought we looked pretty good yesterday.

There was some early rust, with no balls and wides adding to the score, but Sam Conners and George Scrimshaw looked the pick of the many seamers on display, both nipping it through quite nicely.

All will be pleased with thir efforts and the comeback after lunch was encouraging. 

The star turn, for me was Alex Thomson. He bowled an exemplary spell of off spin (2-27 in 19oves) in which he got a little turn but bowled with a pleasing loop and commendable accuracy. You can't ask more from a spinner when conditions aren't really in their favour than to keep things tight, which he did very well.

He also looks like he might be our first slip this year, which would be another nice find. 

Catches were held and the ground fielding was sound.

As a warm up, Mickey Arthur couldn't have asked for much more. 

County record large profit for 2021

Time prevented me commenting on this earlier in the week, but I wanted to acknowledge the efforts of those involved in registering a profit of £1.15 million in 2021. This was despite losing an estimated £1.5 million of their conventional revenue streams.

This was the club's third straight profit and we remain on course to be debt-free by 2024.

Fabulous work!

Well done to all involved. 

Mickey Arthur interview

It was a pleasure to sit talking Derbyshire cricket to Mickey Arthur today. The conversation flowed and I would like to thank him for his time, as well as Tom Skinner and Stephen Martin  in the Media and Marketing department for setting it up through Zoom.

Mickey is a very easy man to like, with a regular smile and laugh. The season cannot come soon enough for me!

Mickey, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today

It's my pleasure, Steve!

Like most supporters, I have listened to and read your interviews since arriving and I want to ask a few different questions! So here we go - you were regarded as a dedicated player who scored over ten thousand all-format runs in your playing career. They were all scored in South Africa and few over here will have seen you bat. What sort of batsman were you?

(Laughs) Put it this way, I wouldn't crack it in the 20/20 these days!

A man in the finest Derbyshire tradition, then!

I was a stodgy opening batsman who played well within his capabilities! I tried to squeeze whatever I could from my talent. Perhaps a Peter Bowler, rather than a John Morris!

We'd take a Peter Bowler any day of the week! Did you ever come to the UK as a professional?  

I did, I played three years in the Birmingham League for Coventry and North Warwick. I loved it, the cricket was great and I grew up as a person. I finished school and at that time in South Africa there was still conscription, so I did my two years army training and started coming over then. They were really good days.

On to Derbyshire matters, it didn't sound like you had to work too hard to convince Shan Masood and Suranga Lakmal to come here. Quite something when many overseas players don't fancy 6 months in England and we have only had 3 full-season overseas players since 2010.

They didn't take a lot of persuading, I know them very well and knew they were exactly what we were looking for. Firstly from a character perspective, then in the standards in which they keep driving themselves every day. I knew where they were in their careers - Shan wants to push his case to play international cricket, whereas Suranga wanted to retire from international cricket and the offer was conditional on that to play for two years. He's still strong and fit and he has two real good years in him in these conditions. 

I wanted signings for the whole year, without chopping and changing. I think if you do that it affects the dressing room and it affects the batting orders if you can't get a like for like replacement. I wanted them to get involved in Derbyshire and make Derbyshire County Cricket Club their home as well. That is so important for an overseas player. 

With Shan back in the Pakistan squad and doing so well in the PSL, is there a chance he could be picked for them during our summer? Is there a plan B for that, someone else coming in, or will you go with the squad?

Well, they picked their white ball squad today and he's not in it. They have Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Faqar Zaman, so unless something goes wrong he won't get in ahead of them in the top three in white ball cricket, which is his place.

The only time we might miss him is for the Sri Lankan Test series, where he could possibly get selected, but Abdullah Shafique and Imam Ul Haq have done exceptionally well. Abid Ali is another option, so he may not get picked. That's good news for us, because he will want to score a lot of runs to get his position back.

If we do lose him, I am comfortable that we have cover within our squad to cover that position.

It was great to see Ben Aitchison's contract extension announced this morning! We lost Matt Critchley and Fynn Hudson-Prentice from last year, players we should have ideally been building around, rather than losing and there are many more players out of contract at season end. Are you planning to hold fire on them for now and see how the squad may need re-shaped?

