Thoughts on Arthur and recruitment

'I think our bowling needs some serious looking at and I have to be brutally honest when I watch us. We are an ageing team, slow in the field in most positions and slow between the wickets. That's not the brand of cricket I like. 

We gave it a good go with the players we had, but we'll turn it over now and for me it's about bringing in younger players, perhaps taking a bit of pain for a year or two, in order to build a really good young team'

So speaks Mickey Arthur in the latest issue of The Cricketer magazine. I am probably not the only one a little confused and not for the first time during his tenure.

This IS his team. He told us when he joined the club 'Judge me when I have my team' and we all assumed he had it by now, in year three, with the drastic overhaul of playing staff. His words suggest he is here (or plans to be) for the long haul, but is this cricket management by the unscientific process of 'throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick'?

This 'ageing team' was largely signed, or re-signed by Mickey and he has to own that. My wife wouldn't profess to be a cricketing sage, but when I told her we would have two blokes over 40 in our T20 side, her first words were 'but won't they be a bit slow'? Maybe she and I should take over, the Clough and Taylor of Derbyshire cricket...

Supporters will now be watching the said overhaul of Derbyshire cricket with even keener eyes. If we replace over-thirties with more of the same, there will rightly be questions asked. Of course you need experience in a side, but someone has to do the legwork and you can't hide them all in the field. Signing talented young men with reputations to build is a decent start - Amrit Basra and Rory Haydon being prime examples.

I have seen names tossed around as potential signings - Billy Root, Jonny Tattersall, Nick Browne, Chris Rushworth as examples. But would they transform us? Or have long term potential? Good cricketers all, but for me there is greater mileage in looking at players like Ben Martindale or Sam King at Nottinghamshire or Harry Singh at Lancashire. I don't see where Rocky Flintoff gets game time at Lancashire either, while Tom Aspinwall might be pushed further down the line with the possible signing of Ajeet Singh Dale.

Here's another comment from Arthur:

"Our pathway is consistently producing exciting talents, and we want to bring those players into the first team environment, to give them the best possible chance of succeeding in professional cricket with Derbyshire."

Of course we need to promote the best of the Pathway, but by the same token we cannot simply elevate four or five talented under-18s and expect them to become the cricketing equivalent of the Busby Babes. Their step to sustained second eleven performance is big, that up to the first team much bigger.

As a sage old professional said to me, you might score runs or take wickets in the second team against experienced players. Yet they are finding form and rhythm, not going flat out and not providing the pressure of the senior game. Joe Hawkins is a terrific young player, but figures at Northampton of 2-171 in 39 overs will show him how far he has to go. To be fair to him, he will have rarely bowled more than ten overs in an innings, so he probably poured himself into bed last night, after the physical and mental effort.

What has really surprised me this summer is the nigh complete falling off of a side that before the T20 was going very well. That they have largely battled is beyond doubt, but our unbeaten record was built around commendable rearguard efforts and a fair few of those draws would not be classed as 'winning' ones in the league cricket that I played.

We haven't helped ourselves by muddled preparation. After losing to Leicestershire, Arthur said he felt our best chance of beating them was by preparing a spinning pitch. Which doesn't say a lot for Blair Tickner or the chances of him returning, but says even less about the support he has had from pitch preparation. 

It was the same for the Blast...we had an overseas spinner, Mohammad Ghazanfar, from the white ball team of the year, together with an experienced international spinner as captain, yet never played to that obvious strength. I don't recall much deviating off straight at Derby, which would seem a fairly major oversight. If I had two such bowlers in my team, I would ensure the pitches were just on the acceptable side of Blackpool beach..

Having signed Caleb Jewell for next summer, Arthur has to split the second role AND order pitches to suit them. A seamer for the first batch of red ball, a spinner for the second, an all rounder for the Blast. Sure, it is nice to have someone there all summer, but Northamptonshire got it right by signing Chahal for this part of the summer. Surely that famous contacts book can unearth a decent spinner in Asia? You would hope a good seamer shouldn't be a challenge either, but he has to have early season pitches that offer something to work with. As for the T20, a bowler who can hit a long ball has to be the target. If the rumoured signing of Matt Montgomery comes through, a top five of Donald, Jewell, Madsen, Montgomery and Basra (hopefully) would surely get runs on the board? 

