Book Review: Les Jackson and Cliff Gladwin - Masters of their Craft by John Shawcroft

As a young man, I came to know the name of John Shawcroft almost as well as the players that I watched in Derbyshire colours.

He was the author of some of my favourite cricket books and will always be the doyen of Derbyshire cricket writing. His book on the 1936 championship winners is a classic and still in my top ten books of all time, while his club histories give chapter and verse on the club from the time that it started. 

It has been a pleasure to get to know him over the years and his latest work is a worthy addition to the collection, pulling together the careers of two of the county's favourite sons. 

Cliff Gladwin and Les Jackson were twin scourges of county batting line ups in the 1950s. During that decade, Derbyshire probably needed only the addition of one more reliable batter to win a second county championship. They were often able to cobble together sufficient runs to give a strong attack something to work with, but were too often there or thereabouts, rather than leaders of the pack, because there were times they fell apart. Surrey were very strong in that decade, but Derbyshire ran them close and in 1954 might have taken the title, but for bad weather in the run in.

Gladwin was probably just short of true international class, a very good and unerringly accurate medium pace bowler at county level, who could cut down his pace and bowl off cutters when conditions suited. He developed a leg cutter that kept batters guessing and Edwin Smith told me that unlike many swing bowlers, he had an ability to swing it late. Sometimes he would swing it in AND cut it away on pitching, which made him a real handful.

He was a fierce competitor and could be brusque on a pitch, especially if a catch was put down or poor fielding cost him runs against his name. He could relate his analysis at the end of an innings without consulting the scorer and was an ideal, feisty leader of the attack.

Jackson should have played more than two Test matches, twelve years apart. In the intervening period, most county batters would have had him in their top three bowlers and it seems only his accent, perceived dour persona or non-textbook action kept him out. The establishment selectors were happier to select lesser bowlers from the 'right' background, usually the south of England.

It was nonsense and plenty of contemporaries have told me how he was a friendly and approachable team mate, a work horse willing and able to bowl from the start of play until lunch and then resume afterwards. He was more philosophical too, responding to missed chances with a shrug of his shoulders and usually 'bad luck, catch next 'un.' To quote Walter Goodyear, the former county groundsman over many years 'He were a grand fella, Les. One of the very best.'

They missed relatively few matches, tribute to their robust physiques and perhaps late careers (Jackson didn't play until he was 27, while Gladwin was 29 when cricket resumed after the war.) Not until the advent of Harold Rhodes was there an obvious successor and he replaced Gladwin when he retired at the end of 1958. By that time Jackson himself was 37, but between 1958 and 1960 he took a remarkable 443 wickets..

John Shawcroft has done his normal reliable job with this biography, which pulls together the  strands of their careers into one volume. He doesn't fall into the trap of suggesting they would be equally effective today, as modern covered pitches, together with different approaches to batting, would have been a greater challenge. But their control of line and length would have ensured they remained a handful.

They were two of the greatest figures in the county's long history and those who saw them were fortunate indeed. 

If you are looking for an addition to your Christmas wish list, you can't go wrong with this one for a Derbyshire supporter. It is another addition to the excellent Lives in Cricket Series by the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians, well illustrated and with a very readable font size, much appreciated by yours truly!

Les Jackson and Cliff Gladwin: Masters of Their Craft is written by John Shawcroft and published by ACS Publications.

Weekend warmer

There hasn't been a great deal to report from a Derbyshire cricket perspective.

The squad returned to training this week, starting the long haul to full fitness ahead of a very important 2025 season. Several members of the squad were speaking to members regarding renewals, which was good to see, but the acid test will be on improved fortunes in 2025. 

One of the players who will be key to that is Caleb Jewell. The Tasmanian has been struggling for form at the start of the Australian summer, with scores of 10, 32, 18, 5, 3, 61, 5 and 4 so far. Of course, form is a transient thing and those scores do not reflect his career averages, but we will need him firing far better if he is to make any difference to our prospects in 2025. 

A player who I believe is likely to be back in our colours next year, Blair Tickner, is faring better, with seventeen wickets in six innings bowled, so far. He took six wickets in the opening first-class match of the New Zealand summer, the rest coming in fifty-over games. I suspect the genial Kiwi will return in 2025 if his wife's health allows it, but we must wait and see. I am not wholly convinced on the overall standard in New Zealand outside the elite squad, but you can only play what is in front of you.

I have watched a bit of international cricket but the surfeit of games renders a lot of it dull, as mismatched sides engage in what is little more than range-hitting on batter-friendly pitches. A lot of the big names are rested from lesser series to avoid burnout. 

I watched what was effectively second teams from India and South Africa play yesterday and the Indians won with ease. Their strength in depth is far greater and this was reflected in an innings of 283-1 in which there were TWENTY-THREE sixes. I don't get an awful lot from matches where the bat dominates and you might as well just have a bowling machine and a guy with a tape measure to work out who hits the biggest six.

I'm sure I sat through seasons of Derbyshire cricket when there were probably fewer sixes (not maximums..) hit, but they were special events and worthy of note. When twenty per cent of deliveries in a game disappear into the distance, I find it oddly dull and repetitive. I switched off before the end of the first innings, somewhat in the manner of Groucho Marx when asked how he found television.

'Very educational,' he said. 'I went into another room and read a book...

I will be back tomorrow with a review of that book.

Meantime, have a great weekend!

Recognition for Derbyshire duo and new book for supporters to enjoy!

It has been fairly quiet week this week on the cricket front. 

The only news of any important was that both Wayne Madsen and Zak Chappell will accompany Mickey Arthur to Guyana for the Global Super League, where the Derbyshire Head of Cricket will coach the Rangpur Riders.

The Global Super League will see teams from all over the world going head-to-head for a fortnight, with Hampshire (England), Victoria (Australia), Lahore Qalandars (Pakistan), Guyana Amazon Warriors (West Indies) and Rangpur Riders (Bangladesh) all taking part.

The competition begins on Tuesday 26 November, with the final to be played on Saturday 7 December.

The only other news from me was receiving John Shawcroft's new book on Cliff Gladwin and Les Jackson , part of the Association of Cricket Statisticians Lives in Cricket Series. I am currently working through it and thoroughly enjoying every page. I hope to do a full review before the end of the coming week, when I will also give details of how to buy a copy. 

In the meantime, here is a clip of Les Jackson bowling for England against Australia in 1961. He was forty at the time, so well past his fastest, but still bowled very respectably.

https://youtu.be/eMXCt3cOUOw?si=alpnOXxV4K4MUC1z

What surprises me is that I had always understood his action to be unconventional and described in some quarters as 'awkward' and 'non-textbook'.

Quite honestly, I don't see anything wrong with it. Slightly round arm perhaps, but he would only need to point to his career averages to defend his method.

I hope that you enjoy it, together with the undemonstrative manner in which wickets are celebrated!

Book Review: One Hell Of A Life: Brian Close - Daring, Defiant and Daft by Stephen Chalke

I think Brian Close was probably the first cricketer that I could recognise. 

The bald head, strong jaw and sometimes intense look under those bushy eyebrows certainly registered with me as a child. My earliest recollection of cricket was in 1966, watching an extraordinary comeback from a Close-led England against the West Indies at The Oval, a game won against the odds.

Fast forward eleven months to July of 1967 and he was skippering Yorkshire against Derbyshire at Chesterfield, the first day of cricket that I saw in the flesh. It was the final day and Derbyshire spent the afternoon battling to save a draw, something I would see many times in the years since. Earlier Close had made 60 before being despatched by Harold Rhodes, but had to leave the field after receiving a fierce blow fielding at short leg. 

'Split 'is shin open,' said Fred Trueman to my Dad, who was clearly surprised that a man, apparently hewn from the coal face that he worked, could be so wounded. 

Stephen Chalke's latest book notes numerous episodes in a career which spanned four decades that might have made a lesser man consider alternative employment. But Brian Close kept coming back for more.

He was a very good player and an outstanding captain, even if prone to distraction. He was undeniably one of the great characters of the game and few have generated more stories, some of them apocryphal, but likely based on a modicum of truth.

His England career was one of stops and starts, begining in 1949, when he was too young and ending in 1976, when he was too old, at 45 and recalled to face the mighty West Indies pace attack. Yet he did as well as anyone, his battle against Michael Holding in fading light at Old Trafford the stuff of legend. He captained his country seven times, winning six matches and drawing one, besides leading Yorkshire to six trophies in eight seasons.

He was his own man, which cost him dearly with the amateurs who ran the game and distrusted a northern man with his own strong opinions. Thus he wasn't trusted to captain the side overseas and it was very much England's loss. 

He was unconventional in his approach to batting, fielding, captaincy and life. Being his passenger in a car seems to have been fraught with danger, as he opened vacuum flasks and studied racing form on a newspaper spread across the steering wheel, little aware of the dangers on the road ahead. Several accidents on the road were indicative of his approach to life itself, which had more than its share of setbacks.

He was a heavy gambler, which cost the family dearly and an equally heavy smoker, which ultimately cost him his life. Very much his own person, in the words of his daughter, who said 'He wasn't a good Dad, but he was mine.'

Stephen Chalke's book is an honest appraisal of a Marmite man who, for all of his faults, comes out of this book well. There are plenty of funny stories and a few that will leave the reader wincing. It is a warts and all tale, drawn from conversations that the author had with many of his contemporaries and teammates. 

