Weekend warmer

I have to admit to raising a quizzical eyebrow, perhaps in the style of Roger Moore, at news emanating from Trent Bridge this week.

Two very good cricketers, Toby Pettman and Dane Schadendorff, signed renewed contracts with Nottinghamshire, while Tom Loten joined them from Yorkshire.

It surprised me, to be honest. Pettman spent most of 2022 on loan around the country, doing quite well in those appearances. He looked a very good bowler for us on the first morning against Middlesex at Chesterfield, bowling accurate lines and troubling good batsmen. I was sufficiently impressed to think him worth a punt for next year at Derbyshire, though the subsequent signing of Zak Chappell rendered that redundant.

Besides the prospect of working full time with Mickey Arthur, Chappell must have got fed up at being second choice at Trent Bridge, when he is actually a very good bowler. Let that be a salutary lesson for Pettman, whose chances of regular first team action, especially in the light of Nottinghamshire signing. Olly Stone, seems slight.

I suspect that he will need to have his car ready for some more miles next summer, when he is likely to be heading out on loan again, the route to the first team seemingly some distance away.

So too Schadendorff. A thousand runs in the second team this year confirms him as a very good wicket keeper-batsman, but he is behind a pretty competent first choice in Tom Moores, who also happens to be the son of the Nottinghamshire Head of Cricket. That the Zimbabwean-born player appears good enough for first-class level seems beyond dispute, but with his rival only 26, I would suggest his best chance would be to ply his trade elsewhere.

Then there is Loten. A talented all rounder, he was surprisingly released by Yorkshire, yet has racked up at a county where his best chance of first team action - maybe only chance - is in the Royal London Cup. He would appear to be a similar sort of player to Joey Evison, who left Nottinghamshire due to a lack of opportunity and has done well for Kent.

I accept that with Alex Hales and Ben Duckett being back in the England fold there are batting opportunities to be had at that county, but the likeliest beneficiary of that, Sol Budinger, decided to up sticks and head to Leicestershire. Revolving doors indeed...

I would make two observations on this. One is that some of these players seem to be poorly advised, though they will doubtless be well paid at Nottinghamshire. It can't be a lot of fun to play second team cricket all the time if you are showing on a regular basis that you are good enough for the next stage.

Remember Mark Footitt? When he left Derbyshire he made a huge career mistake and moved to Surrey. It didn't work out down there for various reasons, then he had the choice of moving back up north. Go back to Derbyshire, where he had become a hero, or return to his roots at Nottingham, where he had struggled for opportunity.

Mark chose the latter and was rarely seen again.

Ross Whiteley is another classic example of this. For all of his talent and his match winning ability, it must be dull to play in front of a handful of spectators for much of the summer, only being brought out for T20 matches.

The other observation is that there are so many players of talent in this country. Those who wish to reduce  to eight sides at top level will be denying opportunity to many more than those that I have named.

I am looking forward already to watching Zak Chapell and Matt Lamb next season.

In a parallel, lesser universe, what might their plans be, having left one of eight 'big' Test ground clubs?

It makes you wonder, doesn't it?