Clarity of thought - and feel free to disagree if you will - is all important. That is in-game too. I fully understand why Zak Chappell opened yesterday, but using Joe Hawkins as a night watchman means that it is likely our first innings century-maker, Martin Andersson, won't bat until number nine. Assuming they get on the pitch today.

There have been countless examples of muddled messages and thinking this year and that is the concern. 'My team' mark one hasn't worked. Supporters have a right to be sceptical if mark two is going to be any better.  Maybe it is worth seeing where it goes for next year, not least because recruitment has to start again if we don't. Players will have agreed to come by this stage and plans for the best of our young talent to come onto the staff will be advanced. 

But he has to get it right. Not least because the questions over coaching style will again raise their heads if he doesn't and, to use the Glasgow vernacular, his jaiket will be on a shoogly hook if he doesn't.

It has to be.

Northamptonshire v Derbyshire day 3

My wife and I are out at the theatre in Glasgow tonight, so there will be no blog on the day's play until tomorrow, when I pull in the last two days.

As we leave, Derbyshire are 46-3 and facing an innings defeat, a somewhat bizarre occurrence after the optimism of day one.

There are many talking points that I will address at the end of the match, but please add your comments on the day's play below.

Under 18s facing last day battle

Derbyshire's under 18s have a fight on their hands to save the game against Durham at Repton. 

The visitors made 497-6 today, in reply to the home score of 266 all out. Ghumman made 178, while Matt Stewart stuck to his task well and returned the best figures of 3-94.

So tomorrow is all about batting out time. The young players have shown their ability to score quickly in the shorter forms of the game, so it will be good to see another side to them, all being well, on the third and final day

Northamptonshire v Derbyshire day 2

Derbyshire 377

Northamptonshire 265-5 (Procter 71, Broad 64*, Bartlett 60* Reece 2-70)

Derbyshire lead by 112 runs

Derbyshire were unable to press home the advantage of their good batting effort at Northampton, with the home side rallying, as they did themselves, with a good lower order effort. 

At 154-5, with the dismissal of Saif Zaib by Joe Hawkins (not Dawkins or Wilkins as various media outlets have called him), the home side were rocking. Then an unbroken stand of 110 between Bartlett and Broad steered them to calmer waters by the close. The irony that the stand was between two players who Derbyshire actively pursued in recent winters was not lost on me...

The Derbyshire first innings was a good effort, but the expectation was perhaps that the pitch might deteriorate more quickly than it appears to have done. Reece bowled brilliantly between lunch and tea, while Hawkins did as well as one might expect from an 18-year old in his first match. He was a little short in his length early on, but will be proud of his opening wicket, that of the division's leading run scorer.

Tickner bowled with aggression but couldn't make the breakthrough, while both Chappell and Aitchison huffed and puffed tidily but couldn't break down the door.

Bartlett and Broad batted very well, as earlier did Procter, despite a fierce blow on the arm from Tickner. 

Early wickets are needed tomorrow, when rain looks likely to truncate proceedings.

Finally a word on the commentators. I don't often listen, because I prefer my own thoughts, but I thought they were very good today and even-handed in their comments. That isn't always the case on the circuit and I doff my cap to them for a job well done.

Northamptonshire v Derbyshire day1

Derbyshire 348-8 (Andersson 105, Reece 39, Donald 37, Aitchison 33*, Chappell 32, Hawkins 29* Chahal 4-116)

v Northamptonshire

A terrific rearguard action by Derbyshire at Northampton today put them in a good position after day one.

It is hard to judge a pitch until both sides have batted on it and the cause wasn't helped when Jack Morley was injured before the match and missed out. With Alex Thomson out with a broken finger, it meant the spin department on a turning pitch was 18-year old debutant Joe Hawkins, of who more later..

That Derbyshire reached 348-8 was largely due to a magnificent century from Martin Andersson. It was his third of the summer and for me, the best. He was assertive and played strokes all around the wicket. He has developed into a serious player and should only get better.

There was help for seam and spin alike, while a variable bounce on the first morning was presumably a concern for the home side when they lost the toss and were consigned to batting last on it. 

The variable bounce did for Caleb Jewell, leg before to a short ball that trapped him low on the shin, before Came went the same way to a leg spinner.

It was 89-5 before we knew it, after being 82-1 three overs earlier. Something we have seen before and the expectation was that the home side would likely be batting before tea. 

