Footitt leaves Nottinghamshire

When his cricket career is over, though quite possibly before that, Mark Footitt will look back on his career and likely regard it as one that was largely unfulfilled.

He will be 34 later this year and the days of express pace are behind him. He can still bowl a very quick ball, but the concern for anyone with thoughts of taking him on, after his release from his Nottinghamshire contract today, will be more on the lines of whether he can be trusted to be accurate.

Make no bones about it, Mark's last two years at Derbyshire were his best by a country mile. James Pipe and the conditioning team had at last come up with a programme to keep his often fragile body going, and while there were days when the radar was horrendously off kilter, there were others when he was as quick as any I have seen for the county. I remember watching him clean bowl a batsman who wasn't halfway through bringing his bat down when the stumps were demolished. The slips were always in action and knew it, if they held a nick from the left-arm express.

Mark is a lovely lad and always has been, but somewhere along the line he has been poorly advised. Twice. The first was when, at the peak of his powers, his head was turned by an offer to go and play for Surrey. Yes, they paid him more than we could afford, but I heard of the offer from Derbyshire and, with the cost of property down there, he might well have been better advised to stay put. Especially as he is very much a family man, and the nights in London, away from his family, must have been tough for him.

Perhaps his head was turned by the usual media comments. 'Play in London and the selectors will see you'. It didn't happen. Aside from a squad call up, he never got the chance to rattle international rib cages.

His departure from Derbyshire, where he was loved, appreciated and very much a big fish in a small pond must have pained him. He was the leader of the pack and thrived on it, in much the same way that Ravi Rampaul has this season. At Surrey he was just one of a number of talented seamers and crucially, most of them were more accurate than him, as well as having better luck with injuries. It seemed only a matter of time before he moved back to the midlands, and I know there was a chance to return 'home'.

Not to Nottinghamshire, where he got his start but never really a fair crack of the whip, but to Derbyshire, where he was appreciated and understood. Yet something in the offer wasn't deemed right and Mark opted to go back to Trent Bridge, perhaps in the hope the whip would be like Zorro's this time.

Again, from distance it seemed the wrong move. They were awash with seamers, domestic and foreign. Mark, past his 30th birthday, should have been bowling in front of bigger crowds and people who appreciated what they got with him. An unpredictable but exciting fast bowler, hurling them down left handed, even if he could throw from the deep equally well with his right.

Instead, it was a succession of displays at second team level, in front of the proverbial three men and a dog, with first team cricket a long way off. He plays at weekends at Sandiacre still, so is known, admired and appreciated by some, at least.

Will he get another opportunity? I genuinely don't know. The romantic part of me would love to see him get a trial to season end and would be thrilled to see him knock down the timbers as he did in his pomp.

The more logical, thinking part feels he might struggle. Without the raw pace, his greatest asset, he hasn't really got line and length to fall back on. He never had and a loan appearance for us last year saw him compete with Hardus Viljoen for the 'Most Outrageous Wide of the Day' award. He seemed to lack rhythm and confidence.

Maybe, just maybe, if Steve Kirby could work with him... I don't know, but I do know our finances may legislate against anything happening. If I'm honest, as I am, I would sooner see Dustin Melton, a quick bowler with something to prove, engaged for next summer, rather than take that chance. Especially when our seam attack is hardly in the first flush of youth.

If Mark does reappear in the county game, his family links will probably dictate it is with us or Leicestershire. That he is leaving now suggests he has a trial arranged somewhere and I hope, really hope, it works out for him.

The bottom line is he's a top lad, once of the nicest I have met over the years as a county supporter.

One way or another, I'm sure he will do alright.