First radio stint of the summer

I was on North Derbyshire radio last night, talking to Matt Rhodes about the new contract for Mickey Arthur, David Lloyd stepping down from the captaincy and Wayne Madsen taking it on.

We also discussed the coming season and the recent passing of former Derbyshire player Peter Eyre.

You can listen to it here. I am on just before the fifteen minute mark

Hope you enjoy it! 

Madsen returns to red ball captaincy

The change that makes the most sense from a Derbyshire perspective has been quickly announced, as I fully expected.

Wayne Madsen has once again been appointed red ball captain, a post he held for four summers until 2015. He was the last Derbyshire skipper to hold aloft a trophy, when we won division two in that memorable summer of 2012.

Since then, a number of Derbyshire skippers have sought his counsel and he has been involved in most on field decisions. At 41 he is in his twilight years as a player, yet there were no signs last year of any dimming of the light. He is still the first name on most team sheets and this can only be a positive move for Derbyshire. 

I also think it gives David Lloyd an opportunity to show our supporters what he can do. I understand his preference is to bat in the middle order and he should now have that chance, with the arrival of Caleb Jewell, who will partner either Harry Came or Luis Reece.

I will not make any bold predictions, nor expect Wayne to channel his inner Eddie Barlow and galvanise his side as the latter once did so well. He is a different beast, but will command respect and will undoubtedly have the backing of everyone in and  around the club. He exudes calmness and knows the game inside out.

This is definitely the right appointment for Derbyshire. It might just be for a year, with the captaincy carrot dangled in front of someone elsewhere for 2026, or it might just extend the career of one of the few men for whom 'legend' is an an entirely appropriate epithet.

Congratulations skipper!

Postscript: with Wayne 41 and Samit Patel 40, I doubt any county has ever had both format skippers over the age of 40...unless anyone can say different?

Lloyd steps down as club captain

It has come as no surprise that there will be a change in the club captaincy at Derbyshire for the coming season. 

David Lloyd, who has stepped down from the role, looked to be struggling at the end of last summer, when the challenges of establishing himself at a new club, some distance from his home and with injuries to contend with, became too much. 

His struggles with his mental health have been well documented. He is a good cricketer, better than last season showed him to be. There were glimpses of form, with some delightful stroke play at times, but they came in cameos and he was unable to deliver the weight of runs that supporters - and he - would have liked. 

Injuries to his knee and hand also limited what he could do with the ball. A player who has made his name as a solid county all rounder was thus restricted to one string of his talented bow. An excellent slip fielder, he often had to field elsewhere to protect his hand, so it is fair to say we didn't see him at his best. 

He was able to turn back time and bowl the off spin of his younger days, but I'm sure he would have preferred the opportunity to show a new set of supporters his best game, without such challenges.

You never know what is going on away from cricket, either. Getting your young family established in a new area is not easy and all things considered, it was no real surprise that David struggled. Especially when asked to take the helm of a team that, let's face it, has hardly been successful.

That is a tough gig. Rikki Clarke was a terrific county cricketer for many years, but he found it challenging at Derbyshire after leaving Surrey, before moving to Warwickshire and enjoying an excellent career, back in the ranks. You could go through a number of players who both joined and left our county and struggled in pastures new. Sometimes you get the right environment, sometimes you don't, it is that simple. 

I hope that David is able to enjoy being a respected advisor to the new captain and I wouldn't expect that announcement to be too long. 

For me, there is only one real option, as I wrote last week. 

If Wayne Madsen could be persuaded to take on the role that he held with distinction between 2012 and 2015, he is by far the best candidate. 

It would be a good news story and one that would send us into the season with greater confidence.

Other than that? Brooke Guest, but my concern would be a colossal workload for a key member of the side.

Thoughts?

Mickey Arthur - the reason why

It didn't take too long to find out that my opinion of a new contract for Mickey Arthur was at odds with many other supporters...

Plenty of comments on here and around social media confirmed that people were surprised and angry. I fully understand that and, as someone who felt at the end of last season that this year would be the last for Mickey Arthur, I would like to explain why my position has shifted. 

It is patently clear that results have not gone as we had hoped. Mickey's approach is by nature to be bullish and upbeat and he has not always helped himself with some of his comments. 

Calling the players 'entertainment machines' and suggesting we were going to play 'sexy cricket' was a clear case of setting yourself up for a fall. So too the building up of some players. Alex Thomson, for example, was referred to as having England potential when he joined, but has become an increasingly peripheral figure. 

