Perception, perspective, recruitment and overseas roles..

Leicestershire (H)

Northamptonshire (A)

Middlesex (A)

Glamorgan (H)

Kent (A)

Those are Derbyshire's remaining fixtures in what has been a very impressive, hard-fought and enjoyable red ball season. We are SECOND, with five games to go.

I think it is important to keep a sense of perspective, after the defeat to Lancashire yesterday. 

Realistically, a side of their resources should be beating Derbyshire. As one correspondent pointed out in the comments yesterday, you look at who wasn't playing for them to realise the strength that they have, both in playing staff and financial resources.

For Derbyshire to beat such a side, as I have said before, most of the chosen eleven needs to play at their best and that eleven needs to be the best side at our disposal.

We have badly missed Luis Reece and a fit Harry Moore would also have been in a first choice side, as would David Lloyd. But such challenges have to be faced throughout a season and few counties go through one with their first choice personnel intact. Kent recruited an overseas quick that few had heard of (Keith Dudgeon) and after one match in which he took eight wickets, he couldn't play again. That has to have affected their summer.

I think our first choice eleven is pretty good. You don't get to second place in the league playing bad cricket. Yet the deciding factor will usually come down to squad depth and the quality and contributions of overseas players.

Derbyshire don't have a large squad and could ideally do with strengthening in the winter. Yet with limited resources, it will take some financial creativity to enable that to happen.

For example, two players who *might* strengthen our batting would be Andy Umeed of Somerset and Billy Root of Glamorgan. Both are good cricketers, their contracts ending at the end of this summer and they are currently playing only second team cricket. Both have been suggested to me as potential signings in correspondence. In an ideal world, one or both could be tempted to Derbyshire and most would say, off the cuff, that they would improve us.

Some of you will recall watching Umeed smash an unbeaten 172 off our attack in 2023 when he looked a serious player. Likewise, Root, although in the shadow of his illustrious brother, has played some telling innings for Glamorgan.

Would they be a better option than, say, Amrit Basra and Yousaf bin Naeem? In the short term, maybe, but long term? Someone like Root *could* be a long term replacement for Wayne Madsen, or we might try to recruit a gun overseas bat for that role, as Leicestershire have done with Peter Handscomb. You pay your money and take your choice, but Mickey Arthur is the man who has to improve the current squad within tight finances. I rate Root, but shouldn't a first-class average of 34 be higher? As for Umeed, his first-class average is only 21 and at 29 will he get better?

I won't accept that Caleb Jewell and Blair Tickner have failed this year. The Aussie opener has passed a thousand all-format runs, fielded well, caught brilliantly at slip and averaged over fifty. Being choosy, I would have liked to see more of those fifties converted to hundreds, but such is the level of responsibility for an overseas player. You HAVE to be better than the rest and to be fair to Jewell, he is second only to the incomparable Wayne Madsen in aggregate. For what it is worth, his average is higher than those of both Peter Handscomb and Cameron Bancroft at this stage of the summer, both, dare I say it, bigger name players.

As for Tickner, he seems a top bloke, immensely popular and has done pretty well. He has been heavily involved in decisions on the pitch and has bowled some good spells. But his wickets are costing 32 each and three players have taken more. Is that enough for such a role? But equally, playing devil's advocate, is there a guarantee that someone different next year could do better?

Our destiny still lies in our own hands. The two sides around us, Leicestershire and Glamorgan, have still to be played, as have Kent (who we already beat) and Middlesex. Northamptonshire might be the trickiest game, with the dangerous Yuzi Chahal engaged to the end of the summer to bowl his twirlies. Yet his wickets so far are costing 45 runs each... perceptions, again.

The point of this piece is merely to generate discussion. I think Derbyshire have done well this summer, with selection of overseas players being better than recent seasons. Of course there is always room for improvement, but let's not forget that even our heroes of yesteryear had their bad days. Many would welcome back Michael di Venuto with open arms, yet he only twice exceeded the average of Jewell this season for Derbyshire. I loved Chris Wilkins as an overseas player, but he never got close.

Derbyshire could yet earn promotion, if anyone knows what next season is to look like. Finishing in the top two could mean nothing, if the format of county cricket changes again. They could fall short, but they have given us reason to be cheerful this summer, with a small squad that has found the challenge of fighting on all fronts a considerable one. But we will resume red ball cricket on 22 July in a first v second fixture - when did we last do that? 

As for further improvements, well, they aren't always clearcut and might take time to realise.

But I do think we are moving in the right direction. As supporters, we all need to realise we cannot win every game and most likely won't. The gap between cricketing haves and have nots is widening and is likely to continue to do so. We are punching above our weight and it is good to see.

Stay behind them, because the players will need that support in the closing stages of the summer.

It could yet be memorable.