It was good to see the teams set out by James, which showed the strength of our squad as we near the season. One player who was omitted was Mitch Wagstaff. He may miss some of the season with studies, but will certainly feature around those times. Nice as the thought is, I don't see Ian Bell featuring!
It highlighted the absence of a reserve wicket- keeper, although I do not see this as an issue. For a club like Derbyshire, carrying a player who may not play at all is an unnecessary expense. Realistically Brooke Guest is now our (very good) number one and had we had a young wicket keeper last season, it would have been around £30K of unnecessary expenditure, as Brooke never missed a game.
As Jasper has pointed out, we can easily loan a wicket keeper at short notice. All of the bigger counties carry two, sometimes three. They would welcome the opportunity for a young player to get first team experience. It was telling that among the ECB's 'Six young players to watch', besides Sam Conners there were three young glovemen.
We should also remember that in January the club held trials for players who were interested in playing for the second eleven during the summer. It could be that one or more of those who were successful were wicket keepers. So I don't see it is a problem. Lancashire alone has two or three talented young keepers on their staff, a county that has proved a rich source for Derbyshire in recent years.
Anyway, I will be speaking about Derbyshire's prospects for the season on North Derbyshire Radio on Friday evening, between 6 and 7pm. If you aren't free at that time, you can hear it on catch up here - after the show has aired, of course!
Finally today, my surgery has now been confirmed for April 14. It is estimated that I will be in hospital for between six and ten days, so I will miss the Leicestershire fixture.
I will do what I normally do when I go on holiday and publish a fixture header, under which any comments can be made.
The speed at which those comments are published will very much depend on how I am after surgery!
Thank you for your understanding.
Steve, every year come late March, your optimism re Derbyshire is always an annual joy. This season however, I feel this utterly justified. Good luck with the op mate, hoping we're top of the table on your return.
ReplyDeleteDave
Wirral