He has also made mistakes. Some contracts were extended, but shouldn't have been, some decisions beggared belief (bowling at Hove last year, batting at Chesterfield) and man management was, anecdotally, not especially good. Bawling out a dressing room at a volume that was audible to supporters outside seemed to be playing to the gallery.

From years as a senior manager in different environments, I know pretty well that you cannot adopt a one-size fits all approach to this, as it doesn't work. It might do at elite level, but below that you need to appreciate that people respond to and need different approaches. They make mistakes, but not usually on purpose.

I would like to think that the Derbyshire Board has seen evidence that lessons have been learned. If you are receptive to doing so, you always learn and I clearly recall John Wright saying that his approach to being in charge at Kent was considerably different to when he did the same for New Zealand and India. That makes complete sense. Elite principles are one thing, but so too an appreciation that not everyone is of the requisite standard.

His experience in the world game is second to none, but relatively speaking, at this level it was limited and some time ago. After three seasons, he will appreciate that his initial comments were not helpful and his suggestion that by year three he would have 'his' side was not wise. It didn't take into account that the county doesn't have the budget to make it 'his' side in that time scale, for one thing. It is no longer international cricket, where you choose who is available. You need to have the money and they need to want to come.

A gamble on signing Samit Patel and Ross Whiteley didn't come off last year, neither of them producing their best form. Again, to have 'his' side he needed the right players and one look at the out of contract list last year showed few players who would have improved us. 

Yet we supporters are not privy to discussions at board level. My thoughts over the winter have been that Mickey will have irons in the fire for 2026, players that he wants to bring to Derbyshire and who would improve the overall standard. He has the contacts, he has the name and people will want to come and play for international coach Mickey Arthur. Not just domestic players, but those in other countries who will be aware of his record in the global game. I wouldn't be surprised if contact had not already been made with agents, expressing interest.

He got George Scrimshaw into the England set up, so too Pat Brown, likewise Harry Moore. That hasn't happened for a long time and it was important for Derbyshire to be seen to be relevant once more. When the right players become available and see that Derbyshire can be a route to international cricket, that is progress. You don't hear people questioning the relevance of the county now, commonplace a few years ago.

Yes, he needs to get the best out of what he has in 2025 and my gut feeling is that we will see improvement. Yet we should not forget that our existing  squad is largely made up of those who lacked opportunity elsewhere and in some cases there was a reason for that. We don't have the budget  and we can't throw £150K at player A and ask him to come here. Because if you do, the standout players on your staff want parity, when they realise what is happening and that they are doing more than the expensive new import...

Quietly, below the surface and unnoticed to many, Arthur established a coaching structure, with the very able assistance of Daryn Smit, that will see the county hopefully produce its own talent in future years.

Mitch Wagstaff, Nick Potts, Harry Moore and Yusaf bin Naeem are the first wave of what will hopefully be many players from our own system. I understand that as many as six players may be involved in this year's under-15 Bunbury Festival, which would be an astonishing achievement. 

Bringing in the right overseas players, recruiting quality from elsewhere and fielding the best of our own is the way I would like to see Derbyshire develop. Young and hungry players, keen for the opportunity to develop their games from overseas, not those who are looking for final paydays and to go through the motions.

In saying that the right decision was made, I am not suggesting I am any happier with the last couple of seasons than anyone else. But I can see where progress is being made and I cannot see how changing at this point in the development process would be productive. Going from rock bottom to the top was always unlikely in three years, as it is in any sport. Even Eddie Barlow found it much harder as a coach than a player, when he couldn't directly influence events on the pitch.

The decision has been made and as supporters we must now get behind the team, the coaches and the club. It should not and will not prevent constructive comment and criticism when matches are lost - as they will be. Nor should it prevent constant scrutiny, which will be the case at board level. 

But I am willing to extend my acceptance of the length of the development plan to five years. As well as players gaining national recognition for the first time in a long while, others are playing abroad with success and coaching staff are gaining experience and doing very well in the English winter (take a bow, Ben Smith)

Such a widening of the net takes the county name into different circles and allows us to see people who could do a job in the future.

If you don't agree that's fine. It is all about opinions and as long as they are expressed in a thoughtful and considered manner I will always be happy to air yours on here. Unlike those of the eejit who periodically sent comments urging me to die, until I blocked his IP address, sending them straight to the trash where they belonged..

But in closing and as I do every year, please remember that when you post it will be read by family, friends, players, board members and coaching staff. The blog is a good sounding board for many people and an opportunity to make your views known. 