We're holding conversations at the moment with some key members, who we think could continue with us for a little bit, but I also like dangling the carrot, not making it too comfortable. Players currency is performance, that's all they have and I want them to perform, then they will be rewarded. So there are one or two out there.

I really wanted to secure our young bowlers. They have really impressed me and they needed to learn off an experienced quick. So that is why Suranga will be so good for Sammy Connors, Ben Aitchison, George Scrimshaw, Nick Potts and others. We have a good core fast bowling group that we want to retain. I see a lot of excitement in Ben and great potential. He is worth the 'risk' of tying him down for a period of time.

You inherited a squad that struggled last year. How do you go about picking players up, some who need to return to past glories and others with reputations to build?

It's exactly as you say it, Steve. It's a squad in transition and we have had some very good, honest conversations with them and reviewed where we are at, set some realistic goals and discussed how we want to be perceived by the opposition.

The players attitude has been incredible. I get the feeling that the players want to be led, they want structure, they want to be pushed and I will be doing that. The attitude, intensity and work ethic that they have brought every day to their training has been really impressive. 

I just hope that we can get them fulfilling their potential. I have only seen an upside, a lot of players improving over a couple of months. When I see that improvement, it excites me as to what they might be capable of over six months, or a year. I want to squeeze every last bit of talent from them and if I can do that I am pretty sure we will have some success down the line

You come from a country that produced one of the great all rounders in Jacques Kallis, who usually batted three and bowled first change, as well as a fella named Barlow, who was quite useful! Here at Derbyshire we have Luis Reece, whose dual surgery over the winter confirmed it perhaps too big a job to often open both. Do you see a change of role for him, when fully fit?

 I think there will be a change of role as we move down the line. He will start the season  competing for a place in the top six and we expect him to be bowling for the start of the white ball cricket, at the end of May. 

He is training full time now, batting and fielding with the group. He's not going to play the Lancashire practice game, just so we can get another five days training into him, but he will play the Nottinghamshire game and we will take it from there.

What about the captaincy? Is Billy still the man for all formats or is that under consideration? 

I'm giving that a little more thought at the moment to be honest, Steve but I want it clarified before we start the pre-season games. So there will be an announcement early next week. I'm pretty clear in my mind the route that we want to go, but there are a couple of hurdles to jump over first.

Last year we had a problem at 3, with Dave Houghton saying a couple of times that no one really wanted to do it. Has that been sorted yet, in discussions with and observations of players? 

It's interesting, Steve. I've given every player their role and in my opinion we have three players jostling for that number three position, which is a good position to be in. The key is that they all want to bat there and I have a decision to make - who bats three and who bats six. So there are three players for two positions.

Dusty Melton is one of our three overseas players as he is still waiting to qualify as a 'local'. Do you know yet when that will be? 

We are hoping the sooner the better. I get little snippets of information which at times seem to contradict one another but the best case scenario is he will be available as a 'local' from June. It's in Dustin's best interests to get that as soon as he can, of course.

A concern among supporters is that our two spinners on the staff have less than 30 first-class wickets between them. It presents opportunity of course and you seem quite impressed by what you have seen - and have added Mark Watt for the T20. Are you quite comfortable where we are in the spin department on the verge of the season?

I think time will tell on that, Steve. They are different, one a finger spinner, one a leg-spinner, one more beneficial to white ball cricket, the other to red ball. There will be opportunities and it is up to them to take them. I wanted to give them the first bite of the cherry before going looking elsewhere. 

I am comfortable they will stand up in their respective areas.

I was pleased to see you signed Mark Watt, and mentioned back in October he would make a big improvement in our one-day spin resources. My concern was that teams would look at our pace attack and think 'we'll have a slow wicket'. They can't really do that now.

I agree with you. I thought he was the finger spinner of the 20/20 World Cup and bowled brilliantly. I've watched him closely for the last two years and he's got something about him. He doesn't stand back, he's got that fight, but his skills have developed so he can bowl in the Powerplay, at the death, in the middle. 

He was one I really wanted and I'm glad that we could get him over the line.

