Not much news emanating from the 3aaa County Ground this week, as the winter really set in, at least north of the border. I was on the verge of starting my own ark at one point, so much rain has fallen. Were it the first day of a four-day game, I would be confident that the game was a wash-out for the duration.
The players have been back in training and have no doubt had sore hands and muscles over the past few days. The video clips on the club's Twitter feed have been excellent and it shows that the work has started in earnest. We can only hope that the players find a double-figure percentage increase across the board in the coming summer, consigning 2015 to a dim and largely unsatisfactory memory.
For me, this is the hardest part of the year. County cricket is slipping into more distant memory itself and the next instalment seems a long way off. Whether there will be player news, pre-Christmas, is anyone's guess, but mine is that it will be a long time coming. Players and agents will await the quieter post-Christmas period before making decisions on their futures, certainly those from overseas, where finalised tour schedules are not yet complete.
Off the field, I am pleased to see the club's archive launched today, with a lunch at the 3aaa County Ground. Such a facility is long overdue and the photographic collection, largely the result of a collaboration with the Derby Telegraph, is a welcome addition to club resources.
Over the years I have seen various items of memorabilia appear on ebay - player caps and blazers among them - and thought that the club needed such a resource to keep these items in the public domain. Private collections are all well and good, but I would be delighted to see a permanent facility where the blazers, caps and sweaters of other club legends can join those of Stan Worthington and Les Jackson on display. The same goes for match balls and bats - my summer visit to the Camp Nou and the astonishing memorabilia of FC Barcelona shows what can be done, if someone has the foresight to start things off.
Today's launch is the first step along the way and I am delighted to see it.
Warm congratulations to everyone involved.
I wish this had started a few months ago. I occasionally attend a cricket auction in Leicester where, quite recently, caps had come up for auction. 'Stan' Mortensen's was estimated to fetch a paltry £15, and more recently, one of Kim Barnett's for not much more. I would have bid and donated if I'd known of this.
ReplyDeleteChris H.