Yet Andersson batted superbly and hit fourteen boundaries in his century. Donald lent good support for a while, without suggesting permanence, as did Chappell, who will likely be annoyed to be dismissed on the reverse sweep when he too was going well.

Yet even their dismissal  did not end the resistance, as Hawkins and Aitchison added an unbroken 48 runs for the 9th wicket. We know that Ben can handle a bat, but here we saw the debut of Hawkins, who was clearly not fazed by the situation, pitch or opposition. He has a good technique and used it to counter pace and spin alike, surviving with a degree of comfort to fight another day. He also played a contender for shot of the innings, a delightful cover driven four.

Some of the home side fielding was decidedly average and Scrimshaw's drop was pretty shocking. Mind you, so was the incessant noise from the slips, who seemed to go full on Frankie Howerd whenever the ball didn't hit the middle of the bat. I put the sound off when they got excited at Luis Reece leaving a ball eighteen inches outside off stump. There's really no need for that.

Chahal was a danger all day, but bowled some loose stuff too and his figures reflect it. 

Derbyshire will be the happier at the close. And I didn't expect to write that at one o'clock this afternoon.

Postscript... this afternoon I enjoyed a long chat with Edwin Smith and we reminisced about when he took eight for 21 in his second appearance at the age of 17. He could relate to Joe Hawkins today and if Joe becomes half as good a cricketer, we will be happy.

Edwin reminded me of a trip to Northampton in the 1950s. They got to the ground to find a green wicket and his expectation was of little bowling. 

When they went out to the middle, they found a 'beach', with grass cuttings on it to give the impression of a green top. His spirits rose as he anticipated a long bowl and some wickets.

Alas, Cliff Gladwin and Les Jackson bowled them out, with support from Donald Carr's slow left arm. Edwin barely bowled, a harsh lesson for a youngster, as had been being dropped from the side after his 8-21.

I suspect Joe will bowl a lot of overs here..

Under 18's in Derby semi final against Nottinghamshire!

From the club website:

Derbyshire Boys Under 18s will face Nottinghamshire at The Central Co-op County Ground this Sunday, in the semi-final of the ECB County Plate. 

Having already overcome Durham and Lancashire in the earlier rounds, Derbyshire will now host their local rivals at Derby this Sunday, with a place in the final of the 50-over competition up for grabs.

Batter, Rohan Vallabhaneni, is averaging 50 in the tournament, while Matthew Stewart and Rubaiyat Abrar have claimed five wickets apiece, a number bettered by only three bowlers.

Entry will be free for the fixture, which will begin at 11am on Sunday 3 August. Please note, the Members Lounge in Monarch Security Pavilion will not be open for this fixture.

**Hopefully a good few people can get down to see some of our stars of tomorrow, playing for silverware.

It should be a terrific game. Hopefully the club will also run a stream of the match. 

Book Review: Around the World in 40 Years by Andy Moles with Geoffrey Dean

I am very much of an age where I remember Andy Moles, the player.

While he never looked the fittest, he was among the most consistent and for a decade was an outstanding opening bat for Warwickshire. He averaged over 40 in that time and only Peter Bowler of Derbyshire and James Hildreth of Somerset managed to do that without any international recognition. 

His autobiography is a joy to read. Co-written with Geoffrey Dean of The Times, it is chock full of stories and anecdotes, most of them new to me. His career is an object lesson in never giving up hope. He didn't get into the first class game until he was 25, yet thereafter the runs flowed from his bat, until a snapped Achilles tendon ended his career prematurely at the age of 36. 

Subsequently, he travelled the world and became a leading coach in South Africa, Kenya, Scotland, England and New Zealand. His last coaching role was as director of cricket for Afghanistan where he coached for nearly six years. Then an MRSA infection in his toe led to the amputation of his lower left leg. The section on his experiences in Afghanistan is worth the purchase price alone.

I would have loved to see him as a coach in county  cricket, where I think he would have been a great success. There was a time time when I thought he would have been a very good option for Derbyshire, but it never came about. 

His insights on playing alongside Brian Lara and Alan Donald are fascinating, but so too are his accounts of that outstanding Warwickshire side, under Dermot Reeve. His thoughts on batting and on coaching players reinforce his reputation as a thinking man, someone who would undoubtedly improve you if you listened. He played under Bob Woolmer, of course, one of the great innovators in cricket coaching.

