Heads of Cricket and the continued rumbling of discontent

I was fascinated to receive some statistics from a friend this week. He had gone into the records of Derbyshire's recent past to examine the results of the respective county coaches/Heads of Cricket.

There was a time when the position rarely changed, of course. Denis Smith became county coach in 1951 and retired in 1971, having overseen a period of relative success in the 1950s and a more transitional one in the decade that followed, as bona fide club legends gradually retired. 

He was no shrinking violet and a hard task master. The stories are legion about how he could put people firmly in their place with a look, or a pithy comment. His methods would likely not have been appreciated today, but they were different times, in school and in the work place.

'I don't mollycoddle them. No one holds their hands in the middle' he was fond of saying, while Edwin Smith told me how, after being dismissed by the opposition off spinner, he got back to the pavilion to be told 'you bowl it, you should know by now how to play it..'

Edwin took over from his namesake, tasked with bringing through young players because there was little money for anything else, and then sacked because those youngsters had - unsurprisingly - no success in too short a time frame. He was poorly treated, but a good few of those youngsters subsequently went on to long county careers.

Fortunes improved under Eddie Barlow and then Phil Russell, in contrasting styles restoring pride and respect to the county. Both of them, crucially, excellent man managers. You can get so much more from people if you take them with you as you go.

Since the millennium, there have been more frequent changes. The rankings for the various club coaches who had any real time at the club  - and the match percentage of their wins in red ball cricket - are as follows:

Karl Krikken - 27.1%

John Morris - 22.2%

Graeme Welch - 20.6%

Mickey Arthur - 16%

Dave Houghton (2004–07) -11%

Dave Houghton (2018–21) - 8%

I have always maintained that Karl Krikken was poorly treated, but the tenures of the top two in that list were both shorter than they perhaps should have been. 

It is fair to say that John Morris had a very good eye for a player. It was he who brought in the likes of Wayne Madsen, Chesney Hughes, Tony Palladino, Tim Groenewald and Jon Clare, as well as the mercurial Wavell Hinds, at a time when Kolpaks flooded the county game. He also signed Chris Rogers and Charl Langeveldt, both of them outstanding overseas recruits. The strong nucleus of the 2012 promotion squad is right there.

Yet John Shawcroft's excellent Celebration of Derbyshire County Cricket Club, published to mark the 150th anniversary, records skipper Luke Sutton saying that 'the feedback from every single player was very, very negative...it was the right thing to do' when Morris was relieved of his duties.

It is equally appropriate to acknowledge that Karl Krikken was a beneficiary of Morris' work. Again, John Shawcroft records Karl Krikken obtaining 'a negotiated release from his contract 'after the club introduced an elite performance model, which was to be overseen by an elite cricket performance director' - a role subsequently taken on by Graeme Welch. 

The results of both men were better than we have experienced at any time since. Krikken took us into Division One with a young squad and should certainly have been given more time with them. What he might have done with five years and a young team is a moot point.

Dave Houghton's results are damning, and one can only ponder how he was deemed the 'best option' for a return, after the 'effectiveness' of his first stint. I liked Dave as a man, but the results second time around were even worse and therein lies my concern for Derbyshire right now. 

I don't think the current squad at the county is at all bad. There are some good players among their number, but the reality is that Mickey Arthur has proved consistently unable to get the best from them. He hasn't managed it in five years, so why should we expect an improvement over the next two? By his own admission, as well as those in wider sports coaching, players stop listening to a coach after three years, because they hear nothing new.

There have been a couple of relevant stories in The Cricketer in the past week. One of them, by George Dobell, said that up to five counties are looking for Heads of Cricket this winter. I am unaware of any stories connecting Mickey Arthur to those roles and that tells a story, I think. So does the fact that none of the Hundred franchises had him involved last summer. His stock has fallen, beyond doubt, though seemingly not in Derbyshire. 

In the second story, Nick Howson in his end of season roundup said that Arthur's referral to supporters as ignorant 'may be tough to come back from'. For all the protestations that the comment was taken out of context, I maintain the club handled this badly. 

Ryan Duckett said that it showed his passion and commitment, which is nonsense. There are plenty of people with equal commitment about what they do who do not resort to insulting the fan base. He should have been censured for this and a statement released accordingly.

Nick also says the following, at the end of the article:

Arthur might be bathed in international experience, be as big an advocate of the county game as any of his contemporaries, be a member of the newly- formed County Insight Group and give Derbyshire global appeal. But promotion challenges haven't consistently materialised and the support has all but evaporated.

I know mine has. My expectations for next year, if he remains at the helm, will be the lowest they have ever been. Regular readers will know that my unfailing optimism has been a feature of my time in writing this blog, but I would like to think I temper it with realism. 

Five years into a three-year project, two years after players 'stop listening', members and supporters have another two years of this to 'look forward to'. Well, whoopy-doo, wait while I get out the bunting..

I just feel the laissez-faire attitude at the club is worrying. Off the field they are great, doing brilliant stuff, but there appears to be little accountability for a man who has had far longer than other, more able ones were ever allowed. If any of the players were to say 'But I am passionate about my job, I work hard on my skills, I am hurting and this club means a lot to me', when they had averaged 20 with the bat and their contract was up for renewal, do you think it would save them? 

Mickey talks about the 'currency' of players being runs and wickets. By extension, his has to be results. You can't judge a coach on how hard he works, how he reflects and how much it hurts when we lose. Sport is a results-driven basis and he hasn't been on the right side of anywhere near enough of them. With or without HIS team.

We might have won a few red ball games, but we were still 16th out of 18 counties and I don't think that is good enough. I also think we can do better than that with a different coach and not too great a change to the staff. 

The recovery can start here, but only if those in charge are big enough to make the call. Maybe canvassing the players, as they did with John Morris, is a good place to start?

As for members, the forum this month is an opportunity to make your voice heard, if you agree.

And as always, your comments are much appreciated.