Reasons to be cheerful...

It has been interesting to see Yorkshire cricket rising like a phoenix from the ashes this season, playing good, aggressive, purposeful cricket that mirrors that of the great Yorkshire sides of the past. Before the Second World War, the county dominated cricket with an array of strong characters who also happened to be very good cricketers. Where they differed from a lot of sides was that they were also led by amateur captains who were worth a place in their own right, which went some way towards the establishing of mutual respect.

After the war Yorkshire by and large were in the shadow of their southern rivals Surrey, until the advent of another strong squad of players including Trueman, Illingworth, Close, Padgett, Sharpe and Wilson made them the team to beat in the 1960s.

Since then they have endured many years of struggle, both on the pitch and off, with power struggles for captaincy and financial issues, debate over whether to develop their ground or move and young players who never seemed to progress. They had a trophy under David Byas, then the wheels fell off once more when he decided to cross the Pennines, a crime more heinous than if he'd announced himself a serial killer in some eyes…

Over the last few years they have brought increasing numbers of players through the youth system and developed it at grass roots level, playing an Academy side in the tough Yorkshire League and drafting players into the side when they had shown themselves to be ready, not as an act of desperation.

They are now, of course, reaping the rewards in a model that a side like Derbyshire hope to emulate. While short to medium term signings have made us a competitive unit, in the long term the current crop of Academy youngsters and the increasingly competitive nature of the Derbyshire Leagues may well have the same impact.

In the late 1920's, Derbyshire made a conscious decision to bring on players under Sam Cadman and give them an opportunity. Virtually the whole 1936 sidecame through around that time, many of them escaping the pits in so doing. Since then there have been players coming through, but the drop out rate has been substantial. For every Geoff Miller and Mike Hendrick there was a Bob Swindell and Michael Glenn, while we even tried someone like Les Bradbury on the back of good league performances while not in the first flush of youth.

We now have the best collective crop of talent coming through under the guidance of Karl Krikken since the 1930's. Borrington, Redfern, Needham, Clare, Poynton, Hughes, Sheikh and Whiteley have all suggested they have a role to play in our future, while there are other youngsters in the next age bracket who are equally talented.

These include players such as Hamza Siddique, who broke the school batting record at Repton with an innings of 207 not out and has already scored over 30 centuries in his young career. He is only 18, yet spent the winter in Australia and scored two fifties in the recent match against Yorkshire Seconds. He is an exciting talent, just like Ben Slater of Chesterfield, another 18 year old opening the batting for his club in a tough league and looking like a player of rich potential in his second string appearances thus far. Today's century reinforced that and he is assuredly a player to watch.

Encouragingly, John Morris' network of contacts that brought in the exciting Chesney Hughes has also given a trial to young Australian all rounder Sam Baird, who has an Irish father and would thus be qualified to play here. He plays his club cricket at Staveley CC and back home deputises for Marcus North in first grade at the age of 18. A quick footed opening batsman of aggressive intent, he is also an off spinner of some potential and should get plenty of cricket this summer.

These lads may or may not develop to the right level, but it is seeing their potential and seeing our system pick them out that gives me genuine cause for optimism. Five to ten years ago I had genuine concerns over Derbyshire cricket, as we seemed to lurch through seasons with the occasional good performance in the midst of a lot of bad. Recruitment seemed to be based on picking up the cast offs of other counties if the player didn't get an offer elsewhere and there was little cohesion behind the scenes.

We now have that in place with the Academy and in the offices, where we are making constant progress. Over the past four years we have got things together at the club after our own annual ritual of in-fighting and blood-letting. People like Don Amott, Tom Sears and Keith Loring have made a huge and positive difference to the club and other people's perception of it.

Most crucially, John Morris and Karl Krikken, Derbyshire men both, have made substantial steps forward in the development of a club that the fans can be genuinely and justifiably proud of. Trophies may not come this summer, maybe not even next, but I still think we are on the right road - even after today...