It isn't a biography as such, the author instead presenting the life and career through the tales of those who knew the subject best. But it is all the more readable for that and Stephen Chalke maintains his status as one of the genuinely great cricket writers with this, his twenty-sixth book.

For all of the competition outstanding competition from the others, this may well be his best yet. 

Add it to your Christmas list and you will not be disappointed.

Like me, you will get to the end and want to start all over again.

One Hell Of A Life: Brian Close - Daring, Defiant and Daft is written by Stephen Chalke and published by Fairfield Books

Spinning yarn

The signing of Jack Morley is encouraging for Derbyshire, as are the noises he made on signing for the club and 'the project'. His loan spell was a success - more so when he returned later in the summer - but it does present Mickey Arthur with a dilemma. 

We now have a full set of spinners. Alex Thomson's off spin has proved useful, even though comments from the Head of Cricket last season were not exactly helpful. 

At the end of 2023 he gave the former Warwickshire player a new two-year deal. It surprised me, because he had injuries and perhaps the rationale was that there was a good player in there if he stayed fit. 

The deal was seemingly justified when Alex took twelve wickets in the season opener at Cardiff, but he only took a further twelve in the seven other matches for which he was selected. That still left him as our second most successful red ball bowler, which tells a story about our travails in the format. It also suggests that he might not be the number one spinning pick for 2025. Let's face it, he seldom was in 2024, even after that opening game when his confidence would have been sky high.

Alex is a lovely lad, a firm fan favourite, but professional sport is increasingly results-driven. We know he can bat, but an average of twelve over the season wasn't really good enough either. 

Jack Morley took wickets and if he can cut out the too frequent poor balls has a chance to become the first choice spinner. Certainly, I doubt he would have left Lancashire to play in the Derbyshire second team. With Samit Patel the first choice white ball spinner (and captain) he is unlikely to play outside of 4-day cricket in 2025. Mickey Arthur is on record as saying he likes a spinner who can turn the ball away from the right-hander and Jack Morley certainly offers that option. 

As I have said before, improving his batting is a way to make himself indispensable and I'm sure that will be a focus of his winter work. Zak Chappell became a genuine all-rounder last year, testament to a lot of graft and while Morley may never be more than someone who can keep an end going, in itself that will have its uses. 

I'm reminded of a story Edwin Smith told me about when he joined the Derbyshire staff and admittedly struggled against spin bowlers. The then county coach, his namesake Denis Smith, told him in no uncertain terms 'You bowl the bugger, you should be able to play it.' A simplistic view, perhaps, but Edwin became a doughty fighter at the end of an innings, in a side where runs were seldom readily available.

Which brings us to Mitch Wagstaff. At the moment, having just signed a 2-year deal, his career is at a crossroads. He is currently seen as an opening bat who can bowl some useful leg spin. One of those skill sets is going to blossom and it will be interesting to see which one. 

I am old enough to remember when we had a young Kim Barnett on the staff as a talented age group leg-spinner who could bat 'a bit'. We all know how that ended, but in his early seasons it might not have looked that way.

He first came on the scene in 1979 and averaged 25 with a highest score of 96. In the following two seasons his average dipped to 17 and then to 23. His bowling averages were 96, 33 and 108. Yet Phil Russell saw something, encouraged him and he never looked back from there. 

He was 21 in 1981 and kicked on in 1982, with two centuries and an average of 32. Yet by that stage he had just nine half centuries from 80 first-class innings. Wagstaff has two fifties from nine knocks and a similar average of 23, while his bowling average is better too. 

I am not for a moment suggesting Mitch is the new Barnett, but we need to be realistic with his development. He might not kick on, then again he might and we will only know if he gets the opportunity to do so. At 21 himself, he has the chance in the next two seasons to cement a place in a side that will almost certainly evolve at the end of 2025. 

He might become a batter who bowls a bit. Or a bowler who knows how to handle a bat. He could also become the real deal as another genuine all-round talent, maybe batting in the middle order, a Critchley Mk 2.

I would like to see him given the opportunity, because it is on such players and their development that the future of Derbyshire depends. 

But he needs to earn it. Score big and take wickets in league and second team cricket, then be ready when the time comes.

Morley signs on permanent deal

There is no real surprise in the signing of Jack Morley, although it is still good news. 

He looked a good bowler in his most recent stint at Derbyshire and produced figures that would obviously have generated interest at our end. It needed the agreement of Lancashire to release him from the final two years of his contract, however, which they have now done once he indicated his desire to leave for greater opportunity.

I wish him well and it is a sound piece of recruitment, a player with the capability of getting better. Many Lancashire supporters regarded him a better spinner than Tom Hartley, so I think we have a talent on our hands. At 23 he can get much better.

I do hope he works on his batting, as low order runs will always be valuable. With three runs in his seven innings over the last four games, the only way is up for Jack in that department.

But bowling will be his strength and he offers a variety we did not have. 

That will always get my vote 

Welcome to Derbyshire (again) Jack! 

Pakistan central contracts announcement will create interest

Today's announcement of the Pakistan central contracts for the year ahead is likely to create considerable interest among county coaches, looking for overseas recruits for next season. 

Both Fakhar Zaman and Hasan Ali have been omitted, as well as other high-profile players like former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris, Ihsanullah, Shahnawaz Dahani and Zaman Khan.

There are some good players there, although some of them are getting past their peak.  There will doubtless be opportunities around the globe for them in T20 competitions, but the one that caught my eye was the omission of Zaman Khan.

At 23 he is the sort of player they should surely be encouraging and I suspect several counties will be interested in securing his services for the Vitality Blast next year. 

I hope that Derbyshire are among them, because a top new ball and death bowler is worth its weight in gold in that format. David Payne played a major part in Gloucestershire's success last season and Zaman was a huge favourite at Derbyshire in 2023.

To be fair, an unheralded contribution to his success was made by Haider Ali (who also seems to have faded from the scene) who acted as interpreter for a young man who spoke next to no English. I suspect Caleb Jewell doesn't have such linguistic skills to offer..

Maybe that has changed, perhaps Zaman has become injury prone and been worked out by top level batters. 

But I find it hard to believe a young man of 23 hasn't got the potential to be worthy of perseverance, when he has accomplished what he has in a relatively short career. 

I would expect one or two of those names above to show up in England in 2025.

Was Zaman who Mickey Arthur referred to as a 'returning player'?

On the face of it, I would have no complaints. 

What about you?

Midweek thoughts

Sorry I'm back a little later than planned, but one of our dogs (Wallace, the fox terrier) hurt his leg and we spent most of the weekend looking after him and getting him checked out. Turns out that he has ' the football injury', a damaged cruciate ligament and is currently limping around. 

So yours truly is doing separate dog walks at the moment, which limits time for other things. 

I have managed to do the book draw with the assistance of my wife and I will be in touch in the coming days with those whose names have been pulled out as prize-winners.

Thank you once again to all who support the blog financially, as well as those whose regular checking in to read makes the writing worthwhile. You are all very much appreciated. 

There's nothing much to report on the Derbyshire front. It was interesting today to see that Harry Moore and Pat Brown will be coached by Dale Steyn when they are on England Lions duty, which should be a great experience for them both. If they both come back bowling at his pace we will have no complaints, but joking apart I am sure they will be able to pick up some useful tips from the South African legend. 

I am currently getting my cricket fix watching Scotland against USA A. It has clearly illustrated so far that Andy Umeed is a very fine batter, as is Brandon McMullen. 'Candies from a baby' came to my mind as they have currently added 150 in 24 overs, in a warm up for the Cricket World Cup League 2. Judging him on performances elsewhere, not specifically today, McMullen really needs a county gig somewhere to kick on to the next level. 

At 25, he has a big future.

Autumn thoughts

Is it just me, or does the cricket season seem but a distant memory? 

It is only a couple of weeks, but seems like an eternity since we were last watching our team. Regardless of the mixed fortunes, it is always missed, especially at this time of year. We haven't yet got into the anticipation of Christmas and when we get into the new year, things start to crank up a little. 

I have been contenting myself with dog walks, when the weather allows it but that isn't today, when the weather is pretty awful. 

I am surprised that there is no news as yet on Jack Morley. People on the Lancashire side said that his release had been approved so that he could join Derbyshire, but there has been no official announcement at this stage. Perhaps another county has thrown their hat into the ring, or maybe it needs to wait until the official end of his contract, or a signature, if he has gone away on holiday. All will be revealed in due course. 

Flicking through X looking for news, I was worthy of Roger Moore in his prime with my quizzical eyebrow-raising, when I came across a comment from Mickey Arthur on the Pakistan challenges in their series against England.

He said:

Just a few thoughts as a follower of Pakistan cricket. 

1 The players are very very skilled and are the right ones 

2 The inconsistency around selection, environment and administration plays a role in team morale, give the players structure and they will perform!

Quite. But I suspect I am not alone in thinking you could swap in 'Derbyshire' for 'Pakistan' and it would be an equally pertinent statement.

There were far too many inconsistencies in recruitment, selection, decisions at the toss and choice of words in interview for most. 

