Madsen signs extended deal

In a winter that has been as encouraging from a recruitment perspective as any in recent memory, there are plenty of people out there who will claim that today's news is perhaps the best of all.

Wayne Madsen will be a Derbyshire player for at least another two seasons. That is news to gladden any cricket lover's heart and brighten the greyest of days.

His new contract runs until the end of the 2025 season, which will also mark the end of Mickey Arthur's contract. The Head of Cricket has thus secured the services of the county's finest bat of the generation until then, but it needn't necessarily mark the end of his career at that point.

Much will depend on his retaining form and fitness in the intervening period, but nothing so far suggests that he is losing the eye, touch and timing that has served him so well over the past fourteen seasons. Nor has his fitness level dropped, highlighted by a couple of matches last year where he was fielding at point, while also being a choice for key positions in the deep during the Vitality Blast.

We may have seen the last of his slow bowling, as he barely turned his arm last year, but his slip fielding remains as reliable as anyone, while his  batting is often on a different level.

I am now of an age where I can cast my mind back to heroes of my youth and say to younger supporters 'you should have seen X, he was really special'.

For X you can insert the name of Wayne Madsen for your dotage. If we are fortunate enough to see a better player in Derbyshire colours, we will be truly blessed. Even if we do, the likelihood of that player giving sixteen years to the club - which he will have done by the end of this contract - is just about as likely as my beating prime time Usain Bolt over a hundred metres.

There may well be suggestions that Wayne might replace Mickey Arthur at the helm in two years time. It is a natural assumption to make, but I have no idea if that is where he sees his future. It may be that he joins his wife in their sports coaching business, or he could feasibly be a revered batting coach, perhaps combining that with playing responsibilities. Maybe Head of Cricket is too senior a role for his first, but that is a discussion for another day.

I don't know. All I do know is that I shall continue to enjoy every minute that he is at the crease and commit those drives, reverse sweeps, ramps and scoops further to memory for my dotage.

Once again I commend Mickey Arthur for his work in securing the extended services of our best talent, as well as engaging players who should give us a better summer next year.

I would love to see Wayne's loyalty rewarded with another piece of silverware before he retires.

It is nothing more than he deserves.