What to do with Derbyshire going forward

Derbyshire have reverted to type this year and sit 7th of the 8 in Division 2 with a bowling attack not taking enough wickets

What to do with the Overseas Bowler

It is uncontroversial to say that Suranga Lakmal has not been a good bowler in the Championship being unable to keep it overly tight and having a low Strike-Rate so getting an Overseas Bowler who can be threatening to lead a young seam attack will be crucial.

Mickey Arthur could try and use his Pakistan contacts to achieve this but who could Derbyshire go for with their smaller budget?

Hasan Ali

Hasan Ali is no stranger to County Cricket having recently played for Lancashire and Warwickshire. He has an excellent record taking 17@19.35 this year for Warwickshire and 25@20.60 for Lancashire. The concern here is that he would cost a lot of Money which Derbyshire don’t have and Division 1 counties would also be interested in his services and could pay him more

Kyle Mayers

Mayers has had an odd career. Never been a big star but has had a quietly good one. An all formats player which is important for Derbyshire’s smaller budget he offers the services of an all-rounder who has stats to lead a bowling attack adding a lot more balance to whichever side he is in. His FC bowling record is 107@20.78 while in Test Matches he has a record of 34@18.29. The one concern is he is commonly listed as a medium pacer of which their is an abundance in England but his record is better than almost every Medium bowler in England. The prodigious swing you also see him bowl would be amplified as well in April Championship matches.

His Batting at test level being 949 runs at 32.72 as well means a more specialist bowler could still be selected as well.

Kyle Jamieson

Jamieson is in Limbo at the minute with constant injuries threatening to derail is promising career. It has likely seen his Franchise opportunities cut down in the short term and raise a question mark over what to do next. His bowling record speaks for itself though taking 72 wickets at 19.45 a piece at test level with an economy rate of 2.65 as well so any chance to rebuild under to lower pressure could be devastating for whoever he plays against.

Scott Boland

Boland has burst onto the international scene aged 32 after taking 6 for 7 at the MCG against England and a spell in the English Domestic game could be offered as he is very much a Domestic specialist but a FC career of 339 wickets at 24.30 could lead the way and be the experience to the rest of the young bowling attack with only Test Matches to consider for potential unavailability.

The rest of the Team balance

Going forward Derbyshire have an interesting proposition with older players coming to the end of their careers but some still performing incredibly and a low budget to replace them.

All the players to make a First Team appearance this year and their ages at the time of writing:

Billy Godleman - 34, Luis Reece - 32, Harry Came - 24, Wayne Madsen - 39, Leus Du Plooy (C) - 28, Matt Lamb - 26, Brooke Guest - 26, Haider Ali (Overseas) - 22, Alex Thomson - 29, Mark Watt - 26, Mitch Wagstaff - 19, Sam Conners - 24, Ben Aitchison - 23, Suranga Lakmal (Overseas) - 36, Anuj Dal - 26, Tom Wood - 29, Mattie McKiernan - 28, George Scrimshaw - 25, Zaman Khan (Overseas) - 21, Henry Brookes (Loan) - 23, Aneurin Donald (Loan) - 26.

There is a wide mix of ages but it also ends up of abilities.

For me you have to be looking towards the future while still rewarding current performance. Wayne Madsen despite being 39 is still averaging 34 in the County Championship but also averages 98 in the Blast striking at 156 as well.

Haider Ali hasn’t set the world alight and this is also a concern with the team but another Overseas player can be brought in to replace him. When I’m looking at the FC team going forwards I see the current lineup:

Harry Came, Luis Reece, Brooke Guest, Wayne Madsen, Leus Du Plooy, A Batter, An All-rounder, A Spinner, Zak Chappell, Ben Aitchison, Sam Conners

I have 3 spots in which I am undecided what should be done or think the Overseas should fill. The Batter can be any position in the order as Luis Reece can move around more freely but I have placed him to open provisionally. The All-Rounder could be Anuj Dal although his form this season has fallen off a cliff and the Spinner could be Mark Watt and I would try to re-sign him but it could also be a Red-Ball Specialist you could look to get in.

Domestic Players to try and sign

With the Overseas rules quality domestic signings will be key and due to the budget constraints looking at the 2nd XI championship is key.

I would first look at the spinners and try to lean into their use as the lack of spinning pitches as well as the proficiency of Madsen and Du Plooy against spinners would be a good strategy. I would release Alex Thomson at the end of his contract (I think it’s up at the end of the season), try to re-sign Mark Watt and keep Mattie McKiernan but with Mark and Mattie being more White-Ball bowlers I would look towards signing Amar Virdi who is Surrey’s forgotten man. He burst onto the scene but Gareth Batty’s no spinner philosophy relegating him to almost a year of exclusively 2nd XI cricket where he has continued to excel. Being able to offer him 1st team opportunities could be very tempting for the 24 year old as he looks to restart his career before he reaches his peak. Although Surrey counterpart Dan Moriarty might be considered more favourably for this White-Ball flexibility it might be more difficult to prize him away from the Oval.

I wouldn’t expect much more business being done as it’s difficult to figure out who would be available with no list of contracts available.

Extracting missed value

Derbyshire are not a rich county. They don’t have the resources to compete using the traditional methods so they should look to extract missed value which currently is Spinners in Domestic Cricket. They should be rolling out drier pitches which might require a marquee for pitch preparation as well as heat lamps. Start pitches without Grass do they degrade throughout a match. it might give Seam movement for the fast bowlers which are skills you want to promote as well as nullify the traditional county trundler who bowls 75mph and swings it round corners. It also nullifies a potential weaker batting unit that might be possessed.

Try to roll out pitches which would be classified as Day 3 pitches at Test level which means it deteriorates more and takes more spin. While I’m writing this Derbyshire require 4 wickets and Yorkshire 65 runs on the last day of a match at Chesterfield and although there was some poor batting in this 4th innings Derbyshire have a selection advantage with the amount of spin the pitch is taking and the 2 spinners selected. Pushing more pitches and more matches this way might be the way forward as good batting has lead to good scores showing this pitch isn’t just a spin shootout but one in which spin makes a difference: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/county-championship-division-two-2023-1347098/derbyshire-vs-yorkshire-1347175/live-cricket-score