The A-Z of Derbyshire Cricket - K is for Kirsten: Peter Kirsten

There are four outstanding candidates for the best "K" to represent Derbyshire.

Simon Katich had but one season in our colours, in 2007, yet finished it with the highest average in a championship season by a Derbyshire player (75.52). He was an accumulator, someone who, having got in, rarely gave it away. By the same token, Katich was somewhat one-dimensional and really couldn't play the one-day game, while T20 appeared anathema to him. For me, his season at the club will be remembered for an outstanding championship season, but a limited overs one that was, at best, average. That season's T20 campaign as a team was, even with the benefit of hindsight, somewhat shambolic.

Adrian Kuiper was largely responsible for our Refuge Assurance win in his one full season with us. A useful medium pace bowler and good fielder, Kuiper's strength was that he could hit a ball a country mile and did so with remarkable frequency. Potentially close finishes that year were blown away by the brilliance, yet common sense of his hitting, showing a man with good judgement of the hittable ball. With Chris Wilkins he was the biggest hitter I have seen in Derbyshire colours and that judgement made all the difference. If a target  looked like it was getting away from us, Kuiper simply smacked a couple of boundaries and brought it within the realms of respectability again. It sounds easy, but isn't - despite the South African making it look so. Were he playing today he would earn a fortune in T20.

For me, Kuiper is just shaded into second place by Karl Krikken, largely by dint of service over a protracted period. By no standards would you say that Krikk was a conventional wicket-keeper. His farmer in wellingtons style, waddling between balls behind the stumps, was a long way removed from the textbook crouching manner, while he looked almost like a goalkeeper facing a penalty kick as the bowler's arm came over. Yet Krikk missed little over 400 games, often taking catches, especially down the leg side, that a more orthodox stance may not have allowed him to get to. He had great hands and an even greater mouth, a never-ending source of encouragement to bowlers from first ball to last.

As a batsman he was more than useful and should have scored more runs than he did, though the Derbyshire side of his time was blessed with greater batting talent than some of more recent vintage and Krikk often perished in the quest for quick runs. Having said all that, his greatest contribution to Derbyshire cricket may be yet to come...

For me, though, the number one simply has to be Peter Kirsten, with Dean Jones the best all-round batsman I have seen in Derbyshire colours. Kirsten could accumulate and would often get to thirty before you realised it and while you struggled to recall the strokes that got him there. Yet once he was in, the strokes were dazzling and he had them all.  From late cuts to sweeps, "Kirst" played all round the wicket and had lovely footwork. He was compact and composed at the crease and some of us called him the "Little Don", reference to the dapper and uncomplicated style that was reminiscent of the great Bradman.

His first two seasons saw him scrape past a thousand as he got used to English wickets as a young player, but from 1980 to 1982 he was as good a player as any in the country, recording 1895, 1605 and 1941 championship runs in successive seasons with averages of 63, 55 and 64.  In that 1982 season, with John Wright making 1830 runs, Derbyshire fans enjoyed two batsmen at the peak of their form and batting brilliance that had never been seen before, or since. Kirsten hit eight centuries that season and Wright seven. Derbyshire were usually 195-1 or similar at the sports bulletins, and there were matches when they hardly looked like getting out. So good were they, indeed, that opponents started setting ridiculous targets for us in the fourth innings of games, yet we sometimes we still got them.

Kirsten was a brilliant fielder and a useful off-spinner, at least until a knee injury started to cause problems.  A request for a year's break was met with a refusal and his release was a startling example of the way the club has shot itself in the foot too many times over the years. He was just 27 and approaching his prime at the time.

He would have graced international cricket and, although past his peak, at least made a dozen Test appearances when South Africa were re-admitted to the fold. When he reached a century against England at Headingley in 1994, I cheered more than if an Englishman had reached the milestone. While his Test average of 31 in no way reflects his talent, considering he was 37 on debut it was far from a disgrace.

57 centuries and 107 fifties; another ten centuries and 83 fifties in one-day games - oh yes, Peter Kirsten could play alright. I consider it an absolute privilege to have seen him in his prime and would be astonished if I saw anyone comparable in our colours in the future.

K is for Kirsten....

There are four outstanding candidates for the best "K" to represent Derbyshire.

