Every so often I head up to the loft and dig out one of my favourite old cricket books to read. This weekend it was a small paperback that was nestled between bigger tomes that caught my eye on the shelves and went downstairs with me. It was John Arlott's wonderful biography of Sir Jack Hobbs and I have enjoyed rediscovering the wonderful words that persuaded me to buy it. Truth be told, it needed little persuasion, as I picked it up at a car boot sale for 20p…
Anyway, Arlott paints a vivid and affectionate picture of one of the greatest of all batsmen in its remarkably short 144 pages, a classic case of saying what needs said and nothing more. It was a section on Hobbs 1905 season, his second, that caught my eye, however, for its pertinence to Derbyshire.
In that season, Hobbs endured a spell when he made only 150 runs in sixteen innings, with 75 coming in one of them. He thus made 75 runs in the other FIFTEEN knocks. He later told Arlott, who became a close friend, that he was physically and emotionally exhausted after his impressive debut season in 1904 and just could not seem to shake it off. A similar experience was later the lot of Sir Leonard Hutton in his second season, when he was pulled from the Yorkshire side for a spell to recharge his batteries.
Such was the lot of two of the greatest-ever England batsmen, so we should not be at all surprised at the struggles of some of our own this season. On such occasions, wrote Arlott, you become increasingly aware that the distance between the middle and edge of the bat is around two inches and wonder, on occasions, if you will ever find the former again.
Wayne Madsen, Garry Park and Dan Redfern have all experienced such problems this season. Each has made his runs - more than Hobbs did in his spell, at any rate - but none have found the fluency and aggregate that made 2009 so rewarding for them. Paul Borrington has also struggled in regular first class cricket and a batting line up that looked good on paper has not translated to deeds on the pitch. The problem is that the Derbyshire squad is so small that it is difficult to remove them from the "firing line" and they simply have to try and battle through. They will, but similar problems have been the lot of most batsmen over the years.
I'm old enough to remember when Alan Hill, Tony Borrington and Harry Cartwright all came through around the same time at Derbyshire and all of them endured their difficult periods. The first two emerged from them to become solid county professionals, while the latter, despite several hard hitting innings and some spectacular fielding, never realised his potential. He was far from alone in that of course, the history of the county littered with those who never quite made it, Ben Spendlove, Wayne Dessaur, Gul Khan and John Owen to name just four. Bruce Roberts left us at 29 with the memory of some innings of brilliance and some useful spells of bowling, yet never managed to counteract his early vulnerability against a moving ball.
It is another frustration with the ECB Memorandum of Understanding. Some players are simply not ready, physically or emotionally, for a protracted stint in county cricket when they are in their teens, yet counties are expected to play two or three of them in most matches or incur financial penalty. Those who don't make it before they are 23 could be prematurely discarded to make way for the next wave and late developers may never get another chance.
Who remembers the way that David Steele took on the Australians in 1975, when he was 33? He had played county cricket for a number of years without setting the heather on fire and was a much better player between 30 and 40 than he was between 20 and 30.
Wes Durston is another case in point, a better player now at 29 than he was in his early 20s by some distance. Most players are and you only need to look at the local leagues for proof of that. How many club sides best players are teenagers, or those under 22? Very few, I'll bet.
The most prolific batsmen of this summer are experienced players who have their games worked out, the most successful bowlers the ones who know where the ball will land most of the time. It is no surprise that our two most likely opening bowlers in the T20 are Steffan Jones and Charl Langeveldt, bowlers who have perhaps not got that edge of pace that they once had, but can drop the ball on the proverbial (ideally blockhole) handkerchief and have plenty of options in their repertoire that have been honed over a number of years of graft.
There's a lot to be said for giving youth its head, but even more to be said for experience. I just hope that the ECB remember that
If we assume Morris remains at the helm, then I would suggest he may need to be a little more decisive with some of his contract decisions come the close of this campaign. He has done pretty well with the introduction of many of new faces that have joined the squad, but he has been carrying some passengers for a few seasons too many. I know it is too early to get too embroiled in this topic mid season, but he has to bite the bullet and make some unpopular decisions in a few months' time. I am not convinced it is necessarily sentiment that has dictated some past decisions to retain modest performers, but a number of guys have not repaid his faith in them and have consistently failed to convince, either with DCCC or with their previous clubs. Nothing real suggests that will change either.
ReplyDeleteI realise there will be the usual retorts referring to scarcity of alternatives and limited budget, but there will be options out there that that represent, at the very least, more potential.
On a brighter note though, it does appear Morris's decision to employ David Icke to tackle the psychological issues within the team has paid off. The donning of tin foil hats whilst riding spacehoopers seems to have done the trick. Just beware of the lizard men! (No offence Ashley)
MASTERVILLAIN