So, not just Khawaja, but Guptill. There’ll be some serious power down Derby way for the T20 and it should put a few extra derrieres on seats if there’s any justice in the world.
I suppose in an ideal world John Morris might have liked a reliable bowler for that second role, but there’s a dearth of them at present. While he may have got a bowler who could keep it tight for the T20, would he have got the required wickets in the second half of the season?
I’d have to say that on balance I prefer batsmen to bowlers in the overseas role, mainly because they’re less likely to be affected by injury. There’s a lot of body parts can go wrong in the mechanics of a bowling action and few bowlers get through a county stint without missing a fair bit of cricket. I know batsmen can pick up their fair share of knocks, but overall I think the theory is pretty sound.
No doubt people will now start to think about the batting order for the T20 and there is some serious power in there. If they fire regularly we should post some commanding totals and few teams will fancy bowling at us. There’s not been too many times we could say that of late…
Guptill, like Usman Khawaja, is a part-time off spinner and actually has best Test figures of 3-37. That he’s only taken four in his first-class career suggests we won’t see him turn his arm over too many times, but you never know.
Meanwhile, Surrey have signed Yasir Arafat as their overseas player for 2011 and he is sure to do a sound job as a cricketer of talent. Glamorgan, on the other hand, seem to be the greatest admirers of Derbyshire in the game.
How? Well, they took Graham Wagg from us and are now lining up Charl Langeveldt as their second overseas player for the T20. In addition, they’re hoping to bring over South African Richard Levi at some point, the link being that his surname is my Dad’s christian name. As he first saw Derbyshire play back in 1946, he must have a claim on being one of our longest-serving fans.
OK, the last part’s a bit tenuous. But somebody should tell them that they signed Alviro Petersen and not Robin Peterson…
They’ll be recruiting Virginia Madsen and Aled Jones next.
Overseas batsmen are the way to go in T20, the rules favour batsmen than bowlers in the shortened format..
ReplyDeleteA batsmen can bat for the full 20 overs, but a bowler can only bowl 4overs max..!!
Definately the right move IMO..
gupthill should be a fine signing, always looked good in the international stage just needs to take it to the next level. a lot of good kiwis coming through, kane williamson seems a fine prospect.
ReplyDeleteinteresting to see who essexs 2nd o/s...talk of southee for t20 to go with styris and a return for bryce mcgain in the latter part of the season for the CC (which would be an excellent move imo) and amla for the first part.
essexfan
So where does khawaja and guptill feature in derby's batting line up?
ReplyDeletewhats the 2011 predicted starting line up.
I'll answer that one tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteSouthee would be a good signing for Essex, can hit a ball as well as being a good bowler.
And good point on the batsman/bowler differential in T20!