Melton to leave at season end

I had heard rumours and stories that Dustin Melton was leaving the club a few weeks back.

Out of respect for the club and certainly the player, I didn't blog it. He has been open about the challenges he has faced and it didn't seem appropriate to do otherwise, certainly until any 'official' news broke.

Today, in an excellent interview with Mickey Arthur on the club site, it was announced that he would leave at the end of the season, but remain available for selection until then.

While I kind of understood the rationale of Dave Houghton giving him an overseas berth, it was also a strange one. With such a role comes pressure to perform and that is a lot for a man with only eleven first-class matches to his name, as well as a record of the injuries that challenge any bowler of his type.

Let's not get away from the fact that Dustin could/can bowl and I remember him doing so very well at Leicester last year. When the radar is locked on, his aggression is reminiscent of Ole Mortensen, the pace lively. 

But as Mickey Arthur said, we have an attack of inexperienced bowlers and winter recruitment will focus on getting some experienced support for them. Dustin isn't that.

Arthur can build an attack around Sam Conners, Ben Aitchison, George Scrimshaw and Nick Potts. But a couple of senior bowlers, whose bodies can handle the workload of first class cricket, is pretty much a necessity.

That's why the decision of Dave Houghton to release Tony Palladino mystified me. Every side needs that 'go to' bowler and he was that player. Too much was then thrust on Luis Reece and his body rebelled. Suranga Lakmal had that role when he arrived, but did a lot of bowling on flat tracks and probably more than he had previously done. 

I am sure all of us wish Dustin Melton the best in his future endeavours. He can bowl - you don't get on a county staff if you can't - but he wasn't the right fit for us at this time.

Go well, Dusty.