It has been a horrible weekend, weather-wise and at such times the cricket season seems a long way off. It is currently 107 days until Derbyshire start their summer with a pre-season match at the County Ground and we can only hope that it improves considerably between times.
I have finally managed to book a trip down there and I will be staying in Derby between June 4 and 7. I will then be able to see two 20-over fixtures and also visit family and friends in the area. It should give me an opportunity to assess our chances in that format, which appears our better chance of success once again.
Mickey Arthur did get a trophy under his belt this week, winning the Global Super League with a win over Australian state side Victoria in the final.
Zak Chappell had a good tournament for them, as was always likely from an excellent bowler in the format. Wayne Madsen was less successful, but it is still good to see the county legend getting belated opportunities overseas.
I just hope the competition allowed our Head of Cricket to spot some untapped talent over there. There are still too many questions against the Derbyshire squad for me to go in to 2025 with any degree of confidence. Caleb Jewell continues to play for Victoria second string, while Blair Tickner is absent from the current round of fixtures in New Zealand for 'family reasons.'
While I understand the genial Kiwi remains Mickey Arthur's first pick for next year, the health of his wife will surely dictate availability and there are presumably other options on the table.
A recent article, however, highlighted the challenge in recruiting overseas players.
After the ECB successfully lobbied the Home Office five years ago, regulations were altered so that eligibility – which was previously linked solely to international caps – instead took into account domestic T20 appearances. Players are eligible for an international sportsperson visa if they have played 20 top-level T20 fixtures in a full-member nation in the last three years, for those without international credentials.
However, with players increasingly specialised and many of the best white-ball players not regularly playing first-class cricket, the challenge to find eligible, quality red-ball overseas players is clear. Zaman Khan, for example, has never played red ball cricket and to recruit players good at T20 represents a gamble in both the skill set and also the level of fitness to bowl 15-20 overs a day.
Players who do not meet the criteria can apply for a 28-day permitted paid engagement visa, but that doesn't enable them to fulfil a complete block of red ball cricket. In Derbyshire's case, such a player might be available for the first four red ball matches but then not for the next three.
It highlights why a player like Tickner, theoretically interested and available, becomes a target. With the PSL and IPL overlapping the start of the English county season, the available options are increasingly limited.
Oh for the days when you could sign a big name star, safe in the knowledge he was able to play for the full summer. They're gone and will never return.
Finally today, the recent sad passing of Brian Jackson leaves Edwin Smith as the oldest surviving former Derbyshire player.
Edwin will be 91 on January 2, which would take him past his highest score batting for the county. Nonetheless, he is the last man to take over a thousand wickets in the county colours and is a quite wonderful man.
Just behind him in the age stakes are Michael Bentley, who played just one match for the county in 1957 and will be 90 in February, all being well, then Keith Mohan, whose 90th falls in June of next year.
Keith, like Edwin, has had a poor spell of health recently but remains a great character with a wicked sense of humour.
I still recall, with a smile, when we were at Derby railway station after the funeral of Walter Goodyear in 2016. We were both awaiting trains home, him to York, me to Glasgow and we had half an hour to kill, which we did with a coffee in the bar.
As the pleasant young waitress approached, Keith asked if we could have two coffees, 'for my older brother and myself...'
The twinkle in his eyes was evident, the following grin shared with me.
Long may it continue!
With Caleb Jewell languishing in Tasmania's 2nd XI and Blair Tickner apparently not playing, MA'S overseas choices for 2025 seem likely to be just as ineffective as those he lumbered us with in 2023 and 2024. I hope I am wrong of course but the omens are not good.
ReplyDeleteIf our overseas options are as severely limited or as unimpressive as they appear to be shouldn't we save on expensive flights etc and channel our budget on a class domestic signing or two. Middlesex signed Leus DuPlooy instead of signing moderate overseas players. I would prefer this option to the rank overseas players we have signed over the last couple of years who have contributed absolutely NOTHING.
ReplyDeleteUnless our 'returning signing' is Matt Henry or someone of that Ilk I would prefer us to invest in our youth rather that spend money on overseas stars at higher costs, but no better talent than we already have. We have youngsters whom we are led to believe have some talent but they don't get picked, for us, or more importantly the coaches, to see if they have sufficient skill to make it at County level. I for one will be disappointed if we resign the names being banded around.
DeleteOpening Bat
We shouldn't sign overseas players for the sake of it. Some turn out to be no better than home players. If we can sign another Masood, brilliant. But if we can't sign a player of this calibre, then invest the money in home players.
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ReplyDeleteI think it was first said back in August/September that we were signing someone who had been here before. At that time, with his unfortunate personal situation, Blair was not able to say he would definitely be available, and a few months later, still isn't.
Given the circumstances, at what point will he be in a position to give an assurance that he is able to return? It appears to be a situation which could potentially leave us scrambling around for an overseas.
If it was up to me I would only recruit overseas for T20. For other formats I would stick to domestic players, with a possible exception for Scottish or Irish players who commit to more than a season at the club.
ReplyDeleteThe returns are generally poor (not just with us) and I do not think that the costs are justified. The world has moved on from the heyday of overseas players in the 1970’s.
MarkB
Our aim has to be to make a serious and credible attempt to win promotion to Division One. Otherwise there isn't much point in continuing to survive. Experience of the last 20 years indicates that our chances of winning promotion with domestic players only are negligible. So in my opinion, we do need to strengthen by bringing in players from overseas who can add quality. If a player is obviously top level, like Shan Masood or Pujara or (despite his fairly modest contributions) Rampaul, it doesn't matter too much that he only has one significant skill, batting or bowling. But if the player doesn't have such a pedigree, I think it makes sense to have a batsman who can bowl and a bowler who can bat, so as to maximise the chances that they can contribute to winning games. And it's also surely desirable to focus on players who have previous experience of English pitches. I don't suggest that it's easy, but the reality is that our overseas recruitment has for many years been worse than that of other counties, even those with limited resources.
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