I have seen him bowl and he has looked impressive, an arms pumping, all-action, somewhat open-chested quick. To be honest I had discounted him, as he often seems involved in the Caribbean Premier League where he has done well, but his first-class record is excellent, well over 200 wickets at mid-twenties average, while he goes for less than eight an over in T20, which is impressive for one who bowls at the 'bookends' of the innings. Capable of bowling around the 90mph mark, he will keep opposition batters on their toes.
He isn't really a batter, nor would you say he was a lithe, natural fielder, but hopefully he will do his main job to a standard where his lesser talents are not an issue. Neither Devon Malcolm nor Ole Mortensen were brilliant in the field, but we'd take the prime of either of them again!
There have been a few injury issues too, but he has done well in the second half of the South African summer and should come to us in good form.
He has played alongside Samit Patel in the CPL, so the T20 skipper will know what he can do, while he has two T20 appearances for his country, against Australia and Pakistan.
We have him until the penultimate game in September too, so that works very well for me.
Excellent work by Mickey Arthur, in a summer where overseas recruitment has been a challenge. This gives the bowling an extra dimension, a bowler who hits the deck hard, but also a player who, like Blair Tickner, is somewhat under the radar as far as opponents go.
Good to see!
Welcome to Derbyshire, Daryn
Postscript - so we now have a Kiwi and a Saffer.
Good things happened for Derbyshire before, when we had that in the line up...
I have to be honest and admit to never having heard of him BUT based purely on the stats and Cricinfo bio he should be a decent addition. Fingers crossed as we are surely due some good luck with an all formats overseas bowler. Who was the last genuine success?
ReplyDeleteI have watched a fair bit of SA T20 and he has looked a decent bowler. Depends on how you define success - Zaman was pretty good last year, but there have been frustrations. Matt Henry has been great everywhere bar for his spell here, then there was Stanlake, Rimmington, van Beek..
DeleteStruggling to get the last really good overseas seam bowler. Langeveldt sure, Lockie Ferguson was good too, but without checking I take your point!
Hardus Viljoen and Duane Olivier had their moments but not consistent enough.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Hardus at Hove was brilliant but more often no better than a player from here - which an overseas has to be. Olivier blew hot and cold but neither was consistent enough, for me, to justify the role and expense
DeleteI look forward to announcers at Derby at Chesterfield struggling to pronounce his name.
ReplyDeleteI asked that question of a South African contact this afternoon and wondered if the double L was a 'y'
DeleteBut it is 'Du-PAVilon' apparently
The two two best bowlers of recent times from overseas even if only for t20, were undoubtedly Tahir who was high class and Zamon last season. Zamon was without doubt Malinga the slinger in fancy dress.
DeleteSo all jokes about 'From the Pavilion End ....' are off?
DeleteSeems a solid signing.
ReplyDeleteHe and Tickner should certainly give us a faster attack than last season and hitting the pitch hard at least gives them a chance of being more succesful on the normally benign Derby pitch.
Likely XI now:
Reece, Came, Lloyd, Madsen, Guest, Donald, Dal, Thomson, Tickner, Conners, Dupavillon
Lamb and Chappell are strong options who could easily be picked in there too so for me we've a good squad this year. Aitchison injury free and at his best would be another good option. Patel, Brown and Whitely for the shorter formats and Wagstaff, Potts and Moore as the young prospects. Morley here too.
Strongest squad Arthur has had at his disposal for sure.
I would imagine there will be some 'rotation' with the seamers, but I'm not sure I would be selecting Conners ahead of Chappell. Big season for Sam, and hopefully, he rediscovers his potency.
DeleteI
Well, we now have 2 overseas I'd never really heard of before. It looks like we've been shopping in Aldi, but I hear you can pick up some excellent bargains there.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that MA is still keen to have Amir for those 6 games after the T20 World Cup.
With the signing of another bowler capable of pushing 90mph, does this suggest a preference for more lifeless surfaces with the extra pace a potential safety net. I hope not.
ReplyDeleteRichard
In Mickey we trust!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. It's reassuring that we have an array of batting talent who can move through the gears to set totals/chase down if games are drifting.
DeleteRichard