What is a supporter?

On November 17, 2021, in a post titled 'Mickey Arthur is the new Head of Cricket' I wrote the following words:

I have to say I have reservations, so may as well state them at this early stage. Of course I wish him well, as I want the best for my/your/our club. If he gets us pushing for promotion in four day cricket and out of the T20 group stages then I will be first to applaud and admit I was wrong.

But my concern is his lack of expertise and experience with non-elite players...

Nothing has changed in the intervening period. As a supporter  - and we will come back to that - I would derive incredible pleasure from Mickey Arthur leading us to a trophy. Yet time is passing and at Chesterfield this week I reminded a friend of the old joke, about the man who comes across another watching a game of cricket on the village green.

'Do they win many matches?' he asked. 

'I don't know' came the reply. 'I have only watched them for twelve years..'

I changed the time period at the end, because it is that long since Derbyshire won anything. There's not been many sniffs of glory between times, but anyone who supports the county isn't in it for that. If it was the raison d'etre of their doing so, they would be sorely disappointed by now.

Let's face it, there have been people born and died without seeing us win anything. Between 1870 and 1936 there was nothing, again from then until 1981. I saw us play in the Gillette Cup Final of 1969, two years into supporter life, when a bad decision made at the toss consigned  Derbyshire to defeat against Yorkshire. The more things change, the more they stay the same...**

As a child at school across the wrong side of the county border, I was the only Derbyshire and Derby County fan. They were all Forest and Nottinghamshire supporters, my summers filled with 'we've got Sobers, Derbyshire play like they're drunk' jibes. It eased off when we signed Eddie Barlow, but we have rarely been - at least not in my lifetime - the big boys in the East Midlands. 

It mattered not. Until I moved away to Manchester and my degree, Dad and I went when his shifts at the pit allowed. When I got home for the summer we did the same. When I moved up to Scotland at 21, I still went to games with him on summer visits. Mum always worried about meat going off on a hot day, so meals were always the same - a hard-boiled egg with bread and butter for lunch, a banana with bread and butter for tea. One day she forgot to put the eggs and bananas in...

There is no definition for what a supporter is, other than 'one who supports'. For me, there is no difference between the one who goes to every day, home and away, or the one who goes when he or she can because life gets in the way. Some are fortunate enough to live close and have the option of regular attendance, some have a life that enables them to follow their team around the country. Others don't have that option, because their career, home life, commitments and daily challenges simply don't allow it.

But they still follow their team, still look for scores, watch streams, pore over random websites to glean bits of information. When the team wins, they celebrate - sometimes unduly. When they lose they can be vocal and disappointed, airing that frustration to anyone who cares to listen.

Mickey Arthur hurt a lot of people yesterday with his flip comment about 'genuine supporters'. We are ALL genuine at Derbyshire, because if we weren't we'd be supporting someone who gave us more frequent opportunity for the release of endorphins. We might not be mighty in number, but loyalty should never be questioned. As my old Dad once said, 'they might be sh*t son, but they are OUR sh*t...'

In reality, when my time comes to shuffle off this mortal coil, to quote a little Hamlet, I can perhaps consider that I lived through the golden age of Derbyshire cricket. Trophies in 1981,1990, 1993, 2012 - we have truly been spoiled...

But like the others, from the ones who formerly populated 'Grumblers Corner' to the ones who have been there through thick and largely thin, you earn the right to express dissatisfaction when levels drop. 

Chesterfield was unacceptably poor and comes off a succession of poor decisions, individual failings and a season of unquestionable disappointment. This is professional sport and in all of those I have followed over many years, the penalty for failure is usually the departure of the man in charge. The positions are often well-remunerated but the consequence for failure - as in all big business - is well known. It is two years now since we won a four-day game and if anyone thinks that is a strong platform from which to criticise the fan base, I will be very surprised.

I still hope that Mickey Arthur can turn this around, I really do. But I had doubts at the start and I still have them. If he proves me wrong, I will be happy to hold my hands up, say well done and admit I was wrong.

But the sands of time are fast running out. Three seasons into 'the project' we are no further forward than the average England attack after 15 passes under Gareth Southgate. Personnel have changed, a lot of money has been spent, contracts have been renewed and a LOT of mistakes have been made. At OUR club. I will maintain to my last breath that our greater likelihood of success lies in a solid coach who knows English cricket, with his side aided hugely by two 'gun' overseas cricketers. Phil Russell managed it nicely and we likely need to look for an equivalent, sometime soon. Leicestershire, so often bracketed with us, are doing much better, adopting those very same principles.

We will all still be here when Mickey Arthur has long gone. Players, managers and staff are transient, here today, gone on one of the tomorrows. But the club and its supporters will always be there. Grumbling, if it is merited, but desperately hoping for that first shoot that suggests a giant flower. We'd settle for a daisy or two right now.

Don't turn on those who, in the circumstances, show remarkable restraint. We don't ask much, a competitive edge and our share of wins is a good way to keep us onside.

My daughter asked last night what my remaining ambitions were in life. I told her that I hoped to live to a decent age, then go quickly with my faculties intact when my time comes - and to blog on a trophy win for Derbyshire again.

Is that too much to ask?

I can't control the former, but I still think the latter is possible. 

With the right man in charge.

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**In 1969, a team meeting the night before the final saw the Derbyshire players agree their best chance of winning was to bat first  - if they won the toss - then let Edwin Smith, who had a good record against Yorkshire, bowl his spinners down the slope on a drying pitch. Derek Morgan, the skipper, agreed. But on the day, he went out, won the toss and put Yorkshire in to bat, omitting Edwin from the eleven. 

Then saw his team bowled out by the Yorkshire spinners..