Weekend thoughts

Apologies for a quiet few days blogging, but we have been finishing off what has been a lot of work in the house and can now look forward to the autumn and winter in the knowledge we don't have a great deal to do! 

In the world of county cricket, we are starting to see reactions to poor seasons. No doubt in the coming weeks we will read of players who have been released around the country, but today both Northamptonshire and Kent decided it was time for a parting of the ways with their head coaches, John Sadler and Matt Walker respectively. 

The departure of Sadler is no real surprise, as the waves of discontent were palpable even from this distance. The support was unconvinced by qualification for the quarter finals of the T20 and rumours of dressing room discontent have probably led to his release. It will be interesting to see what impact this has on the team in the game between Northamptonshire and Derbyshire this week.

Although Kent have had a poor year, Walker has been at the helm for eight seasons and by all accounts had done a pretty solid job. They appear to be a team in transition, which to be fair has seemed the case since the retirement of Darren Stevens. 

It does make you wonder whether this is also a consequence of cricket increasingly going the way of football. Hampshire have already thrown in their lot with the owner of the Delhi Capitals, a deal worth a rumoured £120 million. Meanwhile Leicestershire's CEO, Sean Jarvis has warned of a serious financial shortfall this year and says that they may need to go down the same route, this after a loss of £440K last year and debts of £4.2 million. It should be pointed out that Derbyshire, a club of similar size, has registered profits in ten of the last eleven seasons, but it is equally fair to say that the overseas players recruited by our East Midlands rivals cannot come cheap either.

Derbyshire have a meeting of members on September 18, at which it is expected that their stance on the future investment in The Hundred will be made clear. It will be an opportunity to ask questions and I would certainly advise any member to register, which they require to do, to attend this meeting. 

All of the above suggests to me that the hiring and firing of coaches in the summer game may begin to replicate that in football. When the money men come in to any sport they are generally intolerant of failure and I think we will see much more of this in the years ahead. 

It could be argued that Mickey Arthur is very fortunate that Derbyshire still appear to be talking in terms of his being in charge next year, after a season every bit as disappointing as those experienced by Northamptonshire and Kent. His likely saving grace is the final year of a contract that is simply too lucrative to pay off. 

I really, really hope that he turns it around over the winter and that next year we see a transformed and revitalised Derbyshire. Nothing would give me greater pleasure, but increasingly I feel that the game I grew up watching is starting to pass me by. Regardless of what plans may come in the future, or what franchises are created to participate in whatever competition, I will continue to support Derbyshire. I just hope that the plans for overseas investment are thought through and that there continues to be cricket worth supporting at a time of year where frostbite isn't a risk. 

Finally tonight and returning to on field matters, I have enjoyed watching Scotland play Australia this week and there have been some astonishing batting displays. Travis Head was seeing it like a football on Wednesday, yet was out for a duck today - how often do we see that happen? There was also an outstanding century, the fastest ever in T20 for Australia, by Josh Inglis today. It took him just 43 deliveries, as the Aussies breezed though both matches.

There was however, another opportunity to enjoy the considerable talents of Scotland's Brandon McMullen, who made 59 with four sixes and four fours and produced some outrageous strokes. At 24 the South African born player should really be picked up by any forward thinking county. He is also a very handy bowler and just looks a class above his team mates.

I would be a very happy man if Mickey Arthur got his number from Mark Watt sometime soon.

Enjoy your weekends. I will be back with a preview of the Northamptonshire game in due course.