The case for Tom Wood

There were two notable things to come out of Derbyshire's excellent win over the previously unbeaten Birmingham Bears (Warwickshire, to you and me..) last night.

The first was that Wayne Madsen equalled the world record of 5 successive T20 scores in excess of fifty. He has a chance to beat that, tomorrow and become outright world record holder, but he is in some illustrious company, as the list below shows:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/records/fifties-in-consecutive-innings-283383

The second and in many ways equally important was that Tom Wood has a very valid and key role to play at the club.

Now I won't sit here and pretend that his record thus far is that of a world beater. At 29 he should be an established county cricketer and he isn't. But part of that lies with Derbyshire, some of it with the player himself.

I have watched Derbyshire for a long time, literally man and boy. In that time I have seen plenty of players who didn't have the assets of Tom, nor anything close to the untapped potential. I don't think he was given an opportunity at the right time and he had to go away, work on his game, play in Australia, score rafts of runs in local league cricket, then replicate it in the county second team, when given another opportunity.

Those who saw his remarkable century against Nottinghamshire in the Royal London Cup two years ago will never forget it. The sheer power of the innings was remarkable, especially coming against our neighbours. It showed what he could do and it should have been the launch pad for his career.

Last season was a nightmare for him. He missed most of it because of the investigation into 'drug abuse', when an inhaler that he had used for asthma for many years changed its ingredients. I have no idea how anyone could be expected to know that, outwith the medical profession though it is perhaps fair to say the club's medical personnel of the time may have done so, had they not been so preoccupied with covid-19 and its impact on the playing environment.

All of which meant that this season was perhaps last chance saloon for the player. Ironically at a time when the batting strength, in theory, was stronger than in many years. 

For me, there was an obvious opportunity, given his strength and timing, to see what he could do in at least the Vitality Blast and in the Royal London Cup. His omission for the opening games of this tournament was a puzzle, because without opportunity who can truly judge the talent of anyone in a given walk of life? 

After three successive defeats and fairly lacklustre performances, he was brought in against Leicestershire. It is fair to say that he had a little luck at the start of his innings, but his stand with Wayne Madsen transformed the game. The experienced former skipper dominated, but without the support that he received, Derbyshire may well have struggled to post a total that was in any way a challenge.

Last night was a different matter. Perhaps buoyed by a large and partisan home crowd, Tom looked at home from the outset. He added 79 with Madsen, in just over six overs. The game changed, the impetus moved to his team, the win ensued.

It might 'only' have been 39 runs, albeit from just 19 deliveries faced. But players who can do this are in demand around the globe. Had that been a Caribbean import, plenty would have waxed lyrical about it.

I don't know what the future holds for Tom Wood. All I do know is that someone capable of doing that is perhaps deserving of opportunity. Ross Whiteley has carved a career out of a similar game plan and there are other examples. He averages 40 in twenty-over cricket, no mean feat, scored at a rate of 135. 

He has been less successful in moderate opportunities in the first class game. But perhaps here he could learn from the way the England side are playing and take his aggression into the longer form. A bad ball is a bad ball, whatever the length of the game and Tom has the ability to punish them severely.

I just hope that Mickey Arthur gives him his head for the remainder of this season. Let's see if he can make a strong case for himself through his continued efforts in the shorter forms of the game, perhaps leading to opportunity in the county championship.

If he doesn't take that chance, then he has only himself to blame. But there is an opportunity for a locally reared player of obvious talent to stake a claim for a place in his county side.

Before any decision is made on his future, I would like to think he got a chance to show what he can do.