No real surprise then, when it was announced this morning.
There is always sadness with the departure of a player who has served the county well. Leus has done that and more.
Nor can anyone blame him for going. A 5-year deal is impossible to turn down in a short career and he will no doubt have been handsomely rewarded for his signature.
Nor can Derbyshire be blamed. They will have made the best offer possible to retain a player who is capable of winning matches. Yet the reality is that his chances of playing international cricket have increased by moving to the 'home of cricket'. He will be seen and his efforts commented on far more, even if it seems likely at this stage that he has swapped one second division side for another.
I wish him well. He has given good value to the club and its supporters since he arrived in 2019. His ability to take the best of bowlers apart will be remembered and still enjoyed, even if from a distance
It does challenge the assertion of Mickey Arthur that Derbyshire will be the 'county of choice', but perhaps a greater gauge of the accuracy of that statement will be in how the county go about replacing him. Money will always talk, and some have more of it than others.
For many supporters, including myself, the club is all. The players, regardless of the sport, are only transient, albeit of varying longevity.
But they are remembered. Many of us will recall plenty of times when Leus looked a million dollars and one of the best batters ever to wear the county colours.
Which I think he has been. While there were times when his footwork, early in the innings, could be ponderous, there were plenty of others when the boundary looked way too small and the fielders about half a dozen short.
I wish him the very best in his future endeavours.
It's disappointing to lose Leus just when he is peaking in his career. In the T20 this season, he's shown how destructive he can be. But you can't blame for seeking a new challenge, although Middlesex have had a poor season, so far, and may end up in division two. I wish him every success.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Steve, that we need a spinner who is a genuine all-rounder, but I also feel we need another batsman to give us more depth in the squad.
Sad news about Du Plooy leaving but onwards and upwards. Money talks. Shan Masood has not been great at Yorkshire this season after leaving us on a high note. I also notice that one of our potential targets Rob Jones has joined Worcestershire. I also note that Danny Lamb is listed as a Derbyshire player on a fantasy cricket site for the 50 over competition.
ReplyDeleteSomeone should let Sussex know about Lamb!
DeleteA frustrating loss. As you suggest, Peakfan, hard to grasp the "county of choice" concept especially when we are "outbid" by a county that lost almost £1m last season...
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, I wish Leus well. I trust he will be replaced by a significant signing.
I also think the attraction of playing home games at Lords is a massive draw to a lot of players rather than money. I also feared that South Africa would come calling for Leus sooner so in the end I am pleased we got the years we did from him.
ReplyDeleteHis departure also means a slot opens up in the middle order which could be ideal if Haider Ali returns.
It also makes this weeks game with Glamorgan interesting with both captains leaving at the end of the season, with the possibility of David Lloyd being Derbyshire captain next season.
Sorry I forgot to add my name to the earlier comments about Du Plooy, Masood, Jones and Lamb. It seems strange that the fantasy cricket site shows Danny Lamb as a derbyshire player for the 50 over competition. It is usually accurate with the ins and outs of players during the season unless there has been some confusion with Matt Lamb. I think Danny Lamb would be a good loan signing for the 50 over competition. He has always reminded me of Ben Raine. I see that Wayne Madsen only scored one run for Italy today as they are being thrashed by Scotland. Hairs and McMullen look like decent players for Scotland.
ReplyDeleteIf I was to put myself in the shoes of Leus as a young South African, would I do the same thing? Quite probably is the answer. His batting has moved to a new level this season and he now needs to be aiming for international cricket, whether that be for South Africa, England or Hungary! It's been a joy to watch him in the last few years and I wish him well.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we'll miss Leus the captain, I've been a little underwhelmed on that front. He is certainly not in the league of captains I've watched in my lifetime such as Eddie Barlow, Barry Wood, Kim Barnett or Dean Jones, nor Billy Godleman for that matter.
We move on.
Based on this information plus the Masood departure last season I think we can archive the “ county of choice “ mission statement and focus on another !!! Having an excellent Academy that could enable us to be fit for the future in all scenarios would be a preference . The modern game and franchise cricket will ensure that most talent will be enticed away eventually by money and / or opportunity. It will be interesting ,using Masood as a benchmark ,to see Leus progression and actually how many games he will play for Middlesex as International / Franchise recognition seems to be on his horizon and whether he’ll be any good for them .Ourselves ,Leicester,Worcester,Northants,Sussex,Essex,Somerset ,Gloucester will be fighting these challenges for years to come . It would be interesting to see a Vision or Mid Term Plan for how to The Leadership team will navigate the club on this path . For me the Lloyd ,Amir ,Patel are all short term transactions that add to the squad BUT are not the whole solution .
ReplyDeleteVery relevant points you make regarding both the Academy and our talented players being poached by the wealthier counties....regrettably, can't see that changing. Ian. South Africa.
DeleteSurly it's time for some sort of transfer system or compensation scheme because at the moment clubs like Derbyshire are finding and developing players only to see them leave to supposedly bigger more glamorous clubs for nothing
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame that Du Plooy moves to where he believes the 'grass is greener', similar to Masood and Critchley did previously. The statement ''his chances of playing international cricket have increased by moving to the 'home of cricket''' is true, but never should be. It always seems to be that the less fashionable clubs lose out. If the ECB cared about the less popular counties it should look at ways to address this. Sky Sport and the BBC have a role to play.
ReplyDeleteI cannot blame Du Plooy and wish him well. As with Masood and Critchley, I look out how they are doing, knowing that they would probably still be Derbyshire players if finance fairness existed.
We sadly seem to loss our best first team players and replace them with squad players from other teams. The exception will be Lloyd; however, our record of developing players should not be overlooked: Reece, Guest, Thomson and Chappel to name just 4 of them.
I
i don't really get this move, yes its Lords, but Middsx have no money either and are massively in debt, they do not benefit in any way financially from playing at Lords, only the glamour, there not a TMG county.
ReplyDeleteMasood moved for money and expectation of prompt return to Division 1 (haha)
Critchley moved to play a higher level of cricket and compete for trophies, which he undoubtedly is on both counts, so not fair to lump him there, yes Essex bought him out of his contract but i doubt he's on much more than Derbyshire offered and Essex have a small budget so financial fairness doesn't really come into it. He was always going to move to a Div 1 county for better exposure/test at harder level, and this year has come to terms with the higher level. He should be on a Lions tour in every format.
Essex Fan