Saturday 11 May 2019

Richardson withdraws from Vitality Blast

Only last night, in an email to a friend, I said that I would be surprised if Kane Richardson fulfilled his Vitality Blast contract with Derbyshire, following his selection in the Australian World Cup squad.

The news this morning that he has opted to withdraw from his contract beat me to the draw, but it is understandable. Like many seam bowlers he has a history of injury and a hectic summer would do him no favours.

He joins a growing list of players signed by the county but destined not to play for them, though perhaps the door is open for a future opportunity.

There are apparently several options for us and it is only right that we take time to assess the suitability of these. If I am honest, then my preference would be for someone who offers batting ability as well as four tight overs. I would take Wahab Riaz again in a heartbeat, a man who did it in every aspect last season.

Conversely, I would also be happy if Imran Tahir was to return. He offers nothing with the bat and little in the field, but is still probably one of the best T20 bowlers in the world. He also seems to have rediscovered his leg break, rather than bowling topspin and googlies all the time.

Will we go 'like for like' in replacing Richardson, or be more inventive? Time will tell, but I have a feeling that our route to success in the format might be in slower bowling. The presence of someone in the side who is rarely expensive makes the opposition take greater chances against the rest.

My guess would be that any decision will hinge on the Caribbean Premier League draft in London on May 22. We will then have a better idea of player availability and can select accordingly.

One to keep an eye on, for sure.

9 comments:

  1. This could be a blessing in disguise. For me we need a big hitter either to open or to come in during the closing stages. Personally I would be delighted with Riaz or a batting keeper - nothing against Hosein but I am not sure that T20 is his game at present, also a rest would probably do him no harm. Could we afford de Kock? Probably not. Is there someone younger of that ilk around? Didn’t NZ play a young batting keeper last year.
    Is there any news on McKiernan?

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  2. DH says he's looking for another bowler

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  3. Yes, but another seamer, or spinner? I think the batting fine, though a bowler who can tonk it at the end would be handy!

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  4. The problem is Any specialists of note will either already contracted or destined for the West Indies. I doubt we can afford the really big players in this format. We will end up getting a player in our budget who won’t be much better than we already have at our disposal. In short wasted money. It’s a difficult one for DH. Let’s hope we can pull a rabbit out of a hat.
    Chad Jim

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  5. I cannot agree with the approach of going for another bowler. We should be able to get at least 8 overs from Hughes, Reece, Critchley & Madsen. So you need 3 specialist bowlers; van Beek, Rampaul & Watt. With youngsters as alternatives the bowling is sorted.
    If we recruit an all rounder then ok.
    What are the odds on Richardson get a Caribbean T20 contract...........

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  6. I think we do need a bowler or all rounder, Mark.
    Cork will make the call but based on RLODC the only guarantees are Ravi and Alex. McKiernan would be a good option if fit. Logan may not always bowl four, for me, but could he bat higher and pinch hit? Kiwi figures suggest yes, but we haven't seen him bat

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  7. It’s all about opinions PF!

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  8. Another more riskier approach would be see how the World Cup plays out as there's bound to be an unexpected star that no one has already picked up.

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