Like a few books of late, it isn't the easiest of reads, especially when one gets to the point at which he lost a leg. But it is one that will be enjoyed by all cricket fans, especially those from the West Midlands. 

I enjoyed his honesty in this book and it is further proof that some of the best cricket books are not necessarily about the biggest names.

Highly recommended

Around The World in 40 Years is written by Andy Moles with Geoffrey Dean

Under 18s game in balance at end of first day

Derbyshire under 18s were all out for 266 against Durham today at Repton.

Sam Cliffe made 51 and Zak Kelly 41 at the top of the order, before Danny Chapman made 84, sharing a stand of 69 with Rubaiyat Abrar (36)

At the close, Durham were 44-1

Northamptonshire v Derbyshire preview

Both Amrit Basra and Joe Hawkins are included in a thirteen-man Derbyshire squad for the four-day game against Northamptonshire that starts tomorrow. 

I would hope that both play and have an opportunity to showcase their obvious talents. With the pitch expected to turn, one of the seamers is likely to miss out. Blair Tickner plays his final match for the club, heading home to New Zealand afterwards.

My preferred team:

Jewell, Came, Guest, Madsen, Basra, Donald, Reece, Chappell, Hawkins, Tickner, Morley

Andersson, Aitchison also in the squad but the former's back spasms are a concern and we will need Ben for the One Day Cup.

Luke Procter returns after missing the last game, while Justin Broad is back after a wrist injury. The home squad:

Procter, Bartlett, Broad, Chahal, Guthrie, Keogh, McManus, Ramesh, Sales, Scrimshaw, Vasconcelos, Zaib

 Yuzi Chahal will expect to be bowling at one end for much of the match, while Saif Zaib will want to build on his tally as the first man in division two to reach a thousand runs this summer. Caleb Jewell (916 runs) and Wayne Madsen (914) will hope to join him on that landmark during this game, while Harry Came needs 285 from his last eight innings to do so for Derbyshire.

Rain interruptions appear likely, with Thursday looking especially wet in the current forecast. The toss will be important, as neither side will want to bat last on a surface that normally turns at this stage of the summer.

Accordingly, I can't call a result, but the weather may take too much time out of the game and a draw could be the most likely scenario.

What do you think? 

Hawkins signs short-term deal

More excellent signing news from Derbyshire this afternoon, with Joe Hawkins signing a contract with the club until the end of August. 

This will see him eligible for the entirety of the One-Day Cup, as well as tomorrow's game at Northampton. With the pitch there liable to take spin and Alex Thomson out with a broken finger, my guess is that he will make his county debut.

I think he has a very bright future and he has looked like a young man with huge potential from when I first saw him. He is composed and organised as a batter, disciplined and unfazed as a bowler.

I am sure he will not be the last from a very encouraging assembly line in the Pathway. 

Reece signs new two year deal

Good news to start the week for Derbyshire fans, as Luis Reece has signed a new two-year deal at the club.

It will take him to a decade with the county and he has been one of our best signings in recent years. Whatever the future holds with regard to the promotion of youth, they need to be surrounded by good, reliable senior professionals in order to progress. He is definitely one of those.

With a batting average of just under 50, to go with 34 wickets at 18 runs each, it can be safely said that Luis has returned to his finest form this summer. The hamstring injury was unfortunate, but he showed on his return that the break has not impaired his effectiveness.

It will be good to see his talents in the county colours for another two seasons, hopefully with more to come.

Big win for under 18s

Finally tonight, there was a terrific 106 run win for the county under 18s today, against Lancashire at Spondon Cricket Club.

Winning the toss and opting to bat, Joe Hall (wicket keeper/captain like Brooke Guest) saw Cliffe (64) Abrar (24) and Vallabhaneni (43) give Derbyshire a brisk start in this 50 over game.

A middle order slump saw the score drop to 158-6, but Chapman (50) steadied things before Jake Green hit a 22-ball half century with four sixes and four fours.

The final total of 287 proved far too much for Lancashire, although Barrow followed his 4-37 with the highest score of 49. 

Matt Stewart, a young seam bowler who looks one to watch, returned astonishing figures of 5-27, while Rubaiyat Abrar, who opens the batting and hits very powerfully, took 3-25 with his clever left arm spin as Lancashire were all out for 181.