We only have one wicket-keeper now, albeit a very talented one in Brooke Guest. In a worst case scenario of a mid-season injury, do you think Callum Hawkins could step up, or would the loan market be utilised? 

I think he will get second team opportunity early season and see how he develops. I'm really keen to push our younger players from that Pathway programme and there are probably four players there who I will try and give as much opportunity to as I can. 

That's part of our duty to local cricket and when we have done we will go and look outside at what other options may be out there.

Do you and Daryn Smit feel that the club could field an academy team in the Derbyshire Premier League, like some other counties do?

Steve, to be brutally honest with you I hadn't even thought of that and I haven't had that conversation with Daryn. But now that you mention it, that is probably a very good idea and I will put that in the notepad for when I next meet him!

When I played in the Birmingham League, both Warwickshire and Worcestershire Seconds played in that league in my first year. So I think that there's a lot of merit in that.

[Clarification -one of you asked this question:  the Academy fielded a side in the straight knockout Premier Cup a few years back for a couple of seasons. It is deemed unlikely that, should such a team be formed, it would be able to enter at Premier League level]

Derbyshire has not had a player debut for England while playing for them since Dominic Cork in 1992: 30 years ago. Hypothetically, do you think it would still be possible for one of our players to be selected to represent England? Or do you concede that players with international aspirations would in time have to leave for a bigger budget county? 

No way, Steve! We're going to give it to everybody right here, we want to be people's county of choice. We are going to give them a structure, proper coaching, top level strength and conditioning and not just to county standard, to international standard. 

I would love young players from around England to be knocking on our door saying they want to come to Derbyshire to pursue their careers. That is how I am positioning the club and one hundred per cent, players can play for England from here.

And we as a county would have the budget to retain players of that high quality, would we?

Definitely. Hopefully those players would go on to an England contract, so we can just subsidise it!

Will your family be joining you here?

No, I have three daughters, 28, 26 and 24, one in South Africa and two in Australia, all doing well, all in professional jobs. So they have their lives, I am single and very proud of them!

And how are you enjoying the Derby area? Settled in well?

I'm loving it!  I have a little place out by Langley Country Park and it is beautiful. I've made good friends, the club has been very welcoming and I have been to a couple of Derby County games, getting immersed into the area!

Fast forward to September - what would constitute a good season for you? 

In my mind we're not going to lose a game. I'm a winner and hate losing. In reality, I hate to put a position on where we finish. Player development is very important to me, seeing them reach milestones, achieve career-bests, arrive each day with the right attitude and standards, leave everything out there. 

If they do all those things, success usually follows on as a consequence.

Yes, it was frustrating last season, seeing us not push ahead when opportunities were there, or failing to grasp wins that were there on a plate. Perhaps it is just changing that mentality..?

100%. I want to see players push the limits. They don't get better by being tentative and negative. We've got nothing to lose and we come from a pretty low base. I say to the players every day, when in doubt, take the attacking option. That's how we will play our cricket!

Aitchison contract a fine way to start the day!

On a day that will later see me interviewing Mickey Arthur, a fine way to start is the announcement of a two-year extension for Ben Aitchison. The new deal will see him stay with us until the end of 2024.

It is excellent news. 'Big Ben' has looked the real deal since he first played for the senior side and is already a canny bowler.

On his debut he tried to bowl too quickly, but he has since slipped into a lovely rhythm and always looks a threat. 

His wickets so far have come at a very respectable 25 runs each and he is a bowler in the finest county tradition, sitting neatly between medium and fast. 

He, Sam Conners, George Scrimshaw and Mikey Cohen make up a seriously talented young quartet, all of who will learn from the soon to arrive Suranga Lakmal. 

It's another reason to be optimistic about the summer ahead and, like all of you I cannot wait for the action to start! 

Weekend Warmer

Thank you for those who have so far been in touch to donate or sponsor the blog for the season ahead - your support is much appreciated! Still room for more, so please do click the 'donate' button if you are able to do so.

