Thoughts on The Blast and a way forward for Derbyshire

It has been another disappointing T20 summer for Derbyshire. 

Few among the support will have gone into the Vitality Blast with high expectations. Yet it has still been frustrating that the same failings have come back to haunt us. There were close finishes, but the big moments went the other way too often for comfort. Inexperience in some quarters, or a lack of mental toughness? There will be different opinions on that.

I know my own lack of confidence in the batting unit to chase and the bowling unit to contain has seeped into my reports and comments. Even the experience of sixty years of watching struggles to keep the sunny side up all the time.

The batting was too heavily dependent on Martin Andersson and Nye Donald. Once they had gone, the run rate usually dropped. If they failed, the shockwave impacted adversely on the rest. 

Donald remains an astonishing talent, an entertainer par excellence, but my concern remains how many matches he has won, at least until yesterday. How many times have his innings crossed the line from 'highly entertaining' to 'match winning'? Perhaps they might be considered so if those further down lent greater support, but he could be one of the biggest players in the world IF his knocks frequently continued outwith the Powerplay.

That said, he averaged over 40 in the competition this year, which is extraordinary given how he plays. The game changes all the time, but fifty years from now there will be youngsters watching him today who will regale their own children and grandchildren with tales of watching him bat. I know I haven't seen anyone quite like him and I saw Wilkins and Kuiper at their best. I would love to see him succeed in the four-day game, but suspect that in this form, franchises and a T20 deal is the most that we will see him.

I was not convinced by his glovework, which sometimes highlighted how infrequently he does it, while his captaincy was only adequate. Too often a bowler was given a second, even third successive over with an inevitable detrimental  consequence and there appeared no real game plan in the field, no match ups. It all seemed pre-determined, rarely the way to success in an unforgiving format, where you need to think on your feet.

Losing one of these responsibilities might be a way forward, the restoration of Brooke Guest behind the stumps the most likely and welcome move.

Nye will always be the first name on my T20 team sheet. But I don't think he will change his game, so to maximise his input the rest of the side needs to be looked at over the winter.

Andersson has been a superb signing. His medium pace can develop further and his variations with it. But a player who can bat in the top three with success AND offer some handy overs is a prize indeed. 

The crucial number three berth was never successfully filled this year, while the decline in Wayne Madsen's returns was a further issue. We will likely see the county legend in 2027, but now know that it will be in red ball and 50-over cricket only. How he is replaced will be key to any upturn in T20 fortunes next summer. Matthew Montgomery could come in higher, where he wouldn't have to hit from the get go and he may be the best bet for the Madsen role at four. The similarity in style, if not yet weight of runs, should make the parting easier to bear.

You don't easily replace those runs with one man. The team has to be reshaped and there has to be a greater collective approach to setting and chasing totals.

Ross Whiteley scored steadily, but had a highest score of 46. There will be consideration over a new deal and it will depend on if there is anyone better for that role. Of the other all rounders on the staff, Anuj Dal hasn't been seen as a T20 player and Luis Reece has had a lot of injuries. More on that later.

Neither Yusuf bin Naeem nor Amrit Basra made the best of opportunities, but it was telling that when Harry Came was brought in against Somerset he batted three, which was the logical slot for Basra to play. The jury is still out on his ability at this level, but to judge him on batting in the last three overs of an innings is unfair. Naeem clearly has talent and plenty of time on his side, so hopefully his time will come again. Came did pretty well, but I don't yet see him as a T20 regular. I would love to be proved wrong and more knocks like the one yesterday would do that.

The side always seemed both a batter AND bowler short. The absence of Chappell, Moore and Brown cannot be ignored, but nor can their respective inexperience and more recent poor returns in the format. Chappell was the most missed, not least for his lengthening of the batting line up and ability to hit long at the end of an innings.

The bowling was the curate's egg. Those injuries gave opportunity to Nick Potts and he did pretty well. Another winter working with Chris Wright should see him improve still further and if he can hit his yorkers more often he could be a real talent, his changes of pace being good to see. Ben Aitchison started well, but I don't see white ball as his stronger suit at this stage.  He is an outstanding red ball bowler and perhaps could  earn a deserved breather for T20 another year, like Rory Haydon.

That would depend on overseas and domestic recruitment. I thought Akif Javed got better as the tournament progressed and he became more accustomed to the pitches. An early reluctance to bowl yorkers was odd and his tendency to drop short and also overstep was costly on occasions. I wouldn't be averse to his return, when he would have this experience to draw on, but even if the international fixtures allowed it, I don't think we should sign both he AND Sufyan Moqim. Neither are natural fielders and offer nothing with the bat. One of the overseas has to do that in this side, for sake of balance. Nor is it ideal to have two players in the side whose language challenges make contribution to the group dynamic problematic.

