Season review - white ball

In several interviews this summer, Mickey Arthur said that Derbyshire focused their attention on red ball skills in the winter, because they thought the white ball would take care of itself. 

It didn't. In both 20 and 50 over formats, the county showed that it had the individual talent to win games, but they rarely pulled together as a team. The T20 wins over Yorkshire were brilliant, so too the win at Trent Bridge in the same format and against Leicestershire at Edgbaston. They bowled tidily, batted with aggression and reaped the rewards. 

Yet too often the bowling was profligate and the fielding too erratic for sustained performance and results. The defeat against Birmingham at Edgbaston was awful, the performances against Lancashire hugely disappointing, the bowling against Surrey 2nds/3rds in the Metro Bank Cup appalling. 

In T20 they were overly reliant on Aneurin Donald, who produced some innings of stunning brilliance. Yet when he failed, it was seen as a portent of doom and often so transpired. Jewell did pretty well, yet without the consistency we might have hoped for in this format. Madsen was less prolific than years gone by and part of the issue was that supporters were never given the feeling that there was a plan, cunning or otherwise. The batting order changed with the wind and usually to the detriment of both personal form and, as a consequence, results.

Samit Patel bowled accurately, but only at Trent Bridge did he suggest the form of yesteryear. A couple of powerful innings didn't convince your correspondent that his known fallibility against the short ball wasn't going to prove costly, given his unwillingness to drop down the order. It was no real surprise when his departure was announced and I cannot be alone in never really seeing him as a 'Derbyshire' player.

Ross Whiteley did better than most, his ground fielding a constant joy and his batting a more frequent threat. Perhaps he could have been used better, but elevations didn't always bring the desired results and maybe his best usage is as a late innings 'clubber'.

The bowling was the problem. Many references were made to the absence of Harry Moore affecting the balance of the side, but should anyone really expect an 18-year-old with negligible experience to have made such a difference? Zak Chappell and Pat Brown both struggled to recapture the form and figures of previous seasons and while Patel was usually economical, he rarely threatened to take wickets and was hardly an asset in the field.

The fifth bowler proved problematic, although Martin Andersson seemed as under-utilised with the ball as he was with the bat. Mohammad Ghazanfar was excellent and usually hard to get away, but an unwillingness to provide turning pitches at home, with such an asset was odd. He will undoubtedly enjoy a long and successful career, but will need to improve his fielding, which veered between laughable and appalling at times.

The belated arrival of Ben Aitchison provided greater control and his five-wicket haul at Headingley confirmed him as a quick learner of white ball skills. Rory Haydon may also feature more next season, while the return of Moore should give options, as should the miserly bowling of Matt Montgomery, signed from Nottinghamshire.

A quality spinner would make a difference again, but I cannot see a return for Ghazanfar in the pipeline. Someone who can offer more with the bat would be an asset and ideally turning the ball away from right handers as a preference. 

At the end of it all, the white ball season was a major disappointment and they are very much back to the drawing board for 2026. As the Head of Cricket pointed out, we were slow and cumbersome in the field and improving that, alone, will offer grounds for improvement next year.

We have to do better and as with the red ball game, the overseas recruit needs to be the catalyst for improvement

We will see who that is in the coming months. We need a more agile, lithe fielding side, but surely a top six of Jewell, Donald, Montgomery, Madsen, Basra and Whiteley will be worth watching? 

Getting a bowling combination that works will, however, dictate whether results improve.