Tony Palladino: an appreciation

 It will be a very different Derbyshire next season, with no Tony Palladino running in from the Media Centre end after ten years of service. With Ravi Rampaul also unlikely to return, unless as an overseas player, there will be little experience in the seam attack.

At 37, Tony was unlikely to be the bowler that he has been and any deal was only likely to be for one year anyway. From the club's perspective, he will be one of the bigger earners but generally only plays one format, so I do appreciate the rationale.

It is also hard to be overly critical of the decision without knowing the plans that Dave Houghton has and who is (presumably) going to come in. The one sure thing in sport is that however good or loyal you have been, the end comes for everyone and it is rarely on their terms.

That there is an abundance of talent in the young seamers who played this year is undeniable. Ben Aitchison, Michael Cohen, Sam Conners and perhaps Dustin Melton will be the ones for next summer, with support from the all rounders and, one assumes, an overseas player. That the county, like others around the country, has to balance the books post-Covid 19 is also undeniable. I don't know the true picture, but without a lot of off-field income the playing budget must have taken a hit and the only way to try and sort that is in players at the end of contracts. From the club's perspective again, the savings from Tony and Ravi may enable recruitment in key areas and/or allow us to stay within view of a break even, or at least minimise the loss.

But it hurts. It will be hurting Tony right now and anyone who has been in similar positions will empathise. He has been an outstanding cricketer for the club, since his arrival from Essex. You always knew that he would test techniques, take wickets and at the very least keep things quiet on the shirt fronts. He ran in as hard at the end of the day as he did at the start and over the course of those ten seasons was a reliable bowler, the club's highest wicket-taker of the 21st century.

He could bat too. There was that memorable century against Australia A, plenty of key contributions when others had failed and some uncomplicated hitting that enlivened many an innings. I always got the impression of a good team man, another reason why, in ideal circumstances, he would have been useful for one more year to advise the young bowlers, take a spell when the going got tough.

But it is not to be. I feel for supporters too, as many would have loved the opportunity to say goodbye and wish him well in person. I have got to know Tony over the past decade and always enjoyed the experience. We had a long chat in the bar in the aftermath of the title win in 2012, plenty of others when I was able to visit the County Ground at other times. He was no different to me than to plenty of others, friendly, courteous and thoroughly professional, always with a regular smile. 

At the end of the day 'professional' is the most apposite word for Tony. I have recorded his career with us in interview last winter, which you can find if new to the blog. I wish him the very best for his future and suspect that someone will end up with a very good coach when he gets the opportunity. They will get a top bloke, for sure.

It has been my pleasure to watch him and to get to know him. The club will continue, of course and although he will be hurting right now, I am sure that his next role is just around the corner.

For all the young bowlers at the club, Tony Palladino has set the benchmark for you. If you can reach his standards on the field and be as well-regarded off it, you will do all right.

Go well, TP. You will be sorely missed and thank you for the memories.

A special kind of courage

Something that always gets my hackles up is when, on reality talent shows, judges often say such things as "You were very brave to choose that song" or "You were brave in going on first" when they had no real option. For me, that doesn't come close to bravery.

Bravery is courage in the face of danger. Rescuing someone from peril, or the sort displayed on a daily basis by our armed forces, as well as that shown by people in the face of serious illness. That, my friends, is courage.

Yet there is another kind. That shown by those who become aware that someone they know, maybe love, has done something wrong. I'm thinking of parents who informed the police when their children's faces showed up in riot footage, or they knew they were involved in another serious crime.

I'm also thinking of Tony Palladino. As highlighted in the Daily Mail on January 12, Derbyshire's seam bowler, then at Essex, became aware that his friend and team mate Mervyn Westfield had done something that went against the code, morals and ethics of the game. It would have been very easy for him to keep quiet and do nothing and no one knows the moral dilemma and mental wranglings that the player went through.

That he chose the path he did speaks volumes for him as a man. Until Mervyn Westfield pleaded guilty, Palladino was set to be the main witness for the prosecution, a task he was thankfully spared. This isn't the time to be passing comment on the player whose career was effectively ruined for the sake of £6,000 but it is appropriate to say that Tony Palladino, in speaking out, showed himself a man of real character and integrity. Were any of us in the same position, forced to choose between a friend and what they know is right - the integrity of their profession - I'd like to think that we would do the same. Would we? Until placed in that invidious position, no one knows for sure.