What Mickey has to do this winter is to create a culture where players understand their roles and are empowered to produce their best form. He needs to have an understanding of his best side for the Vitality Blast, probably still our best chance of success, because it didn't appear that he had last year.  Certainly the side that started the tournament didn't suggest that and the constant tinkering with the batting order was far from conducive to anyone producing their best form.

While accepting that Ross Whiteley perhaps needs to float up and down the order, getting the rest right from the outset will very much improve our chances of success in 2025.

When we know the players we will have to work with, we will have a discussion on that..

Subscriber/donor competition now open

As the season is now finished and there's no Cricket to report on, it's time to have the first book giveaway of the close season. 

I have half a dozen books to dispose of (thank you to Dave for some of them) and to be in with a chance of winning one, all you need to do is to have made a donation to the blog in the past six months. 

I am very grateful to those who have set up regular donations to buy me a cup of coffee or similar. Though of course I'm equally open to anyone who would like to buy me a hamper from Fortnum and Mason...

I have the following books available and if you would like to enter, please just click the 'donate'  button that can be seen on the blog via tablet or computer. Alternatively, you can contact me for bank details should you wish. Then send me an email to peakfan36@yahoo.co.uk with your top three book preferences in order. 

Jon Berry - From Azeem to Ashes: English cricket's struggle with race and class 

Monty Panesar - Monty's Turn: Taking My Chances

John Stern - The Periodic Table of Cricket

Rob Smyth - The Spirit of Cricket

Mike Atherton - Opening Up: My Autobiography 

Peter Mason - Clyde Walcott: Statesman of West Indies Cricket

The draw will be made next weekend and the winners notified by email as soon as possible thereafter. Books will be sent out 2nd class post so please include your address in your email! 

Thank you to everyone for your financial support, which enables me to keep the blog advert-free. 

Wagstaff and Potts sign new deals

It is good to see Nick Potts and Mitch Wagstaff awarded and signing new deals, as announced by Derbyshire this morning. But there must have been some thought over both of them. 

Potts has signed a one-year deal and will need to show improved returns and crucially fitness next season, when he will be 23 years old. He looked a real talent in his teens, but seems to have gone off the boil a little. He only played one match last season, taking just one wicket in the nine overs he bowled. 

Yet injury and the recovery of confidence after it can take its toll. Cricket literature is awash with stories of bowlers who had career setbacks and needed to regain the confidence in their bodies before they started bowling well again. It is likely so with Nick and I hope the coaching team can help him discover his best form in the coming months. There is a player in there, for sure.

Wagstaff is a couple of years younger and has signed a 2-year deal. It will be interesting to see how his career develops. At the moment it isn't clear if he is a batter who bowls or a bowler who bats. Logically, having spent most of his career to now opening the batting, that will be where his future lies. 

Yet we have signed an overseas opening bat for next year and with Reece and Came ahead of him, game time as an opener might not be easy. Better perhaps might be in continuing to develop his leg spin, which appears to have good possibilities, when he could also offer the potential of good runs down the order - or at the top, if required. A leg-spinning all rounder of talent is a mighty fine asset to any team.

Game time could be a challenge next year, but a lot of contracts are coming to an end at the end of the summer. Mitch has a chance to stake a claim for a position that may become vacant in either the batting or bowling ranks, or as another talented all rounder.

A lot of work lies ahead of both of them. But it is good to see the county persevere with a couple of lads who have come through their own system. It would have been easy to write them off - which we have done prematurely with others in the past - and look elsewhere. 

It would be good to think a Derbyshire side in five years time contains more of our own products. 

The work to get there starts now. 

Congratulations to both.

Overseas ..over and...out?

When I was a young boy, first getting into cricket and its rich history, my experience was made all the more special by the overseas players who came into the county game. 

I went to my first cricket match in the summer of 1967, when ironically in a game between Derbyshire and Yorkshire, there wasn't an overseas player in sight. Derbyshire didn't move into the overseas market until 1970, with the signing of Chris Wilkins, while Yorkshire didn't feel the need for one until as late as 1992, when they picked up a young Indian by the name of Sachin Tendulkar. He was a late replacement for Craig McDermott, the Australian quick bowler, who injured his groin on the eve of the English season.

Tendulkar did quite well, making a thousand runs, even if it was asking a lot of a nineteen-year old player. He did pretty well subsequently and has frequently cited his time in England as being the making of him. 

Even now I can go through the counties and reel off the names of the legends who played for each as I was getting into the game. Wilkins at Derbyshire, Keith Boyce at Essex, Majid Khan at Glamorgan, Mike Procter and Zaheer Abbas at Gloucestershire, Barry Richards and Gordon Greenidge at Hampshire, etc..

They were golden days. Until 1976 most of my summers were spent at Derby, Chesterfield or one of the outgrounds. Dad and I, together with friends, saw many of the greatest players in the history of the game. If we couldn't make it, or Derbyshire were playing away from home, there was the John Player League on BBC2 from 2pm, with full coverage of a 40-over game from one of the grounds. You never knew which, until the captions rolled at the start, but that just added to the excitement. 

I still remember a televised game between Hampshire and Derbyshire from Southampton in 1972, when Chris Wilkins made 84 as Derbyshire recorded an improbable, at that time, 217 in their 40 overs. They duly beat Hampshire, even though Barry Richards made a glorious 95 for our hosts, yet what a feast for the eyes that was!

Fifty years on, the game has changed so much. 

The best overseas players don't head for England, formerly the only place to play cricket at that time of the year. There are so many franchise competitions around the globe, they don't need to. Why would you condemn yourself to six months hard slog here, when you can get more money for a fraction of the work elsewhere? Why would you bowl 20 overs a day, often in cold conditions, when you can be far better rewarded for bowling just four? Not to mention seeing other parts of the world out at someone else's expense...

It was touched on last night at the Lancashire Members Forum. Mark Chilton, their Director of Cricket Performance, said that as soon as a bowler who can reach 85 mph comes on the scene, the franchise sides are all over them. No wonder counties find it difficult to recruit and it is just the same for spinners, especially leggies, who are always worth their weight in gold when people try to hit them out of the ground.

The Major League Cricket tournament in the United States this year saw top players able to earn £175k for a minimum of FIVE matches. It took place in July, the height of our season and coincided with The Hundred at the end of its run. How can counties possibly compete with that? 

Yesterday came news that Lancashire have engaged Australian spinner Chris Green for the next TWO years for white ball cricket and some red ball if available. Green is 31 and has only played 13 first-class games in his career. I don't recall seeing a player engaged for white ball on more than a single year basis before, but again it is a sign of the times. He is a good performer, would probably have done Derbyshire a turn this year, but with respect,  he won't go down as one of the all-time greats of the game. 

Which brings it all back to our club. Caleb Jewell isn't the biggest name to come to Derbyshire from Australia, but he is a shrewd signing. If he has a stellar Big Bash he will come to the attention of other franchise competitions around the globe so this might be his only year with the club. Of course, not everyone is motivated solely by money and his long-term possibilities for Australia may be better served by building a reputation on the pitches of their oldest rival. A year or two in England could open the door to a central contract, from where the world is his oyster. It did no harm to Usman Khawaja, that's for sure.

Which is why last season we ended up with Blair Tickner and Daryn Dupavillon. Players with limited international experience, but with sound enough domestic record to be worth a punt. The danger is in assessing the quality of opposition they have faced and if they are capable of handling the pressure of being the go-to bowler in a foreign country. Kim Barnett has often cited the importance of Michael Holding to him, when he was a young Derbyshire captain. If the opposition were getting away, he could toss the ball to Michael, who would either keep things quiet or take a wicket or two. Charl Langeveldt did a similar job for the county a few years later.

The market for overseas players in this country is shrinking. There is a handful whose international career is over (like Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammad Abbas), those with ambition (Shan Masood, Matt Breetzke, Caleb Jewell and plenty more) and those who want a short stint for experience, perhaps ahead of a tour.

My best guess, ahead of any official announcement, is that Blair Tickner will return next year, assuming all is well with his wife. A recent news article in New Zealand suggested she still had three months of 'heavy' chemotherapy to go, before a further eighteen months of 'maintenance-based' chemotherapy. How she responds to this will likely dictate the final decision, but I suspect he will commit only to red ball cricket at the start of the summer, leaving Derbyshire to find a T20 specialist for The Blast.

Time will tell. But if a change of target is required. It will be in players of similar experience and certainly there is no expectation from me of really big international names. 

It simply isn't worth their time to commit to the county game.

Moore and Brown called up for Lions

Good news today in the selection for the England Lions in South Africa of Harry Moore and Pat Brown.

Both are deserved call-ups, even if that of Moore is quite unexpected because of his age. It cannot be an accolade received by many who are still at school and we can only hope that he is not pushed too much, too quickly. 

For Brown it is a reward for leaving the county where he grew up and opting for pastures new. I remember watching him in his last year at Worcester and wondering what had happened to the talented young lad I had seen a year or two before. 

This year he ran in hard and with good rhythm. Crucially he stayed fit throughout the summer and had opportunities with the red ball too. He can and will get better. I said at the time of his signing that he was a trade-up on George Scrimshaw and although a few people disagreed, I doubt they would do so now. George had another injury hit summer at Northampton and I do fear that he might not reach the heights that were expected in his first season at Derby. 

