First and foremost, a captain has to be worth a place in the side (unless he is especially gifted as a skipper) and with Sutton we have no fears in this regard. An excellent wicket-keeper and, in his first spell, very solid batsman capable of opening the innings on occasion, Sutton led from the front and will do again. He is exactly what the team needs and, having suggested it myself on this blog, I am very pleased with the turn of events.
Of course, it appears that this may be a consequence of Greg Smith's inconclusive contract talks and John Morris is absolutely right in not giving him the captaincy at this stage. Trying to skipper, bat well, bowl seam and spin then worry about your contract negotiations was a recipe for disaster. I rate Smith as a cricketer, but the workload on him was already considerable and there was a fairly obvious tailing off in his level of performance last season. That being the case, either he or his advisor was misguided in choosing this time to renegotiate a deal. Such things need to be done from a position of strength, in Smith's case after a prolific season with bat and/or ball. As it is, it smacks of someone returning to work after several weeks off and asking for some time off…
While the door appears to be open for Smith and he has not yet closed it on the county, my guess is that he needs a very good summer this year for an agreement to be reached. As John Morris rightly has said, at this stage Smith's financial requests don't match the club's valuation of the player. While a certain section of 'supporters' will see it as a lack of ambition, we cannot be held to ransom by players and live beyond our means as a consequence. Too many counties have gone down this route in recent years and it has come back to bite them big time.
While I'm not going to claim trophies await Derbyshire in 2011, there is enough talent in the young squad to be competitive and push for decent placings. We now have the right skipper in place and await news of our overseas star, the final piece of the jigsaw according to John Morris.
I'm convinced we don't have the money for a massive international name, so anyone with expectations of seeing a Kallis, Ponting or Vettori at the county may as well start to moan now. For me, the hunt will be on for a player who is perhaps on the next tier down yet still has much to offer. I came across this in a recent Yorkshire Post and I would be far from disheartened, merely as an example, to see this chap at the County Ground next summer:
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/cricket/Yorkshire-stick-to-homegrown-policy.6556208.jp
If we could get a man with a first-class average of 50 who has two Test double centuries to his name I would be thrilled. To have averaged around or over 100 in each of his last three seasons as a league professional suggests a level of commitment ideal for the job, while 2,000 runs in a league season is extraordinary by any standards.
Wasim Jaffer currently averages 91 this winter in India, confirming him as a player eminently worthy of consideration. He may have rejected Glamorgan, but travelling from a West Yorkshire home to Derby wouldn't be a massive trip. I would also like to think that we could beat the money on offer from a Huddersfield League contract too, but his record is such that other counties could be interested and we could be priced out of a deal.
Jaffer will not be the only one of that calibre available, but is used as an example of what might be possible. Given he has captained Mumbai for two years or so and has not yet been on the losing side he has a lot to offer. As with Eddie Barlow, it seems strange that a man with such a good record (he also averages mid-forties in the one day game) has reached the age of 32 without a county opportunity. Many worse players have been recruited in recent years. We've had one or two at Derbyshire...
The added bonus would be that Jaffer is out of the international reckoning in India and would thus be available for a full season. Being equally adept at all forms of the game, I would see him as a sound, potentially affordable signing. It might even attract some of the local ethnic population, a demographic not especially well represented in the club membership as things stand.
As I said, there are others out there though, so we'll wait and see who John Morris comes up with.
Amla for me!
ReplyDeleteIf Smith can't agree a deal then Sutton must be the right decision as captain. He probably was anyway! AB DeVilliers please for overseas or Amla if we are serious about moving forward. No cheap options!
ReplyDeleteJaffer is a very experienced and heavy run scorer back in Ranji/Duleep Trophy cricket. He never really managed to cement a regular birth in the Indian team, but can be extremely prolific nevertheless.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I recall of him, he is primarily a front foot player. With an average over 50, albeit mainly acquired in India, he ain't no mug.
You could do far worse.
For my money, the continuity of having one player in place throughout the season scores highly. So, once you have winkled out all those who would likely have a disrupted tenure, the list reduces somewhat. However, I am still none the wiser where that leaves you in the final summary!
MASTERVILLAIN