I am extremely excited at the ability in our age group cricketers and there is good reason for that 

Scorecard and limited videos can be seen here

Bedfordshire v Derbyshire friendly

Derbyshire 338-8 (Guest 100, Basra 87, Came 79, Andersson 30)

Bedfordshire 243-8 (Tarling 94, Houghton 41, Johnson 38, Potts 3-56, Aitchison 2-51, Basra 1-32, Haydon 1-38)

Derbyshire won by 95 runs

There was a good and encouraging run out for Derbyshire against Bedfordshire today, in a match where they ran out winners by 95 runs.

Having been put in to bat, Derbyshire batted steadily, after losing Mitch Wagstaff for 20. Harry Came made 79 from 88 balls, before the stand of the innings was shared by skipper Brooke Guest (100 from 90 deliveries with nine fours) and Amrit Basra, who made 87 from just 46 deliveries, with six fours and six sixes. They added 152 in sixteen overs for the fifth wicket.

The final total of 338-8 was solid, if not spectacular and was going to take some chasing. 

Bedfordshire had a decent batting line up. Jake Tarling, formerly of Leicestershire, made 141 off Kent last season and here scored 94, but oddly slowly at a rate of only 75. Kashif Ali, formerly of Worcestershire was in the side, as was Jamie Dunk of Scotland and Leicestershire. 

A young Derbyshire attack bowled tidily, Rory Haydon's opening spell being 8-1-25-1, while Joe Hawkins was sensibly brought into the attack early and bowled three tidy overs for just nine runs. Mitch Wagstaff sustained an injury and had his third over finished by Harry Came, while Nick Potts took two quick wickets to set the run chase back.

That is the frustrating thing about Nick. He does take wickets, but his first four overs went for 23 and those loose one or two balls an over often ruin his figures. But hie finished with three wickets here, a good effort.

Joe Hawkins took a wicket too and Haydon finished with the most economical analysis on the day. Basra bowled seven tidy overs to finish off Wagstaff's spell to complete a memorable debut, even if the figures won't count in career records.

It will be interesting to see how performances here affect Mickey Arthur's first choice side. I would love to see youngsters given a go in this competition, when they will admittedly face a higher level of opposition. Yet Arthur will see it as a trophy to win, understandably so.

As it stands, I expect a first choice side to look something like this:

Jewell, Came, Guest, Basra, Reece, Whiteley, Andersson, Chappell, Aitchison, Morley, Haydon. 

I would like to see Wagstaff (injury permitting) Potts and Hawkins in the mix, but it would need a massive shift in selection policy and would surprise me. 

And the above side doesn't include David Lloyd..

Squad v Bedfordshire

Brooke Guest has been announced as skipper for the one-day cup and a pleasingly young squad has been announced for the game against Bedfordshire today:

Brooke Guest (c/wk)
David Lloyd
Harry Came
Mitch Wagstaff
Yousaf bin Naeem
Amrit Basra
Joe Hawkins
Ben Aitchison
Pat Brown
Jack Morley
Rory Haydon
Nick Potts

I am unsure if there is a stream for this friendly, but will keep my eyes open for one later!

Weekend thoughts

I had an interesting exchange of messages with a friend last night, regarding the Mickey Arthur position. That's not a weird Kama Sutra thing, for the record...

He pointed out - and rightly- that Derbyshire COULD afford to dispose of his services, just as Lancashire did with Darren Benkenstein. By simply getting someone to 'act up' in his place for a more modest salary increase than an external appointment, with a guarantee of a return to their substantive role if they didn't get the job on a permanent basis. 

The time to do it, of course, would be as soon as the season has finished and the dust has settled on the different competitions. We will then know if the admitted concentration on red ball skills at the expense of the white ball was worthwhile, or if it promised much, yet ultimately came to naught. We know that the somewhat unbelievable 'white ball will take care of itself' didn't happen, at least in T20.

My concern remains, as I wrote yesterday, that we leave it until the end of next season and the new incumbent has contracts to renew and a possible replacement for Wayne Madsen to find. It would be a huge job. 

In addition, it would only encourage short termism and perhaps the recruitment of players who are deemed ready, rather than with a strong development potential. Then leave the next coach to deal with them..

Appointing from within makes sense.