Anyway, good luck to Harry and Pat. It reflects well on Derbyshire that two of their players have made it to this level, even if the season as a whole was disappointing. 

Hopefully they do well, impress and return to Derby full of confidence.

End of season review 2024

Mickey Arthur asked supporters to judge him after his third year in post, when he had HIS team. 

That being the case, at this stage I would deem his tenure a failure.

Like every other supporter, I accept the fact that we are the club with the lowest budget on the circuit. I also cling on to the oft-quoted 'small margins' between winning and losing. Yet the reality is that too often the 'margin' was too great and until the distance narrows between our best and worst, there will be no significant improvement in fortunes.

White ball cricket saw our best, with a handful of memorable performances. We should have made the knockouts in T20 but lost matches to ordinary sides when they were there to be won. We should have breezed the same stage in the one-day cup with the players we had available, but again produced inept performances when it mattered. The mental side of the game remains the issue and apparently a collective one.

With the budgetary inequalities, the Derbyshire side has to be bigger than the sum of its parts. Gloucestershire managed it, so too Glamorgan in both of them winning one-day trophies. They did so with great team spirit and the eleven playing to potential. At the end of the day, personal responsibilities aside, that is the role of the Head of Cricket, getting the best out of players that HE signed. Even when we won it was down to two or three individual performances, rarely a team effort. 

The batting, without an overseas bat to lead the way, was worryingly insecure throughout. Once again Wayne Madsen was head and shoulders above the rest, reaching a thousand runs in the last match and averaging 50. He will be 41 when next season starts, but looks good enough to continue for at least another couple of years. He is still safe at slip and reliable anywhere in the one day game. How we eventually replace him is anyone's guess, but time waits for no one.

Only Matt Lamb got close in average, but most of his runs came in one innings in another injury- ruined season and he was forced to retire. The county never saw the best of him with his back problems and that was a shame. 

Both Harry Came and Luis Reece did OK, but will realise that sub-thirty red ball averages are not really good enough at this level. With one century and less than a thousand four-day runs between them, a change is likely at the top of the order next season. Neither impressed in the T20, but did better in the one-day cup. Came may drop to three next year, Reece to six, but we need more at the top of the order.

David Lloyd struggled with injury over the season, hand and knee injuries taking their toll. He moved to the middle order to accommodate Came and Reece at the top, but a season-highest of 73 came in the final game and an average of 23 was below expectations. He did better in T20, but will hope for a much more effective 2025. His off spin showed potential and it will be interesting to see if he sticks with it or reverts to his more frequent medium pace next year, after his knee is hopefully sorted. 

Nye Donald was another disappointment. It was clear that he strikes and times the ball more cleanly than most, but shot selection was often poor and on the basis of this season he should not be a red ball pick next year. He played some fine innings in the Vitality Blast, but again frustrated with unnecessary shots and a lack of game awareness. He was a safe fielder everywhere, but rarely took the gloves because of Guest's remarkable fitness levels.

Mitch Wagstaff struggled for game time and when he got a belated opportunity he was thrown in at Chesterfield on a pitch made for Yorkshire's seam bowlers. Maybe his leg spin should have afforded greater use, but the weight of runs and wickets at second team level to force his way in were not there.

Ross Whiteley played only a couple of four-day games and was a limited success in white ball cricket. He won a couple of games with trademark innings, but suffered because no one seemed to know the best way to use him. He is a poor starter and that remains a concern, going into the final year of his contract, but he remains a brilliant fielder.

Samit Patel led the white ball side and bowled with customary accuracy most of the time. Yet his batting was much more fallible than in the past and like a few others he suffered from going from 0-70 straight away. Fielding and fitness are not his strong points, so his other skills needed to be more on point than they were. As a captain he made mistakes and will need to do better next year. 

Anuj Dal missed more cricket than we would have wanted through injury and personal issues. He struggled at the start of the season but was beginning to show his best form when injury struck. The side is always better with him in it and we must hope for a return to his consistent best in 2025. 

Brooke Guest was again reliable behind the stumps and showed remarkable levels of fitness and resilience. He is probably the most effective red ball batter after Madsen, but will likely benefit by dropping down to five next year, as his workload is colossal. He didn't have the best white ball season with the bat and struggled with his timing, but was another who was shunted up and down the order to his detriment.

The bowling was largely a disappointment. Zak Chappell was player of the year by some margin but lacked support. His batting improved and he is now a genuine all-rounder, while his bowling was pacey and probing. If he can repeat that next year and get better support, improved results may follow.

Ben Aitchison was sorely missed and we must hope his back allows him to return next year. Pat Brown was excellent in white ball cricket, but the variations that make him so see him struggle with the red ball. He needs a stock ball, one he can bowl five times an over and make the batter work when they don't HAVE to hit him.

Sam Conners struggled throughout and it was no surprise to see him depart before the end of the summer. Seven wickets at 75 each was a worrying decline from the heights of two years ago, but perhaps a new coach and environment at Durham will be the making of him.

Harry Moore emerged late in the summer and looked a real prospect. Yet at 17 we must not overburden him with expectation. He will need to work hard and stay fit, but the signs are there that he could become a serious cricketer, with bat and ball. He can be proud of his early efforts in the first class game. 

Alex Thomson started the season with twelve wickets in the first game, but only took a dozen more over the rest of the summer. He again suffered from injury, but his batting declined and he didn't appear to have the confidence of the Head of Cricket, despite being given a two-year deal of the end of the previous summer. Next year will be a big one for him, as well as several others.

Jack Morley arrived on loan from Lancashire and looks set to join on a permanent basis for next year. He showed promise in red ball cricket and will likely benefit from working with Samit Patel, but he will need to improve his batting to maintain a place in the side over Thomson and force a way into the white ball eleven in due course.

Nick Potts looked very talented two years back but is another who has failed to progress. He had only one first-class match, but like Wagstaff failed to produce the returns at second team level to force his way into the side. 

Overseas recruitment was very poor. Blair Tickner had his challenges away from the game and suffered from more dropped catches than most, but eight wickets at 61 was way below the expected return from a key position in any county side. Meanwhile Daryn Dupavillon was often overlooked when he was fit enough to play, a sad enough indictment. He managed only fifteen wickets and two overseas bowlers taking so few wickets at around fifty runs each was simply not good enough. 

The decision to recruit two one-dimensional bowlers was flawed and supporters awaited in vain an admission from the Head of Cricket that he got it wrong.

In short? It was a summer of disappointment. Recruitment had focused on white ball cricket but it was largely underwhelming, while red ball saw the county bottom of the pile for good reason. We played too much poor cricket.

Is there any expectation that 2025 can be better? Caleb Jewell is a sound recruit for the top of the order and his availability for the entire summer will be useful. Martin Andersson will be an all round asset and Jack Morley probably a better spinner than Alex Thomson on initial showings.

But again that second overseas role will be crucial. Logically, it needs split between red and white ball, but the fact remains that the coaching staff have to get more from the players. They need greater clarity of their role and when things occasionally worked it seemed by accident, rather than design. 

After three years at the helm, Mickey Arthur hasn't taken the club forward and for all his end of season positivity and jingoism, the buck stops with him. Other clubs have shown what is possible with the right man in charge and the board's apparent decision to stick with the expensive South African does not inspire many among the fan base.

The jury is still out, but he has one year left on his contract to prove if he can cut it, or if all the bravado and talk are simply empty words. Next year I can certainly live without 'sexy cricket' and 'entertainment machines'. Let the performances do the talking and hold back on the embarrassing  soundbites would be my advice. 

The clock is ticking. Despite the above, I would be thrilled if Derbyshire were transformed in 2025. I really want Mickey Arthur to be successful, because I am a fan.

But there is so much work to do.

Moore signs new three-year deal

Excellent news from the County Ground this morning, with the announcement that Harry Moore has signed a new three-year deal which takes him to the end of the 2027 season. 

It was always likely that securing the future of our best young star was high on the winter agenda. Harry did really well in his appearances in the one-day cup and in four-day cricket this year, so it is great to see his medium-term future secured with the county. 

It is, however, important that he is a standard bearer and not a stand-alone talent. Looking at the Derbyshire squad over the weekend, he was the only locally-produced player and there are very few counties who will be in that situation. It is imperative that Derbyshire produce their own talent and show that they have more to offer than simply a second opportunity for players who didn't make it at another club. In itself that is valid, but the spend on the Academy needs to be seen to be worthwhile and the signs are that it is starting to hear fruit.

Will Tarrant looks another talented bat to go with Yousaf Bin Naeem, while Jake Green looks to have good possibilities as another seam bowler. How nice it would be if we saw them emerge and eventually take their places in the county eleven? 

Finally for now, ahead of the season review later today or tomorrow, I have been asked by several people how much more recruitment I expect this winter. 

The truth is not a lot. We have lost Matt Lamb and Sam Conners, replacing them with Martin Andersson and, one assumes, Jack Morley. I have no idea of respective salaries, but with Moore and Bin Naeem joining the staff, there wouldn't appear to be a lot of slack in the budget, unless we have buried swag under the media centre. 

The other overseas role has to be confirmed and my preference would be a split, with someone specifically for T20, but I don't see much remaining money, unless there is a major reshuffle.

Nor are there many affordable and good options in the out of contract players around the country. There are few in the list who would walk into a first choice side at Derbyshire, be within our budget or want to come.

