I was reminded this afternoon of a post I wrote on 16 October, 2021, entitled 'Nice Question on the HOC role' which you can see in its entirety here
I felt then that the perfect choice for the role as Derbyshire's cricket supremo was Grant Bradburn, for reasons you can see.
This afternoon, in his first season in charge, Bradburn led Glamorgan to the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
He is a class act, an outstanding coach, a top man and someone who is very good at building relationships and getting the best from people. None of this 'one size fits all' nonsense, because it doesn't work. Bradburn had been a success with Scotland and whatever they have achieved in the past three years comes from the building blocks that he put in place. He was also a success domestically in New Zealand and had earned a deserved reputation as a man to build an ethos, develop a plan and create a positive environment in which people can thrive.
He would have been perfect for Derbyshire but instead has found his home in Wales.
The chance to sign him has gone, but if Derbyshire don't rise like Lazarus next season, they will need to start the hunt for Mickey Arthur's replacement in good time, as a contributor stated over the weekend in an excellent published post.
For me, that next man should be Ottis Gibson, assuming he has not got a job by that stage.
An article at the weekend in the Yorkshire Post explained the reasons for Gibson's success at Yorkshire. Success it has been, despite the nay sayers there who moan at any opportunity.
He said that when he arrived the players were fragmented and there was little team spirit, the squad split into factions. By encouraging them to eat and socialise together, he gradually got a single, cohesive unit that has won five of their last six matches and to the brink of promotion.
It is crazy that any club could consider sacking a coach who has done what he has, yet there's Yorkshire and Colin Graves for you.
I hope, really hope, that Mickey Arthur can turn it around next season and the early signs are at least for good recruits for next year.
But we need to have someone ready to discuss the numerous contracts that are up next September at the earliest opportunity. If results don't go our way and a change is indicated early on, the process needs to start.
My pick, subject to him being available, would be Ottis Gibson.
Interesting suggestion, although the word on the circuit is that Gibson is heading back into international coaching. I'd be surprised if we've even thought ahead beyond Arthur, the higher ups are probably more concerned about which concert they can put on next summer. Cricket seems secondary to them these days.
ReplyDeleteThat's an unfair comment I feel. Whether you like it or not, gate receipts from cricket alone will not keep the club going. The club needs to rake in as much income as it possibly can.The issue lately has been more how that income has been spent.
DeleteIndeed …If you listened to the Chairman last week he said it was touch and go if we would break even this year. Fireworks and Christmas have to go well to get the club over the line. A club like Derbyshire can no longer afford to spend more than it generates in income. The first thing each year to be set is the cricket budget and that soon gets spent .Our collective membership fees will only cover our 3 best players costs. The much used saying “the fans pay your wages” really does not apply to your average county cricket club
DeleteYeah meant to reply to this earlier. The off field stuff is what keeps the club going and it not fair to criticise an excellent job done in that area
DeleteI am not convinced that the effusive praise of Grant Bradburn's impact thus far at Glamorgan is justified. As things stand, they sit seventh out of eight in the County Championship Division Two and are the only team to have lost to rock-bottom Derbyshire. As for the One-Day Cup, some teams fielded a virtual 2nd X1 through the tournament, while others were affected far less, so results were not always what they seemed. The final itself was cut by more than half to a 20-over slog which is always a lottery.
ReplyDeletePS: It will be interesting to monitor Glamorgan's progress for the remaining years of Bradburn's contract and whether or not they are able to challenge for promotion.
Mark, Buxton
But they WON it, Mark. If that was us, we would have taken it and 20 over slog or not, that was against a side that made T20 finals day. The dilution of teams was the same for everyone. Yes, they lost to us, but the coin decided that one..
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