Tony Palladino should be seen as a hero in the eyes of cricketers and cricket fans, a man big enough to stand up and say that something was wrong to protect the game that he loves and the things he believes in. At a time when tales of corruption in the game are too regular an occurrence, his stand is worthy of recognition and he should be rightly saluted.

Palladino's turn for contract extension

News today that Tony Palladino has signed a contract extension, one that will keep him at the County Ground until at least the end of the 2013 season.

It is excellent news for fans and will keep a bowler who has proved both successful and populat at the club to forge a fine opening pairing with Tim Groenewald.

It is equally good to see that the club have been forward planning and not allowing players to get to final years when they could be subject to approaches from elsewhere.

I'm sure that there will be more to come. Thumbs up from me for this one!

Thoughts on Palladino

While a worthy cricketer who always gave of his best, Ian Hunter has struggled over recent summers. In that respect his departure from the club, with a year to go on his current contract and by mutual consent, was perhaps not entirely unexpected.


To be fair, when his rhythm was right and the ball was swinging, ‘Sticks’ bowled some good spells and most of us will remember times when he looked a bowler of talent. Sadly, a constant battle against injury meant that the fight for rhythm became increasingly elusive, as ultimately did the fight for fitness itself. Last season he effectively missed the whole campaign and there were major question marks against his ability to fulfil that contract in 2011.

There is always a degree of sadness when a decent cricketer and good man leaves the club and this is no exception. Yet John Morris has moved quickly to fill the vacancy and has signed Essex bowler Tony Palladino on a two-year deal. The move was rumoured a couple of weeks back and mentioned on this blog, so thanks to the Essex fan who got in touch about it. Remember, Essex didn’t release him, so are well aware of his merits.

On the face of it, with Jones, Footitt, Clare, Turner, Sheikh and Groenewald we were not too badly off, but Sheikh is unproven at this level and Jones cannot go on forever. If injuries hit we would once again have been down to the bare bones. One would assume that Steffan Jones retains a coaching role (he may even have bowlers to coach this year) and will play mainly one-day matches, leaving the seam attack as Footitt, Clare, Turner, Palladino and Groenewald. They are less experienced than Hunter and Lungley, though cynics might say it was of little use when the latter were infrequently fit to play. Crucially, there are reputations to be made, and hungry cricketers of talent are worth their weight in gold.

Palladino comes in, as Mark Footitt did last season, with a few injury absences to his name, but that goes with the territory - name me a seam bowler in the modern game who hasn’t. It is hard work and they’ve also to dive around in the field and contribute a few runs. Changed days from the Jackson/Gladwin era and before, when an outstretched boot was the concession to agility from the bowlers and all that was expected of them.

Critics say he can be expensive and loses his radar from time to time, but I tend to take a more pragmatic view. Five-an-over in List A and seven-an-over in T20 is hardly cafeteria bowling. In addition, Palladino, like Footitt and Mark Turner, takes wickets with impressive regularity. Eight four-wicket and two five-wicket hauls in 52 matches is impressive, as is a career record of 117 wickets at 34 with limited opportunity. Comparisons may be odious, but Lungley took three five-wicket hauls in ten years, as did Hunter and neither took four in a Championship innings.

Palladino is thus more penetrative and crucially four years younger. With opportunity he can get better, which realistically wasn’t going to happen with the other two. All things considered, John Morris has again strengthened the squad. Two aging bowlers of questionable fitness have been replaced by two who are not yet at their peak.

If we can get them all fit and keep them that way, we have a nucleus of attacking bowlers with the ability to take wickets. That inexperience may see them expensive at times, but their strike rates suggest that we could take the wickets required to win Championship matches next season.

For me, that’s progress.

A top overseas star in the Spring, after IPL and international commitments are known and we’ll do all right.

Derbyshire sign Palladino

                                                                              

News this morning that Derbyshire have signed Essex seamer Tony Palladino on a two year deal, replacing Ian Hunter whose contract has been cancelled by mutual consent.

It was rumoured a couple of weeks back and its good to see the deal has come through.

More from me later!