As things stand, I amused myself over the weekend by considering a first choice red ball side to start next season, as the squad currently stands. I came up with the following: 

Jewell

Lloyd

Came

Madsen

Guest

Reece

Dal

Andersson

Chappell

Overseas

Morley

Thoughts? Remember, Harry Moore will be at school until June and we don't know yet if Ben Aitchison will be back.

Love to see your teams in due course!

Contractual situations at Derbyshire

I thought it would be useful to have a look at the contract situation for the current Derbyshire staff. 

It highlights the amount of work that will need to be done over the course of the winter and next summer. Also, as written recently by a regular contributor to the blog, succession planning needs to be in place to enable the right decisions to be made by whoever will be in charge from 2026 onwards.

So from the best information I have available I present the following:

Currently out of contract

Ben Aitchison, Nick Potts, Mitch Wagstaff 

To the end of 2025

Harry Came, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Aneurin Donald, Ross Whiteley, Samit Patel, Brooke Guest, Anuj Dal, Alex Thomson, Yousaf Bin Naeem. 

Caleb Jewell

To the end of 2026

David Lloyd, Zak Chappell, Martin Andersson, Pat Brown

To the end of 2027

Harry Moore

Plenty of work to be done...

Leicestershire v Derbyshire day 4

Leicestershire 280

Derbyshire 252-3 (Madsen105*, Lloyd 73, Guest 34*)

Match drawn

Just a quick blog tonight, because there's not too much to report on.

Once it was clear that there was to be no artificial result in this game, the only interest was in whether Wayne Madsen would have the time and opportunity to reach his thousand runs for the season. 

He did, with yet another century in the county colours and an innings of considerable charm, as most of them tend to be when he is at the crease. He remains a magnificent player and I hope his talents remain at our disposal for another two or three years. An average of 50 in red ball cricket over the summer suggest no diminution of his powers.

Looking ahead to next season. I thought the lineup looked better today. Caleb Jewell should work well with David Lloyd, who looked to be more at home at the top of the order. Meanwhile Brooke Guest offers additional solidity at five, where he will have the opportunity to rest if he is in the field for a long time. Follow him with four all rounders in Luis Reece, Anuj Dal, Martin Andersson and Zak Chappell and we should get runs. 

I couldn't see the result being fabricated because Leicestershire were quite happy with the draw points and a mid table finish. Losing to Derbyshire wouldn't have been a great end of season and when they failed to score enough runs yesterday, the writing was on the wall.

So that's it until 2025. I will be back in the middle of the week with my end of season review. Between times I have birthday celebrations today and tomorrow.

I will catch you all soon! 

Leicestershire v Derbyshire day 3

Leicestershire 264-8 (Budinger 87, Trevaskis 57, Holland 44, Lloyd 3-42, Wagstaff 2-24, Reece 2-25)

v Derbyshire

We finally got some cricket at Leicester today, but it was real end of the season fare and I felt sorry for the players, who looked pretty cold throughout. 

I have to admit I didn't see all of the day's play, because the stream was so bad, not just for me, according to the comments below it when I switched to my phone with no improvement. It buffered constantly and seemed to get worse as the day went on. 

Conversely, Derbyshire got better when they bowled Mitch Wagstaff and David Lloyd in tandem. Once again they appeared to have misread the pitch, because Jack Morley was omitted on a pitch better suited to spin, while I have no idea why Yousuf bin Naeem didn't get into the side when there is little resting on the game.

Harry Moore took a little punishment from Budinger, the first time it has happened but understandable for a young man feeling his way into the first class game. All pitches are different, so too their gradient and Harry struggled with his length today. Zak Chappell bowled well without luck and Luis Reece broke through, but the advent of spin slowed the Leicestershire progress and by the close they were eight down, having scored only 95 runs from the last 37 overs of the day. 

David Lloyd and Mitch Wagstaff did very well in the final session, the former suggesting potential in the style he bowled in his younger days, the latter that he has been under-utilised this summer. Oddly, the latter seemed an afterthought even today, not bowling until the 56th over. All very odd...

The listed team suggested that we may see Harry Came drop to three next summer and David Lloyd revert to opening. I would prefer that, so too giving Brooke Guest a breather after keeping for a long while. An engine room of Dal, Andersson and Reece offer runs and bowling, so there is something to work with next year in red ball format.

I'm not sure what happens tomorrow. The lack of urgency from Leicestershire didn't suggest an immediate declaration and forfeiture of innings in the morning, so we may see some part-time bowling giving them runs to set Derbyshire around 320. We will see.

Hopefully on a better stream than today. The irony of our hosts charging for theirs previously was not lost on me - or others - today.

One day to go. 

Leicestershire v Derbyshire day 2

Copy and paste, sadly....

Leicestershire v Derbyshire day one

And it rained...

Seems to have done that a lot this summer. 

Hopefully we'll be seeing cricket tomorrow.

Leicestershire v Derbyshire preview

It doesn't seem too long since I was writing the first preview of the season for Derbyshire, but here we are in the last week of September and I find myself penning the final one of another year. 

It promises to be a momentous weekend, with the game scheduled to finish on Sunday and yours truly reaching state pension age on Monday. I would like to think I will get an early birthday present with the right result, but we will see how that one pans out over the next four days.

At least we don't have to travel too far, just down the road to Leicester and a positive result would send us all all into the long winter with smiles on our faces. Hopefully...

Mickey Arthur has named pretty much the last thirteen men standing and it will be interesting to see the final eleven of the season. With no information regarding the pitch, I couldn't call the final eleven, but I hope Yousuf bin Naeem get an opportunity to show us what he can do. We are set to get the wooden spoon anyway, so at least trying our talented youngsters would be something, in this final match. 

The Derbyshire squad: 

Lloyd, Came, Reece, Guest, Madsen, bin Naeem, Donald, Wagstaff, Chappell, Andersson, Moore, Brown, Morley.

Wayne Madsen needs exactly one hundred runs from the match to reach a thousand for the season, so that is worth keeping an eye on.

Their overseas players have returned home and it should be fairly level pegging on the pitch. Last time out, Leicestershire lost to Northamptonshire 

Their squad:

Patel, Budinger, Holland, Hill, Currie, Cox, Trevaskis, Scriven, Wood, Green, Mike, Salisbury, Swindells, Wright 

Looking at the weather forecast, I suspect any positive result would need to be contrived. Rain is forecast for some of the first two days, so we will see if there is any willingness to try for a win from the two captains. I would like to think there would be, but equally neither skipper will want to go into the winter with a defeat. 

So I am going to go for a draw here. 

What do you think? 

Bradburn wins One-Day Cup with Glamorgan

I was reminded this afternoon of a post I wrote on 16 October, 2021, entitled 'Nice Question on the HOC role' which you can see in its entirety here

I felt then that the perfect choice for the role as Derbyshire's cricket supremo was Grant Bradburn, for reasons you can see. 

This afternoon, in his first season in charge, Bradburn led Glamorgan to the Metro Bank One-Day Cup. 

He is a class act, an outstanding coach, a top man and someone who is very good at building relationships and getting the best from people. None of this 'one size fits all' nonsense, because it doesn't work. Bradburn had been a success with Scotland and whatever they have achieved in the past three years comes from the building blocks that he put in place. He was also a success domestically in New Zealand and had earned a deserved reputation as a man to build an ethos, develop a plan and create a positive environment in which people can thrive.

He would have been perfect for Derbyshire but instead has found his home in Wales.

The chance to sign him has gone, but if Derbyshire don't rise like Lazarus next season, they will need to start the hunt for Mickey Arthur's replacement in good time, as a contributor stated over the weekend in an excellent published post.

For me, that next man should be Ottis Gibson, assuming he has not got a job by that stage.

An article at the weekend in the Yorkshire Post explained the reasons for Gibson's success at Yorkshire. Success it has been, despite the nay sayers there who moan at any opportunity. 

He said that when he arrived the players were fragmented and there was little team spirit, the squad split into factions. By encouraging them to eat and socialise together, he gradually got a single, cohesive unit that has won five of their last six matches and to the brink of promotion.

It is crazy that any club could consider sacking a coach who has done what he has, yet there's Yorkshire and Colin Graves for you. 

I hope, really hope, that Mickey Arthur can turn it around next season and the early signs are at least for good recruits for next year.

But we need to have someone ready to discuss the numerous contracts that are up next September at the earliest opportunity. If results don't go our way and a change is indicated early on, the process needs to start.

My pick, subject to him being available, would be Ottis Gibson.

Jack Morley

I have had several comments and emails over the weekend regarding the future of Jack Morley. 

To address them all: I understand from various sources that Derbyshire are interested in the player. Understandably so, since he has taken 16 wickets at 31 this year and is at an age when logically he can only get better. 

What I don't know is if the player is prepared to move county and crucially if Lancashire are prepared to cancel the last two years of the contract he only signed at the start of this year.

We all know, not just from cricket, that a player who wants to move holds all the aces. The club may opt to retain him, but if his heart isn't in it there is little point. Were I advising him, I would suggest going for a move, as he currently sits behind the England number one slow left arm bowler at his county, who doesn't look likely to play many English summer Tests with Shoaib Bashir doing well. 