What would make even more sense would be giving the job to Daryn Smit.

No one knows the talent coming through the Pathway better than he does and his articulate manner and people skills would make him a very strong candidate. 

Listen to the recent Falcons Nest Podcast, where he seems really enthused about the quality of the talent coming through. Not just Joe Hawkins, but also wicket keeper bat Joe Hall, who came to the Pathway from Yorkshire and has scored a lot of runs, as well as keeping wicket to a very high standard (he caught or stumped all the victims in Hawkins' hat trick earlier this season). There's also Rohan Vallabhaneni, a stylish free-scoring bat from Denstone College and Staffordshire and Jake Green, a talented opening bowler, while Zak Kelly appears an all rounder of talent.

In the younger age groups, Theo Brown, Tommy Bush, Oscar Edwards and Lucas Green will feature for the Midlands-based Bunbury side in August, having already won a two-day red ball fixture against the South and West.

In that game, Edwards scored an unbeaten half-century, Brown showed his attacking ability with 60 runs and leg-spinner Bush and seamer Green were amongst the wickets. Edwards, who plays for Clifton, Smit's own club, scored a century on debut for their first eleven, having moved from Leek Cricket Club and while playing for the Pathway under-15s, is still under 14.

For me, having a man in place who has identified some of the best young talent in the area is the way to go. My opinion, for what it is worth, aligns neatly with Smit, that we clear a path through to second team cricket and have a natural progression to the full county side. We cannot simply release lads at 18, when some might just need a little extra time to develop.

Let's see how the remainder of the season goes. The influx of new blood may galvanise the side for the Metro Bank Trophy, but a decision will need to be made at the end of the season, in the best interests of the club.

Watch this space ..

Derbyshire v Leicestershire day four

Leicestershire 398 and 236-9

Derbyshire 189 and 256 (Thomson 55, Chappell 50, Guest 32, Ahmed 7-93)

Leicestershire won by 189  runs

There was laudable resistance from the Derbyshire lower order today, but the first innings failings came back to bite them and they went down by 189 runs.

Perhaps there is an argument for Zak Chappell moving up the order next season, especially in the T20. He isn't always a secure starter, but when he does get his feet moving he scores quickly and hits powerfully. He did so today and is is a much improved batter. 

Brooke Guest and Alex Thomson also fought hard in the resistance (not THAT resistance..) but there was too much to do for too few people. Special mention also for Jack Morley, who will be disappointed with his bowling in this game, but resisted for 85 balls at number eleven.

Next up for Derbyshire is a fifty-over warm up against Bedfordshire on Sunday, before the red ball action moves to Northampton on Tuesday.

Postscript: after the game Mickey Arthur revealed that Alex Thomson sustained a broken finger and will obviously be out for a while. Martin Andersson still has a back spasm but will play on Sunday, along with Amrit Basra and Rory Haydon. 

Meanwhile Anuj Dal will not be back until towards the end of the Metro Bank Cup. 

Talking points

It is all well and good people 'demanding' the sacking of Mickey Arthur, which has been a recurring theme in my emails and in blog comments over the past week or so.

Yet it ignores two simple facts. One is that he is contracted to the end of next season. You can argue the logic, the common sense in that extension, but I would be surprised if the club could afford to pay off his contract, stunned if he decided to walk away.

Secondly, even when they lose the current game - as they surely will unless there is a monsoon in Derby - there will remain a chance of promotion. Glamorgan may or may not win a very close game against Kent today, when they need 164 runs with eight wickets remaining. Yet the likelihood is that Derbyshire would remain at least third in the table, regardless. 

It isn't fair for me to comment on the events of the last two days because I haven't seen them. Yet as Jasper wrote last night, my recurring thought has been why we gambled the result of our biggest red ball match in at least a decade on winning the toss on a used pitch. On what I understand is its fourth use of the summer, whoever batted last was always going to struggle. It wasn't the most rational of thought processes to go 50/50 and place trust thereafter in our spin attack, which is not, in my opinion, our strength. Collective match figures of 5-315 would appear to confirm that, when their young leggie currently has 10-92. 

The Derbyshire Head of Cricket has had an outstanding career in the game as an international coach. One of his biggest weaknesses as a domestic one is in his loyalty to those that he himself has signed.

