Bashir roundup

Well, the link with Shoaib Bashir certainly produced a range of comments! 

While I am confident that the story, in The Daily Mail, originated from the player's agent, I don't doubt that there is interest from Derbyshire. Such stories are normally put out there to generate competition or to make other clubs consider a late move, perhaps create an awareness they might have made a mistake by letting him go. 

It happened with Mohammad Abbas and you see it everywhere. The story on Bashir suggested that the Derbyshire board was split on the signing and I get that. So is the club's support, judging by your many and appreciated comments. 

My stance is this. Derbyshire have only one recognised spinner on the staff, as I noted a week or so back in another piece. It is a potential weakness, especially if Jack Morley sustained an injury in the early season that kept him out for some time. 

There is a small - make that very small - number of spinners of any quality in this country. Having discussed this at length with Edwin Smith, who is the only man alive to have taken over a thousand wickets for our county, the main problem is a lack of bowling and unsuitable pitches. You could also throw in a perceived requirement for the spinner to have to bat as well, to show the challenges that they face. 

Whoever we sign, there will be question marks. They were there when we signed Morley, and will be for anyone who has not established himself in the game. Such players are the lifeblood for a county like ours and a look through the existing staff shows plenty of examples of players who needed to move for that all important opportunity. Most have thrived on that chance.

Someone suggested Amar Virdi, another off spinner of talent, yet one who has failed to hold down a regular berth in the county game. Whispers of his lack of fitness have been an issue, while he isn't really a batter or fielder. Nor an international player. After that, who else might there be? Archie Lenham comes from good cricket stock in Sussex, but 30 first-class wickets at 40 will make counties see him and his leg spin as a gamble, even though he is still only 21 and currently available, to the best of my knowledge..

It seems strange to suggest that signing England's number one spinner is a gamble, but it is, even though the costs are negligible in year one with his central contract. 

Yet for me, it is one worth taking. At the end of next season the contracts of Messrs Brown, Madsen, Dal and indeed Morley are up and not all of them, I would suggest, will remain. Pat Brown has to recover his best form, Madsen to continue to defy Old Father Time, Dal to recover from two less productive seasons and Morley...well, he has a shoot out for the role of senior spinner - perhaps.

It might be that Derbyshire decide against the move, or someone comes in with a late offer. Equally, it could be that he signs and finds an environment in which he can flourish. In all sports, players who are lucky find a club where they can give their best and are appreciated.

Bashir needs that and, given the paucity of options elsewhere, English cricket needs it too. For me, the club needs to back Mickey Arthur if he wants Bashir, then trust him and his coaches to get him on the right track.

If push comes to shove, it could either be written off as having been a mistake at the end of 2027.

Or hailed as a masterstroke. 

Our county are strongly linked with a bloke currently on tour with England. That doesn't happen very often and it is certainly unique in my lifetime.

In itself, a reason to be cheerful, I think 

Anyway, thank you all for your many comments, your considerable interest and your donations in 2026.

I wish you all a Happy New Year, one that hopefully extends to our county and its fortunes!