Thoughts after the signing of Abbas

Serious question - has there been a more positive winter for Derbyshire supporters in recent, or even more distant memory?

The signings of Caleb Jewell, Mohammad Abbas, Matt Montgomery, Amrit Basra, Rory Haydon & Joe Hawkins, along with long term deals for Martin Andersson, Zak Chappell and Nye Donald will give the Derbyshire staff a leaner, meaner look for 2026 and beyond.

The red ball side, so much improved in 2025, should take on a different, better dimension next summer, with a proven new ball bowler leading the attack. Hopefully the arrival of a new bowling coach will help a few players find their best form and there will be strong competition for places when the action starts.

I suppose the only 'weakness' might be if Jack Morley sustained an injury. With Alex Thomson gone, we don't have another spinner of experience. It would be optimism beyond even my compass to expect Joe Hawkins to bowl teams out at his tender age, but surely the pitches at Derby will now offer additional help to seamers? 

Behind all the experience, the likes of Matt Stewart, Jake Green, Harry Moore, Rory Haydon & Nick Potts will be keen to draw on the expertise of Abbas (and the new bowling coach) to further their development. 

I would love to see the latter position filled by someone with a reputation to build and recent experience of the first-class game. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, keen to work hard with Mickey Arthur and Ben Smith as they aim to build on the summer just past.

After that it would just be the third overseas player, a specialist for the Blast. Surely a spinner, as the balance of the side dictates it? Most would favour a return for Mohammad Ghazanfar, but he will not lack suitors after his efforts last year and it would need another herculean effort to deliver that one.  But a T20 side that included a quality spinner alongside Matt Montgomery and three improved seamers would surely better last summer? 

Let us not forget that Harry Moore should return, his back hopefully strong and able to compete for a place across the formats. News of his immediate availability from April would indeed be the cherry on the icing of the Derbyshire cake...

Over the years I have written this blog, by this stage of the winter I could pretty much call a first choice Derbyshire side. 

I can't this year, so strong should be the competition for places. Especially in the seam department, where the options are many. I suspect that an opening attack of Luis Reece and Mohammad Abbas might cause sleepless nights among opposition batters, but who next? Aitchison? Chappell? Haydon? Moore? Brown, hopefully fit after struggling through last year?

It is pleasing to see so many positive comments on the signing of Abbas. I was surprised to see one referring to him as a 'has been', when his form for Nottinghamshire last summer and this winter in Pakistan suggests anything but. 

In seven matches for Lahore this winter he has 38 wickets at 15 runs each, following on from 32 wickets at 21 for Nottinghamshire last summer, including 3-33 and 3-18 in the final game against Warwickshire, when they clinched the title. 

Of course he could be injured, that can happen to anyone, but as a friend pointed out in a message to me, he has managed more cricket in recent summers than most of Derbyshire's existing attack. He knows what he can do and generally bowls within himself. Les Jackson was 37 when he took 143 wickets at 10.99 in 1958, and for a bowler of his style, 36 is not an issue. I could see him playing until he is 40, with little reduction in his effectiveness.

Nor do I see similarities with the signings of Suranga Lakmal and Mohammad Amir. I had concerns with the former at that time, because he had hardly played regular cricket in his career. He had never played in England and ended his career having played less than Abbas. As for Amir, he was poorly managed and advised, my enthusiasm at his 'signing' tempered by knowledge of circumstance. That isn't the case here. 

Genuinely, I cannot think of a better, more suitable player that we could REALISTICALLY have signed, who crucially wanted to commit to the next two summers in Derbyshire. 

These are exciting times and I can only applaud the club board for backing Mickey Arthur and giving him the resources to develop a keen squad.

It is over to him and his coaches now, to get them producing their best form across the summer and to get the best eleven onto the pitch at all times.

However it pans out, I reckon the slip cordon and Brooke Guest will be in for a busy summer!