He could finish his deal at Lancashire and still be playing second team cricket at 25. There appears to be a niche for him at Derbyshire and that doesn't always work out in professional sport. I suspect we will know soon, because if he doesn't make a decision Derbyshire may move on to another target and his opportunity will have gone. 

One player linked with the county who is not moving is Luke Procter. He has signed a new two-year deal at Northamptonshire, which always looked likely to me. When his name was linked by those 'in the know' it always seemed he was a plan B, if Martin Andersson fell through. But I couldn't see why the captain of one county would move to one at which he wouldn't be skipper and which will finish below them this year.

I expect another batter to come in, after the signing of Caleb Jewell announced this morning, but perhaps closer to the age demographic we would hope for. 

I believe this was mentioned at the recent Members Forum and we must await developments. 

Caleb Jewell signs as overseas player for 2025

It is no secret, because I have written it often enough, that I hoped Derbyshire and Mickey Arthur would recruit two big name overseas players for 2025.  For me, it represents the best chance of success, two top players carrying out the instructions of the coach and being technically and mentally equipped to do so. 

There is always another option, however and while many supporters will not have heard of Caleb Jewell, I have noted his career and a series of impressive scores with considerable interest. He is a left-hander - which is always handy - and can strike the ball with considerable power when he gets in. 

Being from Tasmania, there are certain similarities to Michael Di Venuto and Travis Birt in how he approaches the game. Strong in defence, as you have to be to open the batting, but powerful in attack and willing to throw the 'kitchen sink' at the ball when it is there to be hit. 

This will be his first experience of county cricket and thinking back to last year, Mickey Arthur said he would ideally like a couple of players who saw Derbyshire as home and came back year after year. Perhaps that might be how it works out in this instance.

It isn't his first taste of England, however, nor of Derby. He had two successful seasons as a popular and respected professional at Doncaster Town Cricket Club, while he played for Australia under-19s at Derby in 2015, making 80 in a losing cause. In 2023 he played innings of 66, 78 and 131 for Australia A against New Zealand, so he appears to be very much on the radar of their national selectors.

His coach for Tasmania, Jeff Vaughan, is effusive in his praise for the opener:

"He could play for Australia in all formats of the game, I'm certain of that," he said. "I think he's a wonderfully skilled player. He's incredibly well disciplined. He's a great trainer. He's a good human being. He's a smart cricketer. He's brave and has a great skill set."

At 27 Jewell is approaching his cricket prime and while his averages are not spectacular, they are sufficiently good and most recently improving  to suggest he can play and crucially come to terms with English pitches. It will be a learning curve, because it is for anyone coming from overseas. But I do like the idea of signing an Australian, because I love the mentality and approach that they bring to the game. 

There are plenty of videos on YouTube that clearly illustrate the ability of our new man and the fact that we have him for all formats and the entire summer is very much a plus. It might take him a little time to get going and he wouldn't be the first in that respect. I well recall Chris Wilkins taking several weeks to show his best form and plenty of others since then. 

But like Wilkins, John Wright, Peter Kirsten and Martin Guptill, Jewell could quite easily use English cricket as his finishing school. If you look through Australian averages, you might be surprised at  how many have come here and scored more heavily than back home. Peter Handscomb is one, Daniel Hughes another, probably fair to say Michael Di Venuto was the same. 

It wouldn't necessarily have been the way I would have gone BUT I am prepared to give Mickey Arthur credit for probably being inventive with his budget. Bigger name players cost more and the savings have likely been ploughed into domestic recruitment, which was badly needed.

Jewell is powerful and would give us a strong T20 top order of himself, Nye Donald, Martin Andersson and Wayne Madsen, with David Lloyd at five. In the four day game I would expect him to open with Harry Came and have Luis Reece drop down, especially if we are to continue to utilise his bowling.

Jewell and Andersson are sound recruits, the right age, for white and red ball and I will hold up my hand to accept that. The key now, with them and with the rest of a pretty good squad is to find a way to create an environment in which they can flourish. They need to enjoy their cricket, be able to play without fear but with a modicum of common sense and hit the ground running come next season.

You cannot change the events of 2024, but they have to be learned from. Hopefully, that will be the case. If the gamble - which to some extent it is - fails, then there should be only one decision at the end of this summer. A change of direction is needed.

Anyway, welcome to Derbyshire, Caleb. We look forward to watching you in 2025. 

Here's a clip of him in action

Book Review: An Unusual Celebrity - The Many Cricketing Lives of Bill Bowes by Jeremy Lonsdale

When I first got into cricket, besides poring over every book or scrap of information that I could find on Derbyshire, I discovered the writings of Neville Cardus.

In his florid prose I first discovered Bill Bowes and the great Yorkshire players before the Second World War. I had always been fascinated by the tall, bespectacled quick bowler and his great friend, Hedley Verity, so it was no surprise that I was excited when I read of Jeremy Lonsdale's new biography of him. 

It does not disappoint. Bowes was an outstanding bowler for Yorkshire and England, but also an entertainer, film-maker and talented magician. After three years as a prisoner of war in Italy and Germany in which he lost four stones in weight, he was still able to return to Yorkshire for two final seasons when he continued to take wickets.

Subsequently he became a highly respected writer and sports reporter, as well as county coach and mentor to other Yorkshire cricketing greats. He played a crucial role in the development of Fred Trueman, no mean thing to have on any CV.

The book is an excellent read, covering Bowes' role in the Bodyline Series and other controversies over his use of short-pitched bowling. This was perhaps a natural consequence of his unusual height for the period and although not as fast as Harold Larwood, he was awkward to face, especially on a rain-affected pitch.

Bowes took 1639 wickets in first class cricket at just sixteen runs each, a quite remarkable performance. Yet a strength of the book is that one gets to know not only Bowes the cricketer but also the man. He comes across as thoroughly decent, liked and respected by pretty much everyone.

This is the first biography of Bill Bowes and the research and detail is such that it will struggle to be beaten. Jeremy Lonsdale captures the man and the times in which he lived, as well as giving us an insight into the great Yorkshire side of which he was the oft-overworked spearhead. Thirty-eight overs in a day on one occasion, an eye-opener for any modern seam bowler who will rarely get close to twenty.

There is only one error. In the match between Derbyshire and Yorkshire at Chesterfield in 1946, the pitch was two yards too long, reportedly mentioned by Bowes to umpire Bill Bestwick. But he had passed away in 1938 - the umpires were Coleman and Cooke and the account, from Bowes himself, was probably a lapse of his memory

This is another fine offering by Pitch Publishing and both they and the author are to be commended for one of my favourite books this year.

An Unusual Celebrity: The Many Cricketing Lives of Bill Bowes is written by Jeremy Lonsdale and published by Pitch Publishing 

From A Long Time Supporter

I always enjoy and appreciate my emails from Long Time Supporter. They are well thought out and well written, so with his permission I present this to you.

Thank you

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A careful evaluation by the Management Board of club spending would seem to be essential. This would be best done during the winter of 2024/25  and not left until the playing season is underway. To ensure that the Head of Cricket who replaces Mickey Arthur has the maximum amount of money available to build a team for the future.

Ideally, the new Head of Cricket should have been selected by mid-summer to take up the appointment at the end of the 2025 season. The person selected might have to serve a termination notice and Derbyshire will want him involved in player contract decisions. Approaches to players with other counties who are out of contract at the end of the season start from 1 June each year.

An internal appointment would solve a lot of potential problems but only if the Management Board are convinced the club has anyone eminently suitable. Going down the route of again appointing a ‘big name’ Head of Cricket apart from being extremely expensive does not necessarily improve results.

Three midland counties, Leicestershire. Northamptonshire and Worcestershire are often looked at as broadly similar to Derbyshire but do not have a high-profile Head of Cricket. All three have performed better than Derbyshire over the last three years. Northamptonshire is probably the worst of the three and they have sacked their Head of Cricket.

Although it is pure speculation the Head of Cricket’s packages at Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Worcestershire do not exceed £150,000 each. If this is true, Derbyshire could appoint a new Head of Cricket at a much lower cost without lowering expectations, as rumour suggests we are paying considerably more than this with salary, accommodation, flights etc.

In the opinion of many supporters, the most successful Derbyshire Coach over the last 45 years both for his team building and trophy acquisition is Phil Russell. Times have changed but not that much and someone who knows the county game inside out and is prepared to work tirelessly to build a team and then get the best out of them is what Derbyshire needs.

According to Derbyshire CCC 2023 Accounts a sum of £182,000 was received from the ECB for the sole purpose of supporting the Men’s Talent Pathway. The club spent £258,000. If it has not already been done, this is an area where future additional spending could be trimmed without harming the prospects of those young players with bright futures.

Another area that often puzzles supporters is why have both a Second XI Head Coach and Analytics and an Analyst and Support Coach, which is often regarded as something of an expensive duplication.

Taking all the above into account and a determination by the Management Board, whilst adopting a prudent budget and trimming expenditure where possible, to increase the playing budget, it would certainly offer a boost for the future on the field to match that off the field.

With a few tweaks, anything between £100,000 and £200,000 might be made available

A comment from Andy, worthy of a post itself

It has been a painful season for many in the club, on and off field staff, members and supporters.

