Something for the weekend

Had to laugh at the comments of Will Porterfield on signing for Warwickshire. Usual stuff about England ambitions, not at all harmed by cousin Ashley's dual (and unfair, in my opinion) role with county and country. Be honest, if you had comparable offers, would you sign for a bloke who was a national selector or one who wasn't? Hmmm, thought so.

Elsewhere, Vikram Banerjee is the only man to not escape from Gloucestershire this close season. Maybe they could do a remake of The Great Escape and base it in Bristol, rather than a POW camp. Don't know about you, but I'll be watching next season's averages of Messrs Kirby (28 per wicket this year) Hussain (22) and Ireland (21) very closely to see how they compare. For that matter, Steve Kirby's average on the dirt track was nothing to write home about, was it?

Shaun Udal has retired at the age of 41 after a long and successful career. He looked finished when Mark Footitt was tearing in at him in the Pro 40 near the end of season, but has been an admirable professional. It made me think how unfair we are in our expectations of Jake Needham, who at 23 is a long way from the finished article but could still develop into a very good bowler. His winter with Phil Russell will only improve him, as the ex-county seamer is a very good coach. I wonder if we could entice him back to Derby to work with John Morris? Probably not, as he has built a good life for himself in South Africa, but he was the best Derbyshire coach of my experience. Les Stillman was good, but had much better players than Russell at his disposal.

Digressing slightly, I was amused tonight to read Derby County fans writing off England Under 21 goalkeeper Frank Fielding, who has signed for the club on a month's loan. That's right, England Under 21 goalkeeper. I'm not sure what it is with local sports fans that they denigrate their heroes at any opportunity, but it seems especially ludicrous before they've even pulled the team colours on. The same has already happened in some quarters with Mark Turner and Matt Lineker and it is grossly unfair.

I was amused (but not especially surprised) to read Alec Swann commenting in this month's Wisden Cricketer about the conclusive match between Derbyshire and Northamptonshire in the T20. You'll recall we didn't turn up, but Swann hits an interesting note:

The result goes the way of Northants, but while Derby aren't at their best, they aren't as bad as one fan, situated right under the press box, believes. His sole observation, made every two minutes just for effect, is that they're "f****** s***."

And that's support?

Over forty-three summers I've been reduced to despair on many occasions, but I've never got quite that bad. However poorly they've played - and trust me, I've seen much worse than that game - I've never resorted to that and always try to remember that they're still our lads.

Next summer will be a challenge, but who knows, maybe we'll take a leaf from Worcestershire's book. A handful of prudent signings to replace the big name departures and you never can tell...

Have a good weekend.