Moqim was excellent, although a return for either depends on the pitch strategy for 2027 and I suspect Javed may be more readily available. Having said that, the other domestic bowling success was Jack Morley and unless we produce dry slow pitches (like Old Trafford) then two non-batting spinners doesn't make a lot of sense. As a friend wrote in an email to me last week, when we have a stronger spin than seam attack,why didn't we play to that strength? Aside from the fact that none of the spinners have any batting credentials, of course, but it is a moot point

So how can recruitment help? Domestically, we could do worse than look at Sol Budinger, who seemed more peripheral at Leicester, even before his injury and could give the innings a super-fast start with Donald, as well as affording an important left/right combination. He is a mercurial talent but maybe needs the right environment in which to thrive. At his best he is a southpaw Donald and extremely dangerous. Andersson could then drop to three, with the ability (and instruction) to try to bat through the rest of the innings. Any successful T20 side needs such a player.

Another player I like, again lacking opportunity is Will Rhodes at Durham. A gritty competitor, he could be a handy all rounder in this format, as well as an opener in the red ball game. If they could pick up these two - and finances are likely to be a challenge - they could consider just one overseas player. Perhaps someone in the vein of Romario Shepherd, Shadab Khan or Sikander Raza, although Worcestershire would surely want him back. One would hope that Mickey Arthur's Big Book of Contacts could find an all rounder of sorts, ideally one who offers a different angle, or perhaps unorthodox spin? Hayden Kerr was a decent asset in 2022, to give but one example in the recent past. The team's balance would look far better if the overseas player had another skill set.

Wouldn't this side, on paper at least, offer greater potential?

Donald, Budinger, Andersson, Montgomery, Naeem/Basra, Rhodes, Shepherd/Raza/Kerr, Guest, Chappell, Potts/Moore/Stewart, Morley

If there was sufficient budget for a second overseas, bring back either Moqim or Javed. Better still, perhaps another with multi-discipline skills. As I have written before, Brandon McMullen of Scotland is a serious talent and the success of George Munsey at Nottinghamshire highlights how experience of UK pitches is very much an asset. Indeed, I would consider him for that first role,  a dynamic bat, more than useful bowler and brilliant fielder.

So an alternate eleven might read:

Donald, Budinger, Andersson, Montgomery, Naeem/Basra, McMullen, Rhodes, Guest, Chappell, Moore/Potts/Stewart, Morley/second overseas

 I would expect Matt Stewart to be on the staff next year and he might push Potts for a place in the white ball eleven, at his current rate of progress. So too could Harry Moore and perhaps T20 and four overs at a time eases him back into the first-class game?

How do they afford this? Tough decisions have to be made, but I would sadly release Caleb Jewell, Anuj Dal, Pat Brown and Ross Whiteley. I don't think Mitch Wagstaff has convinced enough to remain either. He will be 23 in September, has not yet broken through and at this level patience will be limited. He needed weight of runs in league and Second XI and that hasn't happened.

It hasn't worked out for Caleb this year, while the returns of Nuj have been in decline for a few summers now. Pat is another single-format player, which is tough to justify and Ross...well, he is the finisher, but isn't finishing. A wonderful fielder, but he should be getting us over the line in tight situations and isn't. The game on Friday night was a clear example of this.

All of these are players whose best cricket I have enjoyed immensely, but progress requires change and that necessitates tough decisions being made. There can be no room for sentiment in professional sport.

At the very least, the team I listed above would offer seven/eight bowling options and bats deep, as well as having a specialist wicket-keeper.

What do you think? I am especially interested in your overseas batting/bowling/genuine all rounder suggestions. Even if the complexity of the international calendar means the county may get down to their tenth choice before striking gold...

At a members forum earlier in the year, Mickey Arthur said that the thrust of recruitment this winter would be on white ball cricket and it is clearly the area of greater need. We *should* remain competitive in the red ball game, but the right signings could see that extend to white ball too.

Postscript: I am aware that Budinger and Rhodes are under contract until the end of 2027. I am equally aware that modern contracts are barely worth the paper they are written on and seem heavily weighted in favour of players. If they are offered greater opportunity elsewhere, in a short career they will generally seek their release and take it.

Whether they interest Mickey Arthur only he knows, but both are players I feel could enhance the Derbyshire squad. 

As for overseas players - well, he knows a lot more players than I, but Derbyshire prospects would improve if they offered balance to the team and better complemented its existing personnel.

Besides fitting into the available budget, of course...