Having seen the interview with the skipper, I really don't believe it was necessary. I'm struggling to see any justification in putting someone up for interview who is obviously tired, hurting and just repeating what we've all seen. Someone else should be fronting up, either Mickey or one of the coaching staff, and taking responsibility for things like that. I admire the skippers bravery in doing it, but it wasn't necessary, and the media team could and should have done more to make David comfortable.

There some great people in the club, but the culture isn't anywhere near where it should be. The buck has to stop somewhere, and occasionally a manager/ coach has to really reflect on whether their own style fits those particular circumstances, and be prepared to be the change.

Leadership isn't about clichés and trite, bullish one liners, uttered on repeat until seasons end. It is about change and development and the personal ability and strength to some times say 'I got that wrong, and this is how I'm going to fix it', then delivering. I've been there, and it was the hardest thing I ever had to do in terms of team management and development. Get it right, it's so powerful. That's leadership on a personal level that allows others to feel safe in questioning their own ways and helping each other.

There's a good piece in the Times today by Lizzy Ammon, about Surrey's consistent success. It ends "Stewart can end his time at the helm of Surrey highly proud of the success and culture he has bred".

Personally, I would put culture first, as that is THE basis for any success, and that is not a negative comment on one of my favourite cricket writers. Get that culture set right, make that change achievable, and you have a chance of success.

The question for me is 'what is our culture'? How is it set and who oversees that process? It cannot just be an on field mindset. It has to be about setting a definite way forward for the whole club, freeing folk up to be at their best, accepting that some days it's not going to work but believing, really believing that, long term, it can.

The fact is, we aren't suddenly going to turn into repeated finals day or QF/ SF contenders, but the start point has to be some real honesty from those charged with managing and coaching the lads.

The final question from me is, do they want to change or are they capable of changing their approach, because we now have several years of evidence that proves, with a few brighter moments, that the current 'way' is not working. Culture and mindset, right now are more important than technical improvements.

Try hard against the Foxes lads, then get away from it awhile, recharge and go again, and thanks for your efforts this year. Some of us 'get it'.

Andy

I felt this comment deserved a wider audience than being buried among the replies to a post. 

I totally agree with it. The interview with David Lloyd was unnecessary and should have been done by the Head of Cricket. 

Excellent stuff, Andy. Sort the culture, improve the club...

Latest interview

My latest interview on events at Derbyshire can be heard on North Derbyshire Radio catch up at this link

I am on at 18.35.

Hope you enjoy it! 

Derbyshire v Middlesex day 3

Derbyshire 173 and 119 (Madsen 32, Roland-Jones 5-38)

Middlesex 358

Middlesex won by an innings and 66 runs

There is no joy in being proved correct in last night's assertion that the game would be done by lunch. 

It was always likely to be so, against a keen attack and on a worn pitch. When Wayne Madsen was dismissed this morning, the writing was on the wall and by the end had been sprayed on with indelible ink. A weary and injury-hit Derbyshire capitulated with not too much of a fight against a far better visiting eleven, in which Toby Roland-Jones was excellent.

I have no idea if the apparent disconnect between Mickey Arthur and the players is as bad as results suggest, but Derbyshire continue to lose session after session and as a consequence, match after match. 

To be fair, today's result is rather overshadowed by the unedifying scenes at the Members Forum last night, as reported by several people in comments and also by others to me by e mail. Not having been present, I am loathe to say too much, but there appears a growing disconnect between the membership and the Head of Cricket, as well as that suggested in the dressing room by results.

There are ways in which opinions should be expressed and only those present know if the line was overstepped last night in comments to Mickey Arthur. Equally, it is not appropriate for a representative of the club to react in the way that I am told he did, to people who spend their hard-earned cash in lending their support.

It will be interesting to see how this develops, as it is has done no favours to the club, nor indeed to the Head of Cricket.

Saying 'if you don't like it, don't come again' is not going to attract supporters, at a time when a membership drive is under way.

If it is indicative of how things are done in the dressing room, it explains a few things, doesn't it? 

New overseas bowler?

Apparently (and this was mentioned on the cricket commentary on the first day) our overseas bowler for next year is 'someone who has been here before.'

When I heard this from other sources too, I was surprised. Outside of Zaman Khan, none in the recent past has been a success, so I am in a state of flux between mildly curious and astonished at this stage.

Logically it would be someone from the more recent past (my tongue in cheek suggestion of Venkat to a friend wasn't serious) and these are the bowlers for that period.

2021 - Billy Stanlake

2022 - Hayden Kerr, Suranga Lakmal, 

2023 - Lakmal, Zaman Khan

2024 - Blair Tickner, Daryn Dupavillon, Mohammad Amir

Possibilities : Hardus Viljoen, Duanne Olivier

I cannot see it being Amir, much as he is the best option above. He will have too many T20 options around the globe and will not want the grind of county cricket. Nor will it be Zaman, who has played no first-class cricket, so, assuming it is a bowler for red ball we are signing at this stage, who would you take? 

Surely not Stanlake, who is rarely fit, or Lakmal for the same reason?

Or have I missed someone outside this time period who would be an option? Kerr isn't a front line four day bowler, Viljoen cost a LOT of money first time around and will be 36 by the time next season starts. Olivier has slipped off the radar a little since his stint at Yorkshire, then there are this year's models..

Thoughts? I can only conclude that we are bringing in a big name overseas bat or are spending some of the overseas budget on domestic players, as I don't see game-changers in the names above. 

If pushed, I know which one I would take, but I am keen to see what you think!

Derbyshire v Middlesex day 2

Derbyshire 173 and 74-3 (Madsen 28*)

Middlesex 358 (Stoneman 112, de Caires 80, Holden 68, Moore 3-55, Morley 3-76)

Derbyshire trail by 111 runs

Derbyshire bowled better today at The County Ground, but the damage self-inflicted in the first innings has almost certainly consigned them to heavy defeat against Middlesex. 

They ended the day 74-3 in their second innings, still 111 behind the visitors.

Stoneman completed an excellent century for them, with Josh de Caires putting them out of sight with a powerful 80. A total of 358 was more than they should have made on such a pitch, however and a lead of 185 runs was match-winning, in all likelihood. Both spinners bowled steadily and Moore came back late with three wickets, though Brown was hardly utilised, I assumed injured or unwell.

Mitch Wagstaff opened the second innings as a concussion substitute for Luis Reece. He did pretty well and outlasted Harry Came and Brooke Guest, before falling to the day's final delivery.

Madsen again batted well, but unless he plays a genuinely great innings and the middle/lower order show more than they did first time around, this will be over by lunch tomorrow.

Derbyshire v Middlesex day one

Derbyshire 173 (Came 66, Moore 32, Roland-Jones 5-34)

Middlesex 125-1 (Stoneman 79*, Holden 44*)

Middlesex trail by 48 runs

It is genuinely hard to find anything new to say tonight. 

It is very difficult to have any confidence in the Derbyshire batting but at 130-2 we should have been looking at 250-300 as a minimum, on a pitch where the ball was turning, lifting, occasionally shooting and where generally batting was not straightforward. Yet nor was it treacherous.

Twenty minutes later we were 133-8. A couple of balls misbehaved but six wickets for three runs, really? After the top four it was awful, save for Harry Moore's battling 32 from 56 deliveries. Harry Came batted well earlier, but there were no signs, before or after, to clarify how we collapsed so. Toby Roland-Jones found a length but a succession of poor shots did for most of them.

Middlesex batted serenely to the close to reach 125-1, albeit with a few balls doing enough to suggest the game won't make Friday. They won't have to bat again either, because the Derbyshire batting is limping horribly to the end of the season.

It was embarrassing to watch and there appears little that the coaches can do to rectify this. My feelings on that have already been made clear, so we must wait and see what happens during the winter.

Will Mickey Arthur fall on his sword? I doubt it. He won't be asked to leave either, so I suspect that enthusiasm for 2025 will not exactly be at fever pitch right now. It isn't in me and that's a first in 57 years.

Tomorrow's members meeting should be interesting and pertinent questions deserve to be asked. 

I only have one tonight, short and succinct...why did we not blood Naeem and give further opportunity to Wagstaff today? It was an opportunity missed.

And outside the top four, no one else took that opportunity.

That's it for tonight. Over to you.

Derbyshire v Middlesex preview

There are eight days of county cricket left for another year and tomorrow is the start of the last four at the County Ground. With the forecast favourable - perhaps a bit of rain on Friday - it is the last opportunity to see Derbyshire 2024 in action on home turf.

I suspect there will be a few changes ahead of next season and it promises to be an interesting winter ahead. 

For now, Mickey Arthur has selected pretty much the last thirteen players he has available, after the departures of Sam Conners, Matt Lamb and Daryn Dupavillon. I couldn't begin to select a final eleven, but the squad is:

Came, Reece, Guest, Madsen, Lloyd, Donald, Naeem, Chappell, Moore, Thomson, Morley, Brown, Wagstaff

Martin Andersson cannot play in this fixture by the terms of the loan deal from Middlesex. 

Wayne Madsen needs 152 runs from his final four innings of the season to reach a thousand, the only player remotely close to doing so. It would be quite an achievement, but would also highlight the need for greater support to be signed over the winter. 