All those who have contributed will be in the draw, should they wish, for next weekend and a copy of the excellent 'Who Only Cricket Know' by David Woodhouse. Retailing at £25, one lucky sponsor/donor can win a copy. Please let me know if you would like to be in the draw by next Saturday, please, emails to the usual place  peakfan36@yahoo.co.uk

Mickey Arthur has given some very good interviews so far since joining the club nd there was a good one on the club site with David Griffin last week. 

I am pleased to say that there was very little duplication of questions with what I have planned this Thursday afternoon, when I am looking forward to chatting with Mickey about his plans for the coming season. I'll also be covering some things that I haven't yet seen asked about his stellar career and hope to get that interview on the blog next weekend.

Something to look out for! 

Book Review: Who Only Cricket Know by David Woodhouse

 If you like a 'meaty' cricket book, then David Woodhouse's latest offering is an 'all you can eat' carnivore's delight.

Partly social, cultural, political and economic history, it is hard to believe that a tour book could be much better than this. Equally hard to believe that this tour, by England of the West Indies in 1953-54, has been so long neglected. It probably comes second only to the 'Bodyline' tour in its infamy and fully deserved a proper account - and boy, did it get one.

The author's research is meticulous and remarkable. The tour, the first undertaken by an England side by plane, is set in its wider context and makes for a spellbinding read. There is background on and impartial accounts of the main protagonists and it is safe to say that some don't come out of it too well.

My understanding of it was always that the main 'problems' on the tour were Fred Trueman and Tony Lock, but there were plenty of others who came out of the tour having blotted copybooks, both on the tour and at Lord's. It was a tour not without its challenges, but what was effectively the 'World Test Championship' of its time featured cricket that was both tedious and brilliant in turn.

We follow it from England's win over Australia in coronation year, through the squad selection and travel, together with the matches themselves. Derbyshire's Les Jackson, who had taken over a hundred wickets in the previous summer and placed higher in the averages than other likely candidates, was overlooked - indeed, didn't even get a letter enquiring of his availability. The book tells how he was rumoured to be 'blackballed' by either Gubby Allen or Freddie Brown, because of his low, slinging action, his mining background or both. Alan Moss of Middlesex went in his place, a lesser bowler, although he did finish second in the tour averages.

In what seems to happen in the modern era, England started the series slowly against strong opponents and were two down in the blink of an eye, before coming back to tie the series under their first professional captain, Len Hutton. The turning point was when the squad rebelled against Hutton's negativity, determined to play their own games. The skipper could point to a series average of 96.71, twice that of anyone else, but allowing his flair players - May, Graveney, Compton - off the leash brought dividends.

Part of the problem was the innate mistrust between those at Lord's and Hutton, which saw Charles Palmer 'a natural for the role of hen-pecked bank manager in a farce' appointed tour manager. He ended up playing one Test, which tells its own story in a rich catalogue of selectorial errors.

In reading the tales of what occurred off the pitch, I pondered how such a tour would fare in a modern era, every move documented on social media, every indiscretion recorded for posterity. By all accounts the umpiring was poor and far from impartial, the crowds volatile. One umpire needed police protection after giving out a fellow Jamaican, John Holt, for 94   at Sabina Park. Trueman was one of two players accused of jostling and insulting the wife of an MCC member, a riot broke out in the Third Test - and so it went on. 

On the pitch, Tony Lock was called for throwing and players struggled to control themselves in the face of the poor umpiring. Even the normally calm Tom Graveney threw a strop after a fair catch was ruled not out.

It is riveting stuff and while the account of the cricket is excellent, the background to it is what makes this book such a tour de force. 

Perhaps the tour was always likely to be a challenge, against a backdrop of racial inequality and intolerance. One side captained by a professional - unheard of, at that time - the other by one of the last white captains the West Indies had.

Regardless of the cricket, trouble was rarely far from the surface and the repercussions ran for a long time, both at home on England's return, as well as in the Caribbean. Indeed, those same issues of race and social class echo today.

This book is an absolute gem and deserves its place among the very best that I have read. There is even a website with additional background resources.

Priced £25, it is available from all good book shops and is worth every penny.

Sponsors and supporters wanted

The season is but a month away, the sun is shining and my grass is growing at a remarkable rate. Cricket is fast-approaching!

