Questions answered

With a little time today. more than I have had all week, it is time to answer a few questions!

Mark asked if I thought we might see a new wicket-keeper taken on, with Daryn Smit retiring to take up his coaching role.

The short answer is no. There are plenty of young keeper out there to play in the seconds, and Harvey Hosein has made the four-day role his own. Ben McDermott will keep in the one-day competitions and if we had an injury, it would be easy enough to take someone on loan.

Meanwhile. Gareth asked if I thought we might sign another batsman, allowing Luis Reece to drop to the middle order. Again, I suspect the answer is no. Luis likes opening and is happy to handle the workload of doing that and his share of bowling. With Sean Abbott and Michael Cohen strengthening the attack from last year, he may not have to do quite so much bowling in 2020, which will make his life a little easier.

As for Matt Critchley's contract situation, I am sure that Derbyshire are keen to extend his deal, but the player will want to see how this year goes. The increased stability at the club will be a strong argument for his staying, but interest from elsewhere will depend on him enjoying better form than last year. He did well in the T20, but his batting form was fragile and his bowling only sporadically effective in other formats.

This will be a big year for him, but a very good one will see the circling vultures drop lower. We can only do so much financially, but if he decides the grass is greener elsewhere, there is a logical successor on the staff in Mattie McKiernan. Hopefully recovered from his stress fracture of last year, he has a lot to offer with bat and ball, while his fielding will always be an asset.

Definitely something to keep an eye on, but while I would love to see Critchley stay at Derbyshire, I couldn't call it at this stage. He will be aware of the travails of his good friend, Ben Slater, at Nottinghamshire though, where after a fine start in the RLODC he had a tough year.

Sometimes the grass is anything but greener on the other side of the fence.