Simon Katich had but one season in our colours, in 2007, yet finished it with the highest average in a championship season by a Derbyshire player (75.52). He was an accumulator, someone who, having got in, rarely gave it away. By the same token, Katich was somewhat one-dimensional and really couldn't play the one-day game, while T20 was, it appeared, anathema to him. For me, his season at the club will be remembered for an outstanding championship season, but a limited overs one that was, at best, average. That season's T20 campaign was, even with the benefit of hindsight, somewhat shambolic.

Adrian Kuiper was, as pointed out on the club site, largely responsible for our Refuge Assurance win in his one full season with us. A useful medium pace bowler and good fielder, Kuiper's strength was that he could hit a ball a country mile and did so with remarkable frequency. Potentially close finishes that year were blown away by the brilliance, yet common sense of his hitting, showing a man with good judgement of the hittable ball. With Chris Wilkins he was the biggest hitter I have seen in Derbyshire colours and that judgement made all the difference. If a target  looked like it was getting away from us, Kuiper simply smacked a couple of boundaries and brought it within the realms of respectability again. It sounds easy, but isn't - despite the South African making it look so. Were he playing today he would make a fortune in T20.

For me, Kuiper is just shaded into second place by Karl Krikken, largely by dint of service over a protracted period. By no standards would you say that Krikk was a conventional wicket-keeper, his farmer in wellingtons-style waddling between balls behind the stumps a long way removed from the textbook crouching manner, while he looked almost like a goalkeeper facing a penalty kick as the bowler's arm came over. Yet Krikk missed little over 400 games, often taking catches, especially down the leg side, that a more orthodox stance may not have allowed him to get to. He had great hands and an even greater mouth, a never-ending source of encouragement from first ball to last.

As a batsman he was more than useful and should have scored more runs than he did, though the Derbyshire side of his time was blessed with greater batting talent than some of more recent vintage and Krikk often went in the search for quick runs. Having said all that, his greatest contribution to Derbyshire cricket may be yet to come...

For me, though, the number one simply has to be Peter Kirsten, with Dean Jones the best all-round batsman I have seen in Derbyshire colours. Kirsten could accumulate and would often get to thirty before you realised it and while you tried to recall the strokes that got him there. Yet once he was in, the strokeplay was dazzling and he had them all.  From late cuts to sweeps, "Kirst" played all round the wicket and had lovely footwork. He was compact and composed at the crease and some of us called him the "Little Don", reference to the dapper and uncomplicated style that was reminiscent of the great Bradman.

His first two seasons saw him scrape past a thousand as he got used to English wickets as a young player, but from 1980 to 1982 he was as good a player as any in the country, recording 1895, 1605 and 1941 championship runs in each season with averages of 63, 55 and 64.  In that 1982 season, with John Wright making 1830 runs, Derbyshire fans enjoyed two batsmen at the peak of their form and batting talent that had never been seen before, or, dare I say it since. Kirsten hit eight centuries that summer and Wright seven. It was a summer, in my mind's eye, where Derbyshire were usually 195-1 or somesuch at the sports bulletins, and there were times during matches when they hardly looked like getting out. So good were they, indeed, that opponents started setting ridiculous targets for us in the fourth innings of games, yet we sometimes got them.

Kirsten was a brilliant fielder and a useful off-spinner, at least until a knee injury started to cause problems and he should never have been allowed to leave the county. A request for a year's break was met with a refusal and his release, a startling example of the way the club has shot itself in the foot too many times over the years. He was just 27 and approaching his prime at the time.

He would have graced international cricket and, although past his peak, at least made a dozen Test appearances when South Africa were re-admitted to the fold. When he reached a century against England at Headingley in 1994, I cheered more than if an Englishman had reached the milestone. His Test average of 31 in no way reflects the talent that was Peter Kirsten, yet was itself impressive considering he was 37 on debut.

57 centuries and 107 fifties; another ten centuries and 83 fifties in one-day games - oh yes, Peter Kirsten could play alright. I consider it an absolute privilege to have seen him in his prime and would be astonished if I saw anyone comparable in our colours in the years ahead.

K is for Kingly, Klassy, Kultured Kirsten - one of only a handful of genuinely brilliant Derbyshire cricketers in my time.