I will always be happy to post comments that disagree with mine, just as long as they are considered and are not personal. I love the involvement of everyone and it remains a pleasure to engage with you all. 

A new season will soon be upon us. 

Let the show commence..

Arthur signs contract extension

At least for me, today's announcement of a one-year contract extension for Mickey Arthur comes as no surprise.

Anyone who watched the excellent series of videos by Tom Poynton on the club site will know that the Head of Cricket is highly regarded, irrespective of results so far not going as we may have wanted.

His first year at the club was a success, managing to get more from the players than had previously been the case. The last two have been disappointing, but there are signs throughout the club that the 'process' is starting to bear fruit. 

The short-termism highlighted in the signings of Samit Patel and Ross Whiteley may or may not bring dividends this summer. But the recruitment of Aneurin Donald and Martin Andersson suggests a longer-term game. At this stage, I would expect Donald to be the white ball captain in 2026 and that additional responsibility could be the making of him.

The progression of Harry Moore and Yusuf Bin Naeem to the senior squad may only be the start. The county under-fifteen squad is highly regarded and I understand that a number of Derbyshire players look like playing at the Bunbury Festival this year, which showcases the country's top under-15 talent.

Of course, Daryn Smit and the Pathway deserve great credit for this, but so too does Arthur, for putting in place the requisite structure. I have been quick to criticise when results haven't gone as they should and mistakes have been made - and there have been a few - but the development of the club,  within budget and without incurring substantial debt, goes on and I respect that. I suspect that the end of this season will see further change in the playing ranks and that will of course be dictated by results and performance in 2025. 

The bottom line is that Derbyshire cannot compete on purely financial terms for players. It is all very well for supporters to look at other counties and suggest we should be signing player X and Y, but the club has made the decision to be financially prudent. In that regard, they are a model to their peers, debt free and living firmly within their means, building from the roots upwards. 

The 'Derbyshire way' has to be identifying young overseas players of talent around the globe, giving them the opportunity to play in this country and build their reputation, while at the same time not breaking the bank in so far as the outlay is concerned. I have heard the sums asked for some players and been astonished, but franchise cricket has been a game-changer for many. Like it or not, we cannot match a salary offered by a franchise host, so we need to identify the talent more quickly. Realistically, the best chance of doing that is with someone who has contacts throughout the world game.

Supporting such players with home-grown and keenly sourced talent from elsewhere will ensure that there is a Derbyshire County Cricket Club in the future. The road to financial ruin, regardless of the 'riches' coming from the recent investment in The Hundred, is still a very easy to follow, one perhaps likely to see one or two casualties in the next twenty years.

Stability is important in all walks of life and, as supporters, we need to get behind the players, the coaching staff and the club in the hope that Mickey Arthur can build a Derbyshire that is greater than the sum of its constituent parts.

It promises to be an interesting summer and we now know that the man tasked with making it successful will be there to see the job through, until at least the end of 2026. He will have the opportunity to continue to shape the squad next winter and to further progress what he has often called 'the project'

It will make fascinating viewing.

Peter Eyre 1939-2025

I was so sorry tonight to hear the news of the passing of Peter Eyre, another of my childhood favourites. Coming so soon after the death of his good friend Brian Jackson, it has been a sad time for the High Peak and for Derbyshire cricket.

Peter was perhaps the very definition of a journeyman professional. He didn't always reach the heights and there were times when he was not an automatic choice in the Derbyshire eleven. Yet when opportunity came, he seldom let them down.

He played for the county between 1959 and 1972 and took 418 wickets in that time. His bustling fast medium pace always commanded respect, never more so than when he destroyed Sussex in the 1969 Gillette Cup semi-final. Harold Rhodes and Alan Ward softened them up, Fred Rumsey was parsimony personified but it was Peter who delivered the knock-out blows, returning figures of 6-18 on an afternoon when he was nigh unplayable. 

1969 was a good year and Chesterfield a good ground for him, because he also returned his best first-class figures of 8-65 against Somerset there that summer, as well as recording his only first-class century, against Leicestershire on the same ground. A fine one too, against an attack containing three international bowlers, Graham McKenzie, Barry Knight and Ray Illingworth.

He burst onto the scene as a young bowler of talent, who was sadly caught up in the throwing controversy that falsely blighted the career of his team mate and good friend Harold Rhodes. He was filmed after one of the 1961 Australians felt there was something 'different' about his action, but that was all it was - different. But as he told me when I interviewed him for my second book, 'I always felt under scrutiny afterwards, whether from officials or umpires. I was never called, but it was always on my mind'.