There are several examples, but the greatest of these is David Lloyd.  He has just six half centuries in 39 first-class innings since he moved to the club, which as an opening bat isn't close to good enough. With his bowling seemingly seen as a last resort, it appears that only this misguided loyalty keeps him in the side. While I have every sympathy for a good bloke who has had well-documented challenges with his mental health, perhaps a break would have been beneficial? 

Every time he goes out to bat, I am willing him to succeed, but it isn't happening and the wisdom of a three-year deal has to be questioned. I'm not sure he will get better, at 33, but surely the time has come to give someone else an opportunity for the remainder of the summer?

Despite today's result - call me fatalist, psychic or realistic, if you will - all is not gloom and doom. There appears to be an understanding that the 'experiment' with experience in T20 has failed. For Mickey Arthur to have any chance of surviving past next season  - and that would appear to be unlikely, at this stage - he has to be seen to be looking at the medium to long-term in his recruitment. 

The white ball contracts for Rory Haydon and Amrit Basra will hopefully bear fruit and both will stake a claim for longer deals. There will be changes this winter and for me, we should be looking at younger players with the potential to grow, rather than experienced ones. I and others have previously mentioned Matt Montgomery, but Feroze Khushi, currently with SACA, is another possibility. His talent has always been clear, when he was at Essex, perhaps only needing a good batting coach to bring to maturity. 

We have secured one overseas player for next summer and Caleb Jewell is in a race with Wayne Madsen to be first to a thousand first-class runs. But unless the well of overseas players is dry, I can't help but think that 22 wickets at 35 from Blair Tickner isn't enough for that position. He seems a top man and a supportive team mate, but I have always maintained that an overseas bat has to average over forty, a bowler under thirty and I won't change that assertion.

Yet surely to attract a top bowler we need pitches at Derby that offer more help? If we are getting to the stage of using them for the fourth time, wouldn't that second role make more sense split between a seamer for the first half of the summer, then a spinner for the rest? 

There is a nucleus of a good side for both red and white ball. You could build a good red ball eleven around Jewell, Came, Madsen, Guest, Andersson, Chappell, Aitchison and Luis Reece, who will surely be rewarded for this season's efforts with a new contract. So too should Aitchison, which would then leave the blanks to be filled in for a competitive side. 

The concern is that next year we could be looking at the end of Mickey Arthur as HOC, but also the potential retirement of Wayne Madsen and eight other deals needing reviewed. That is a lot of work for someone coming in, but it is also an opportunity to show support and faith in the Pathway project. 

While the first team have been losing to Leicestershire, both the seconds and the under-18s have also lost matches. Yet individual performances have been the cause for optimism. Rohan Vallabhaneni of Denstone College made a stylish 70 for the seconds, an innings that reinforced his impressive form at age group level. He seems to me to have that little bit extra. I also think Yousuf Bin Naeem can come again, after a challenging summer with injury and concussion.

By the way, we also have a young leg spinner who took six wickets against Hampshire, at the same time that a young leg spinner  was bowling us out at Derby.

When does Mitch Wagstaff get an opportunity? He could become a batter who bowls, a bowler who bats, or a genuine all rounder. 

It is time for proactivity and a show of confidence. 

And it should start at Northampton on Tuesday.

Derbyshire v Leicestershire day 3

Please add your comments on the day's play here

Derbyshire v Leicestershire day two

Please add your comments here and I will add as soon as I can...

Basra and Haydon sign for Metro Bank Trophy

Not that I am claiming any responsibility, but I am delighted to see that two players that I have been advocating for some time have been signed up for the Metro Bank One Day Cup 

Amrit Basra and Rory Haydon fully deserve to be given an opportunity to play themselves into a contract for next summer. In the ongoing game against Hampshire, the second team are under the cosh, but top order bat Basra made 70 out of 191, while seam bowler Haydon has the excellent figures of 18-6-30-2 in a total of 221-2. 

There is no risk in such players, only a chance to reduce the age of the staff and discover two gems for the future. Both have been in fine form for the second team, while Haydon has also been in the wickets for Staffordshire. Basra looks a highly talented stroke player, who only needs to convert some of these fine fifties into centuries to become a genuine prospect.

With three players away at the Hundred and Blair Tickner returning to New Zealand after next week's game, there is obvious game time for both of them in the coming weeks.

I hope that they make the most of it.