Derbyshire's Greatest Overseas Batsman

Quite a week for the blog.

It passed 72,000 hits, 12,000 of which have come since the turn of the year. After 20,000 the first year and 40,000 last year, I continue to be astonished at the level of interest and thank every one of you who logs in on a regular basis.

Yesterday was my 750th post, a landmark it would have been nice to mark with a win, but sometimes life can be hard.

Tonight it's landmark time for the biggest poll vote ever, with 98 people voting for their favourite Derbyshire overseas batsman.

While Mohammad Azharuddin and Dean Jones were mentioned in despatches, most of the votes went to three players.

In third place was Chris Rogers with 23% of the vote. By any yardstick, Rogers has been and is a wonderful servant to Derbyshire cricket. A man of integrity, he continues to set the benchmark and is an outstanding ambassador for his country. We can only hope that the regulations on visas are tweaked yet again so he can continue to entertain us for many years to come.

In second place was the admirable Michael di Venuto, with 28% of the vote. Diva was arguably our biggest loss in the past ten years and I often wonder what Derbyshire might have been like had he stayed. Diva and Rogers as an opening pair? Oh boy....

In first place, and rightly in my opinion, is Peter Kirsten with 34% of the vote. I think the whole poll was correct, with Diva a better one day batsman than Rogers and little to choose between them in the loner form of the game.

Kirsten, however, was sublime. Those too young to remember him missed out on something special. You may have caught one of his late career Test performances, when he was past his best, and may have seen his half brother Gary bat doggedly for South Africa.

Peter, in his prime was a different class. He had so much time to play his shots and had all of them at his disposal. The sight of Kirsten and John Wright together remains (and is always likely to do) the most reassured I have ever felt in watching two Derbyshire batsmen.

Kirsten would take his time when he first came in and would play through the V, before unfurling his strokes all around the wicket, with no one area stronger than another. In addition, he was a brilliant fielder and a useful off spinner before a knee problem put paid to his bowling.

There is no disgrace in coming second or third to Peter Kirsten. To be mentioned in the same breath is a supreme accolade. With Rogers and Di Venuto opening and Kirsten at three, Derbyshire could take on Mars...

Favourite cricketers 7 - Peter Kirsten

If there were two better players to steer Derbyshire to on-day glory than John Wright and Peter Kirsten, I don't know who they were.

Peter Kirsten came to Derbyshire on the recommendation of Eddie Barlow, and played in what must have been the strongest-ever second eleven fielded by the County. That same summer he was joined by Allan Lamb and Garth Le Roux in the Derbyshire twos. Derbyshire had to choose one to replace Eddie Barlow and plumped for Kirsten.

And why not? He had averaged over 90 for them, and had scored a hatful for (I think) Worksop in the Bassetlaw League. Of course, had anyone at the club done their homework, we could have had Lamb and Kirsten - the former on his English background. Le Roux went on to form a hostile pace attack with Imran Khan for Sussex, but Kirsten was an excellent choice.

At his best, batting was made to look the easiest thing in the world. He played straight and in the arc when he first came in which helped, but you never had the impression he was doing anything spectacular, unlike his earlier compatriot Chris Wilkins. Then you'd look up at the scoreboard and see he was on 30-odd and wonder how he'd got there. Once established, he produced an astonishing range of strokes. I was fortunate to see his innings against Glamorgan at Chesterfield when he scored a double century so good it was euphoric. Few of us recalled a Derbyshire player in that league (I certainly didn't) and he would go down the pitch to play a shot then change his mind and play something outrageous instead. His footwork was superb, his timing a thing of wonder and his range of shots equal to anyone I've seen.

He was a fair bowler too, little off spinners that were good enough to produce two five-wicket hauls and take one day wickets regularly. As a fielder he was up with the very best, certainly until knee problems slowed him down.

Everyone was thrilled when he eventually got the chance to play Test cricket, although at 37 his best days were behind him. There were more cheers in Derbyshire for South Africa than England when he made his only Test century at Headingley in 1994.

Kirsten was one of a number of outstanding South Africans who lost their best years to apartheid. He, Jimmy Cook, Ken McEwan and the great Barry Richards would have graced the highest stage of all. It was a pleasure and privilege to watch him grace the square at Chesterfield and Derby.