Wayne Madsen: an appreciation

Yesterday, in the course of his masterful double century against Gloucestershire, Wayne Madsen scored his 29th century for the county, reached 10,000 first-class runs and 15,000 in all formats. He is one of only nine batsmen to reach that landmark and is a bona fide legend of the club. Given the way that players move around these days, he may be the last to reach that tally, certainly for a long time.

Madsen has been a huge asset to Derbyshire since he first came out of the Lancashire Leagues in 2009, with a run of scores that highlighted a very fine player. An average of 58 that summer owed a lot to being the unknown quantity and also to some decent tracks, but there was little doubt that John Morris had unearthed a gem in the South African-born player.

He had scored thousands of runs as professional and guest professional in the leagues and, cricket anorak that I am, his name stuck in my mind when he made scores of 38 not, 83, 29 and 57 in second eleven championship games, as well as 135 against Durham in a one-day game. To his credit, John Morris signed him on soon after I suggested Madsen as a worthwhile talent on this blog - though I am not, of course, claiming responsibility for the deal!

When he came into the senior eleven he was an instant success and Madsen quickly became established as a very good county cricketer. Many worse have played for England and had that opportunity come his way I have every confidence he would have taken it in his stride. The chance has gone now, but we can look forward to a few more years of appreciating him at the crease in Derbyshire colours. He is contracted to 2022, and he will still be scoring plenty of runs then, at the age of 38. There might even be another contract after that, if he wants it. 

There have been opportunities to go, of course, but Wayne has shown a loyalty rare in the modern game, just as he has shown the highest level of honesty, integrity and sportsmanship over the years. This has been recognised with awards, but I am sure the greatest of his awards was winning the championship of division two in 2012, as captain.

His captaincy was steady, supportive and reliable, rather than from the 'Eddie Barlow Book of Daring Deeds and Inspirational Feats', but perhaps confrontation didn't come easy to him and the demands of the role, on top of being the side's key batsman, made him give it up, in favour of the admirable Billy Godleman.

He is a thinking, intelligent man and that has been as obvious as the broad smile that has lit up the club since his arrival. Yet it has been his triumph over adversity that marked Madsen down as someone quite special. Lesser men would have stayed off the pitch with the painful rib injury that made a monumental innings at Northampton quite astonishing. Mere words cannot reflect the admiration of Derbyshire fans for a century against Gloucestershire, shortly after the death of an unborn baby daughter with his wife, Kyla. It was a quite extraordinary effort, but then we have become accustomed to the extraordinary from Wayne.

When he agreed to write the introduction for my second book, he declared himself flattered to be asked, when that state was all mine, especially when I saw the words that he had written. When he turned up for the launch of my book on Edwin Smith, it added another dimension to the event and I will forever be grateful for his thoughtfulness, when he had many other things to do.

He and his wife swapped Durban for Derbyshire and have made it their home.They now have two lovely daughters, both of who will have the finest of sporting genes. I could see him involved in the club as a coach in the future, but his level of fitness and technique are such that he could easily play past forty. His wife's successful sports coaching business may also be a lure at some point, but we must hope, for purely selfish reasons, that this is some time off.

It would be hard to find anyone in cricket who had a bad word to say about Madsen the man, equally hard to find anyone in Derbyshire who had anything but respect and admiration for what he has done for the club these past eleven summers.

Enjoy his stylish batting, handy bowling and reliable hands while you can.Whether showing his skilled defensive technique over several hours, as he did yesterday, or unveiling the reverse sweeps and that classic on drive that are surely the most aesthetic in the business, his remains the wicket most valued by opponents.

As they sing around these parts, when will we see your like again? The chances are, never.

Congratulations on another milestone, Wayne.

May there be more to come.

PS Apologies for any font issues, a problem with the voice software I am using. Normal service will soon be resumed...