Monday musings

You know that old adage - "better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all"?

It's fairly apposite, if tweaked, for Derbyshire fans as we reflect on the end of the T20 campaign. Would we all have felt better if we'd stumbled through the campaign and never threatened qualification? Or is it all the worse because we were so near and yet so far? There's been a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth going on around the boards, people threatening to tear up membership cards and to never go again, but if you're a fan you can't turn loyalty on and off like a light switch. Perhaps you can if you're a casual observer, but as a fan you take the beatings, get up and prepare for what happens next, good or bad.

It happens. There seems to be a feeling abroad that we should expect better of Derbyshire and of course we always strive to be as good as possible, but the reality is that in cricketing terms we are the same as lots of teams in sport. We get our occasional spells in the limelight, which are perhaps all the more enjoyable because they don't happen all that often. You don't get blasé with success if you follow Derbyshire cricket fortunes...

I can remember several periods in our history that were considerably darker than the present one, while my Dad has watched the county since 1946 and has seen some very poor teams in the colours. We've had our good players and decent sides, but the reality is that in our 140th year we can reflect on FOUR trophies, a fact that confirms we've never been among the giants of the game. For much of that time, until the 1960s, there was only one trophy to play for and that usually went to Yorkshire or Surrey. From the the 1930s to 1950s we were a decent team that threatened on a few occasions, but we never took the ultimate prize, apart from that one golden year in 1936.

The inescapable fact remains that since Dean Jones and Les Stillman left the county and before John Morris we were in decline on the field. Off it we have done wonders latterly, but without pots of money it is impossible to turn a team around quickly. This week has seen comments that we were a better team under Dave Houghton, but were Stubbings and Birch better than Rogers and Madsen? Was Hasan Adnan better than Garry Park? Was Ant Botha better than Robin Peterson? Some might argue that had Houghton remained his nephew, Garry Ballance might still be at Derbyshire, but I disagree. Yorkshire made him an offer he couldn't refuse (thankfully, there were no horse's heads involved) and he would have moved anyway. Houghton decided that Travis Birt was a better option than Michael di Venuto, a decision that John Morris could only match if he preferred Loots Bosman over Chris Rogers for a full season.

Yes, John Morris has changed personnel, but I'll bet in some cases it was because they were better than we had, which is fair enough, rather than perhaps a player he really wanted. Top players command top salaries and we simply cannot compete in that market. Those lacking opportunities elsewhere, or who have fallen under the radar of others are our target and Morris has done well with these on the whole, with few real failures.

Calls to sack him are silly. I'll be the first to admit that next season, the last on his current contract, is a big one for the Head of Cricket, but this is a long way from a nightmare season. We cannot afford to pay him off anyway and I cannot think of anyone off the top of my head who I would guarantee to do a better job. We need stability at Derbyshire and by the end of next season Morris will have had four years. Other people will then decide, based on results next season, whether he continues to be the man for the job or there is someone better out there. Presumably what we're looking for is a billionaire with top coaching credentials who wants to plough his fortune into a first class county...

Bear in mind that we finished mid-table in a very strong group, above Durham AND Yorkshire. We beat Lancashire TWICE for the first time and ran Warwickshire very close in both matches. They both qualified, as did Northamptonshire, who we beat at Northampton. We were a long way from disgraced, but need to improve our consistency, as we lost badly at Worcester to a poor side and collectively froze on the big occasion on Friday. Meanwhile Leicestershire beat us at Chesterfield thanks to one of those innings from Jefferson where it all went right. By any standards we were a long way from being disgraced, but a smattering of sub-standard performances cost us dearly.

Part of the problem was the shortage of players. You could effectively name eight or nine of the team every time, yet the intensity of such matches is that Groenewald and Jones, who both did a fine job, could have done with a breather. I'm staggered by the amount of cricket that Jones has played this season, but he's had to play because there was simply no one else. He is a fine, committed player but we need to find others for next season to allow him a rest and the chance to coach more. Mind you, with Wagg, Clare, Lungley and Hunter injured, there's not many around to coach…

For me, Jones would be a better bet taking John Sadler's role in the Second XI, as skipper, mentor and coach. Youngsters couldn't wish for a better role model and we could really do with some of these young bowlers coming through. He would still, like Sadler currently, be available for one-day games. Much will depend on how much life is left in those legs, but time marches on for all of us. Sads is a nice guy and chipped in well in the T20, but perhaps we need to revamp things a little and find someone who plays more than a cameo role given our meagre means.

Between now and the end of the season we must improve our standing in the Pro 40 and the Championship. For what it is worth, I think our T20 position was about right, as before it started I thought Lancashire, Yorkshire, Durham and Nottinghamshire would finish above us. It was a different four, but I wasn't too far away with the position. In the Championship, we're better than our current placing suggests and can move up the table, while in the Pro 40 we need to show we can play one-day cricket again.

If nothing else, I hope that the remainder of the season allows us to finish on a high, rather than be victims of the depression that overtook Derbyshire fans yesterday.

I'll settle for that right now, wouldn't you?