Midweek musings on Derbyshire and youth players

Not long now until the weekend and the fast-approaching visit of Derbyshire to Edinburgh, for the YB40 fixture against Scotland.

The good news is that there’s an encouraging forecast wherever you look and it is set to be a partially cloudy day with some sunny intervals. Given that most of the intervening period appears to be dry and sunny, those of you preparing to head north for the fixture should be able to do so with a degree of confidence.

I’ve seen Derbyshire play up here on several occasions now, but have never seen us produce a really confident, professional display. The Scots present a decent banana skin for counties, though their bowling is generally more reliable than the batting. One or two of the current side – Richie Berrington and Preston Mommsen to name but two – have had trials down south but never quite impressed enough yet to earn a county deal.

Preston Mommsen

Of all of their players, Mommsen would appear the best bet to do so. At 26, he’s trialled with Kent, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire and the South African born player has a good record for the Scots. A batting average of 32 and bowling one of 28 is indicative of a bloke who can play and this year he has followed an unbeaten 60 against Hampshire with an unbeaten 70 against Essex, where he also took 2-20 with his off-breaks. For me, he bats too low in the side, but he will be one to watch on Sunday.

So too is Majid Haq, at 30 a fine servant to Scottish cricket, whose aggressive strokeplay enlivens many an innings as well as his wily off-spin, which can put the brakes on the opposition. They are a team with a few county imports, with former Warwickshire stalwart Neil Carter among them, and they should be underestimated at our peril.

By the same token, Derbyshire should win and I hope to see a few batsmen finding some of that elusive form on Sunday, as well as bowling of greater discipline than of late. As the saying goes, a win is a win and if we can come out of the game unbeaten in this competition after two games, it could serve as the catalyst to the rest of the season.

Onto other matters and there was a close-run game between our and Yorkshire‘s Academy sides. Given the Yorkies traditional strength in this age group, it would appear our lads ran them close and we seem to have some good ones coming through at the moment.

It is inevitable that some won’t make it and as has been said a few times on here of late, everyone has a limit to which their talents can take them. There was a good line on Pointless on TV last night, where Richard Osman said that people spend their lives craving promotions and eventually end up in a job that, in most cases, they can’t do. It is sad when some very good players are ultimately remembered in this way. Graeme Hick, for example, is recalled as a player ‘just short’ of Test class, despite scoring over a hundred centuries and only coming up short against the very good pace attacks of his era. Many of us would settle for ‘failing’ in such a way.

I played a few games over the years against a very good player who had first-class experience, representing Oxford University for two summers where he had done okay, without being spectacular. He batted beautifully and bowled spinners that you heard ‘fizz’ on the way down to you.

Every week he scored at least 50 for his club, some way removed from the top tier of the Scottish game, and regularly scored a hundred. He took loads of wickets too, but when asked why he was playing at a level that was considerably beneath him, his response was simple – ‘I like scoring hundreds and taking wickets’.

It was hard to argue. His enjoyment of the game came more from personal achievement than testing himself against the best. People who played against him will remember him in years to come as an excellent player, which is no bad things I suppose, but it is still good to see lads who are prepared to fight to the top, countering the odd issue along the way to become the next Cook, Broad or Prior.

Long may it continue. I hope that some of them are in that Academy right now!