Ahoy there skipper!

I don't know if Greg Smith has as much say in the side that takes the field for Derbyshire as Chris Rogers has, but the new T20 skipper of Derbyshire could hardly have improved on his first two games in charge.

Throughout his time at the club, Smith has been an enigmatic cricketer, capable of genuine brilliance in one match and then slipping to ordinary status in the next. It accounts for why he has still not reached 1,000 runs in a season, despite a gradual progression up the order. He nearly got there last year, but a lack lustre ending saw him fall just short.

Over the last few years there has been considerable conjecture - perhaps some of it unfounded - on him moving to "bigger" clubs. Kent was mentioned a few years back, yet Smith's inconsistency was perhaps against any genuine move. He has made great strides in the past eighteen months, however, showing greater patience in the middle to go with the range of strokes he has always possessed. That thousand could be his this year, but there is more to Smith than just dazzling strokes.

As a fielder he is one of the best, quick across the ground and with a good pair of hands. As a bowler, he is two-in-one, a bustling medium-pacer one minute, an off spinner who really turns the ball the next. The latter may be where his long term future lies and he has steadily improved since a pre-season training camp to India two or three years back.

John Morris gave him the opportunity to try the captaincy on the pre-season trip to Barbados and liked what he saw, so Smith, an ambitious player, was given the vice-captaincy and subsequently the T20 senior role. Thus far he has made an excellent job of it, setting innovative fields and ringing the changes before a bowler has been "lined up." He has also backed himself as a death bowler to good effect, following chirpy, momentum-maintaining innings with bowling of varied flight and pace that has thus far been effective. His introduction of early spin into the attack has been important and thus far he, Wes Durston and Robin Peterson have applied the brakes to opposition innings quite nicely.

The early portents are positive and the additional responsibility in the medium to long term may be a factor in Smith seeing that his cricket ambitions can all be realised from the County Ground.
From a fan's perspective, let's just hope that they are. If Derbyshire are to re-emerge as a cricket team to be reckoned with, people like Greg Smith and Graham Wagg are fundamental to the master plan.