In 1967 he emerged from a few years of struggle to take 64 wickets at less than 20 runs each, taking the new ball for a good part of the season. Yet that halcyon summer of '69 marked the start of a decline, after a cartilage injury sustained playing football in the following winter. He then contracted debilitating glandular fever, which took him a long time from which to recover.

When he finished playing professional cricket he captained Hathersage Cricket Club for several seasons and also played for Knypersley, where he spent some successful summers as a professional. 

A builder to trade, he was well known in and around the High Peak. Some will remember him from the shire horses that he kept, doing weddings with them and giving rides in a cart at Carsington Water and at Chatsworth for a number of years.

He was kind enough to come along to both of my book launches, having been very patient with my many questions when I interviewed him for the second one. He had a wry sense of humour and recalled with a chuckle when he experimented with a wig for a short time. He suffered from alopecia as a young man, which made him stand out, at a time when hairstyles were getting longer. 

The experiment was abandoned when he realised the method of securing his wig was not effective and the slip fielders were watching it bounce up and down when he ran in, rather than focusing on the ball and the edge of the bat.

It was a story indicative of the man and he had a ready smile and collection of funny tales. When I thanked him for coming along to my book launch at Chesterfield Library, he shook my hand and gave me that trademark grin 

'I allus liked Chesterfield anyway' came his reply, with the afterthought 'and the book is a good 'un too.'

Peter Eyre was a good 'un alright, one of the very best.

Rest in Peace and thank you for everything, Peter. 

Polls apart

I read the results of a poll a few weeks back, which asked 'cricket fans' to name their greatest ever England side. 

I am not a fan of such things, because generally the only people who can bother to respond tend to be younger and often with less awareness of older players. I mean no disrespect in saying this, but I suppose you can only comment on what you know. 

A couple of years ago I saw a poll that asked who was Derby County's best ever striker and saw several say Chris Martin. Now he was a decent striker for a couple of seasons, but I can think of ten better without breaking sweat.

The 'best England side' only contained Ian Botham from before the millennium, which seems a little odd to me. Was Graeme Swann better than Jim Laker, Derek Underwood, Hedley Verity or Wilfred Rhodes as a spinner?  Was Andrew Strauss better than Boycott, Edrich, Hutton, Hobbs and a good few more?

Although I have run articles in the past on my greatest Derbyshire eleven, they are very difficult to do. How do you compare runs on covered pitches with those on uncovered ones? Or bowling records on the old 'sticky dogs' with those on some of the modern flat tracks? How many runs might Arnold Hamer have made on modern pitches? How much harder would Les Jackson have found it, on the County Ground pitches of the last few summers? 

For that matter how do you compare the runs of Barnett against the extreme pace bowlers of the era, with those of Wayne? Yet Wayne has been astonishing in T20, which Kim never played. It goes on and on..

Realistically, all a player can aspire to be is a giant in his own era. Even fifty years from now, any poll on a great Derbyshire eleven would surely have to include Kim Barnett, Wayne Madsen, Bob Taylor and Les Jackson, but after that? 

Such a poll in 1930 would probably say there would never be another Arnold Warren or Bill Bestwick. The latter pretty much bowled at one end for much of his Derbyshire career, in the absence of viable alternatives. Now? They likely wouldn't get into the discussion with many more recent options. William Mycroft would likely not be referenced, but 863 wickets at 12, in the formative period of the game, was pretty impressive

Was Geoff Miller better than Les Townsend? He played more for England, so maybe, but the latter scored more runs and took more wickets for Derbyshire. Geoff scored two centuries, 72 fifties and averaged 26 with the bat, took 888 wickets at 28 with the ball. 

Les scored 22 hundreds and 102 fifties at 28 and took 1088 wickets at 21, yet played in an era when every county had a good off spinner, England had astonishing middle order options and there were far fewer international fixtures.

You cannot compare them. It was a different game with different pitches. I was lucky enough to watch Geoff many times, but would have loved to see Les, who apparently drove so powerfully that Tommy Mitchell used to bowl at him in the nets and run away to the side! For all the seam talent of the Pope brothers and Bill Copson, producing a pitch to negate them brought Townsend and Tommy Mitchell into play 

We have been blessed to see such talent over the years.

How do you compare and rank them? 

I have no idea. It can only come down to personal preference and interpretation of statistics. But just like Sky TV seems to feel football didn't exist before the advent of the Premier League (it did and it was better) then cricket fans should perhaps accept and better appreciate the brilliance of those before their experience.