And so I come to my annual request for anyone interested in sponsoring the blog to get in touch. Please message me at peakfan36@yahoo.co.uk if you or your company would be interested in having your name as main blog sponsor, or featuring on the side panel.

If you enjoy the blog and its content as I go into my 15th season, please consider making another donation to its running costs. Some of you kindly do so on a monthly basis, others made a donation last year. All are appreciated and make creating content a less onerous task.

I get asked frequently how long I will continue. The short answer is that I don't know. When I created it, the club site was very basic, there were limited online resources and I wanted to see if there was any interest.

Its success has staggered and humbled me, bringing me into contact with a lot of lovely people. But it takes time, which is easier to justify if there is some financial compensation. It is now less than seventy thousand views short of three million, which at the usual usage should happen some time in April.

I originally thought it would be short-term, don't really see me doing it to the end of my days and the answer likely lies somewhere in between. 

So over to you. Please ask your businesses if they would like a relatively inexpensive link on the blog, suitably promoted, or consider one, if you have your own. Those who have done so found it very effective and worthwhile, over the years. Price available on enquiry to my email or by DM to my Twitter account, @Peakfanblog

All donations are appreciated, with a draw from those involved at the end of the month for the quite excellent 'Who Only Cricket Know' by David Woodhouse, a quite wonderful account of the extraordinary tour of the West Indies by Len Hutton's team in 1953-54, the most controversial after Bodyline. My review of this outstanding read is coming shortly.

Thank you to all of you. 

Remember - coming soon, my interview with Mickey Arthur!

Watt return offers greater cause for optimism

Back on 22 October, in an article titled 'Scottish Success Offers Derbyshire Interest', I wrote the following words:

Watt was dispensed with too soon, but seems to have worked hard on his weight, which was likely an issue. That he is a canny spinner is beyond doubt and he is a thinker. Balls from 23/24 yards, from two or three paces, from wider on the crease.. I like his combative edge and if Derbyshire were to lose Matt Critchley this winter  (I remain convinced we will) then he would be a decent pick for T20.

Today he was announced as a new signing for the whole of the Vitality Blast and I couldn't be happier.

Well, maybe I could if I could forecast football results with such accuracy, but it was a signing that always seemed right to me. Especially when Mickey Arthur said he felt we were short of a slow left arm bowler and added separately that he hoped to do 'something' for the Vitality Blast.

Spin bowlers aren't traditionally hostile, but when I have seen Mark he bristles aggression in the best sense. He was a standout for Scotland in the T20 World Cup, playing in all the games yet going for only six runs an over throughout, the 'control' bowler that every captain craves. 

His control of line and length is exceptional and let's not forget he is still only 25. I haven't yet seen him slip in a surprise bouncer, but with short run ups, use of the crease and bowling from behind the stumps (and still keeping his length, a rare skill) he keeps the batsmen on their toes. He almost DARES batsmen to hit him, but it is a risky business for those who try. 

He is a useful tail end 'clumper' too and much- improved in the field. That World Cup appearance saw him the fittest I have ever seen him and it had positive impact on all of his game. 

For me, his signing ticks a big box. My concern, as I have written before, was that teams would look at our pace attack and think 'let's have a slow wicket for this one'. Mark's signing gives us a bowler who will keep it tight on a good track, cause problems on a helpful one.

I am not ignoring the claims of Mattie McKiernan and Alex Thomson, who each have opportunities this summer. As it progresses, they will have a chance to prove they can be lead spinner. Both can handle a bat, both field well, but the acid test is if they can take the wickets we will need in the four-day game, especially in later summer. I suspect that we may also need two spinners for some Blast games, Old Trafford being a prime example. 

Mickey Arthur was sufficiently bullish about Thomson to name him as one to watch in the past fortnight, when England spinners were being discussed. It may be clever psychology, but he may equally have seen something in a player with an obvious path into a county career, after years where that wasn't clear. In any walk of life, that can be very helpful to performance. 

If he can be our four-day pick (or McKiernan, who I maintain has been under-utilised when he has played) then Watt can do what he does very well in the shortest format.

Very happy with this one. A shrewd, no arguments, common sense signing by a man who has now made three of them. 

Little by little, things are coming together nicely.