Derbyshire: Academy duo 'book' summer deals

Tony Palladino

More good news on the contract front today, with seam bowling giant Ben Cotton, together with Tommy Taylor, earning summer contracts for 2014.

The cost of those contracts has been largely covered by proceeds from the club book shop, which shows that as well as providing a diverting time on match day, the much-improved facility is making a genuine and substantial contribution to the club.

Both Cotton and Taylor are, like Johny Marsden and Greg Cork, young bowlers of considerable promise. In an ideal world, Tony Palladino, Tim Groenewald, Mark Footitt and Jon Clare will be fixtures in the first eleven in 2014, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see one of the above lads get first team opportunities.

All are at the start of what could be long and exciting careers and if just one of them makes the grade the club’s Academy will have done its job. There is a ‘buzz’ about all of them though and the healthy competition to be the first to make the grade can only be of benefit to the club.

By the end of this month we will have the 2014 fixtures and the season will seem all the closer, even if there will still be a long way to go. Supporters across the country can start to plan their breaks around fixtures, home and away.

And we’ll all start to dream about a repeat of the 2012 season.

With the right tweaks to the playing staff, it could happen, you know…