Thankfully he is getting stronger and a shade of normality can resume in my life, at least for now.
Truth be told, I haven't missed much. If Ryan Duckett was correct in the recent press release, then Mickey Arthur will be starting sometime next week, and will need to hit the ground running, with plenty to do.
He won't be signing Ben Brown from Sussex, who as widely expected has moved to Hampshire. They now have three good keepers (McManus and Alsop the others) and might be worth a call for our second one, though there are plenty of others out there.
It was good to see that Daryn Smit referred to opportunities for Academy Pathway players under Mickey Arthur. We certainly need to see them in the second team when studies allow. I saw no point in having lots of trialists last year, with one even captaining the side for a while. By all means bring them in to make up numbers, but not taking opportunity from our own development squad.
There should always be a staff player who is captain and available. In the grand scheme of things, results don't matter at that level, but opportunities certainly do. I have no doubt that Smit will identify and develop young talent, but there needs to be a pathway, to use that word, into senior cricket.
Fingers crossed this is a step in the right direction.
Finally tonight, I saw a tweet today that whetted my appetite for the summer that is coming up. It read:
Shan Masood, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Peter Handscomb, Shaheen Afridi, James Pattinson, Travis Head, Mohammad Rizwan and Matthew Wade will all be playing in County Championship Division 2 next season
Should be worth a watch, eh?
Pleased to hear your Dad is picking up. Thanks for all your thoughtful articles over the years.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cuthbert
DeleteHope your dad is ok Peakfan. Getting a tad concerned that only Shan Masood has signed so far as we nearly reach February. As it stands we don't have anywhere near a strong enough squad, so let's hope we add a couple more before the friendlies start because even someone of Mickey Arthur's standing won't work miracles with this squad as it stands
ReplyDeleteThank you CB. Dad is coming on slowly, tough old thing, 94 on Sunday..
DeleteYes, I think we are light, especially in spin. I would bring in an overseas spinner for 4 day, as I don't see where such wickets might otherwise come. And someone who can bat and bowl for T20. With 18 in the current squad, we will maybe see two more for this year...
We still don't have replacements for our 2 best players who both departed last season - Critchley and Hudson Prentice. As Chesterfiekd Blue says, at present our squad is not nearly strong enough to compete.
ReplyDelete