Visitors Middlesex still have a chance of promotion and will be giving it everything to do so. Leus du Plooy will be hoping for runs on his return and their squad is as follows: 

Roland-Jones, Bamber, Brookes, Cornwell, Davies, de Caires, du Plooy, Fernandes, Helm, Higgins, Holden, Hollman, Robson, Stoneman.

Bamber will be playing for Warwickshire next season and will be a big loss for Middlesex. Wickets would appear to be the issue they face should they get promotion, but that will be the same for Yorkshire, who look set to lose Matt Fisher to Surrey.

It should be a good game of cricket and, just as happened in the games against Glamorgan and Northamptonshire, I suspect the toss will have a major impact on the eventual result, as so often happens at this time of year.

Here's hoping we win it - and make the correct decision afterwards...

Matt Lamb retires due to injury

I don't think that Derbyshire ever really saw the best of Matt Lamb, who has had to retire due to injury. 

He made an excellent double century earlier in the season, but even then it was clear that he was moving far from easily. He seemed laboured in his footwork, both forward and back, while his running between the wickets was understandably slow. Had he been fully fit he would have been a good option for one day cricket, but that was something his back never allowed.

With his contract up at the end of this season, I had concerns over whether it would be renewed, especially when he had missed so much cricket over his two seasons with the county. 

He will be a long time retired, like any sports person. Doing so now enables him to hopefully get the problem sorted, then move into his next career. 

I wish him well. My favourite innings was that played at Durham last season, when he made 99 in challenging conditions before falling leg before to Ben Raine. It showed that he had the talent but that problematic back never allowed him to show Derbyshire supporters his very best form on a consistent basis. 

I wish him well in his future endeavours and thank him for his best efforts. 

For Derbyshire, the reshaping of the squad for next season will commence in earnest.

Thoughts on winter recruitment

As we approach the end of another domestic county cricket season, there is always a time for reflection, which will come, but also planning for the future, which is the more urgent. 

Mickey Arthur is now three years into what he said at the start would be a four-year plan to resurrect the fortunes of Derbyshire County Cricket Club. It is fair to say that at this time he has not done so; equally to say that in many eyes he is lucky to be still in post, ahead of year four. 

I cannot think of any other sporting organisations in which the last two seasons would have been tolerated or accepted. In his first season there were reasons to be optimistic, but the subsequent changes in playing personnel have not been positive. I will accept and applaud that Mickey has been a vocal advocate for the county game, but as a coach, like any other of his kind, his currency is in results and they have failed to materialise. Possibly only the cost of paying up the contract keeps him in post.

Of course, there have been high points, easy to mistake for a pivotal moment. The memorable  win over Somerset at Taunton this year, that over Nottinghamshire at Derby in the Blast, the four-day win over Glamorgan at Derby, marking the first win at the County Ground almost since I had hair. 

But these are counter-balanced by the low points. The frankly awful game against Yorkshire to start the Chesterfield cricket week, when the decision to bat first will still be talked about long after I am gone. The decision to bowl at Hove, then be hit for 150 by lunch and over 600 in total before being bowled out by spin. There are plenty of other options, but I don't want this piece to be unduly negative. 

My concern is that recruitment has veered towards short-termism. Mickey may well say otherwise, but it doesn't appear to have been thought out with a long-term goal at the epicentre. David Lloyd seems to have been signed on the back of his triple century against us in 2022,  Nye Donald on the back of the astonishing 234 he played - also against us - in 2016. Neither has suggested this year that they offer the level of consistency that a fragile batting lineup requires and the statistics do not lie. The same goes for Samit Patel, only a qualified success in T20 cricket and Ross Whiteley, rightly a county hero a decade past but showing perhaps the effects of the passage of time. The Vitality Blast saw their better efforts, but none has enjoyed a vintage year.

I would dearly love all of them to show their best form next year, but that may require a leap of faith and a turning back of the clock, neither of them especially easy.

Signing two overseas quick bowlers of only moderate reputation was the mistake it always looked like being. I said this at the time, but have had no great pleasure in being proved correct. Arthur's plans changed because of Mohammad Amir and another unnamed overseas quick falling through, but he should have realised that signing two average players, both right arm, neither better than we had, was not the solution. All it has done - indeed all it was likely to do - was block opportunity for Sam Conners and destroy it for Nick Potts. I am old enough to remember when we signed Venkat, ostensibly to help a young Geoff Miller and Bob Swindell, when we also had Fred Swarbrook. Venkat got choice of ends, Miller had to wait his turn and Swindell pretty much disappeared. 

Conners has now moved on and Potts may or may not be here next year. Let's not forget one was an England Lion not too long ago, the other looking the real deal for England under-19s. When were they ever going to get regular cricket, with not only two overseas but Pat Brown, Zak Chappell  and a raft of seam bowling all-rounders ahead of them? 

I can't imagine many know that the Derbyshire Cricket Society have sponsored Potts this season. In terms of balls bowled and appearances made it must be one of the more lucrative sponsorships this year, but I really feel for the lad and his lack of opportunity. Just as I feel for the society and their 'phantom' player.

My other concern is in rumours of potential recruits for next season. Luke Procter has had a good summer for Northamptonshire and is a sound player, but I suspect his name was linked as an option and with the signing of Martin Andersson - and departure of John Sadler at his county - he will stay where he is as club captain, under a new coach. 

But Luke Fletcher? Seven wickets at 44 each this season doesn't suggest a player still in his prime and he will be 36 when next year starts. That he has been a good county bowler for many seasons is undeniable, but unless we are looking for sponsorship from Saga next year, surely we cannot genuinely be looking at this? I am hoping this rumour is purely a consequence of the signing of Samit Patel, meaning no disrespect to Fletcher, a fine servant to his county, in saying so. We have to aspire to people with points to prove, like Martin Andersson, who does look like he will be an asset next summer 

A far better option than Fletcher would be Toby Pettman, a good bowler at the right age who can still improve and will take wickets at county level. He would be an excellent medium to long-term option. He is also out of contract and seemingly down the pecking order at Trent Bridge. 

Overseas recruits? For me, we need to find a reliable batter and a quality spinner. I would like to think, given his experiences in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, that the Head of Cricket can find the latter. The proposed links of franchise sides with this country and The Hundred may open the doors from India, but such bowlers are plentiful on the sub-continent.

It had crossed my mind, as Adam noted the other day, that Derbyshire might be interested in Jack Morley. He looks a young player of potential, but he is contracted to Lancashire for two more seasons and it would need a mutual agreement on his departure to change that. The question is if he is sufficiently advanced in his career to improve Derbyshire and if he is markedly better than Alex Thomson, who seems to be on the periphery these days, despite his excellent start to the season. I do like Morley, but the cause of any spinner, especially in early season, is advanced by ability with a bat and he hasn't suggested that in his time on loan at the club.

I don't think we need another quick bowler from overseas. Chappell, Brown, Moore, hopefully Aitchison, Andersson, Dal and Reece should be enough seamers for red ball needs and 50-over cricket. If we can add Pettman, I would be pretty happy with resources.

But a batter, PLEASE! I have previously suggested a move for Cheteshwar Pujara, released by Sussex, but after more thought, I don't know. He will be 37 next season and can also be filed under the age issue I referred to above. 

Far better to scour Australia, New Zealand or South Africa for a reliable player who wants to play here. Look at the successes this year of Bedingham, Handscomb, Hughes, Bancroft, Ackermann, Labuschagne, Ingram...look at our past successes with Kirsten, Wright, Jones, North, Rogers, Di Venuto, Barlow and Guptill.

Players from those countries more easily adjust to English conditions and usually offer outstanding value. It doesn't always work out, of course, as Middlesex found when they engaged Pieter Malan in 2023 and he only averaged 14 as a specialist bat. But in researching the player, talking to the right people, assessing the character as well as the technique, you can come up with a gem, as Durham certainly have with Bedingham. If one batter averages 86, like he has this year, it helps the rest considerably.

Marcus Harris might be one such option, a solid bat of good reputation. So too someone like Tom Latham, or killing two birds with one stone Beau Webster, who followed an excellent Australian winter with a short and successful Gloucestershire stint.  A powerful middle order bat who averaged over 50 in each season and takes plenty of wickets with his off spin, what's not to like?  Aaron Hardie would be another option, good with bat and ball, a genuine all-format player, like Webster. Then there's Matt Renshaw, who has had three stints with Somerset and has been consistent for a number of years. Maybe even Marques Ackermann, building a good reputation in South Africa, though my preference would be someone with experience in England.

Were it me I would be having a word with Mark Alleyne at Bristol. They have already engaged Cameron Bancroft for next season so will need to choose between Webster and Zafar Gohar, a spinner I have liked for some time. A batting average of 45 and 13 wickets at 28 in a season limited by injury makes Gohar a compelling choice if Gloucestershire opt for Webster (batting average 58 and 16 wickets at 21). 

One thing is for sure - we can't afford average, one-dimensional players in T20 unless their specialism is REALLY good. As I have written before, the best of bowlers can only affect four overs in an innings, but find someone who can also score quick runs and you are striking gold. I would be more than happy to split overseas players and find two specifically for T20 if we can, all-round contributors unless they are very, very good at one discipline, like Zaman Khan.

There is a big winter ahead and the effectiveness of the work done will determine if the Arthur era is looked back on with fondness or as a bitter disappointment.

As always, I welcome your thoughts!