Derbyshire: The return of 'King' Stubbo

Ahead of our first one-day game of the season, it is good to see a further restructure of the Derbyshire coaching staff, with the return of one of the club’s favourite sons in Steve Stubbings. ‘Stubbo’ takes over as second-team coach, with Andrew Harris moving up to travel with the first-team as specialist bowling coach.

It is a sound move. Harris has done a fine job with the seconds and developed a good reputation, which is exactly what Steve Stubbings brings to the club. Various coaching roles around the county have been well-received and he will be the ideal mentor for the young talent coming through from Howard Dytham’s talented academy.

Stubbings was not the best batsman ever to play for Derbyshire, but the feeling remains that he perhaps enjoyed it more than most and he was one of the most approachable blokes to ever wear the county colours. Always happy to stand and chat and with a ready smile, one felt that he appreciated the lot of the county cricketer and, for all its trials and tribulations, the fact that most of us watching would love to have been good enough to do it ourselves.

At 35, he is still young enough to be playing the first-class game, and I know a few people who think he was released too early by John Morris. A first-class average of 32 is the mark of a pretty solid county professional and he always sold his wicket dearly, gritting it out on occasions when he was patently out of nick, but dogged in his refusal to give it away. He could play shots too and played some crucial innings.

If he can pass that mind-set to some of our young tyros, he will more than accomplish his goals. I wish him the very best and I will watch his progress with considerable interest.

I’ll look at Sunday’s YB40 game tomorrow, but I was watching the IPL tonight and realised that we’re now only six weeks or so away from the T20 and still don’t have a second overseas player.

What a tough job that is for counties! With many of the top names tired after the IPL and Champions Trophy, a number wanting exposure in the Caribbean T20 and others prevented from playing by their national cricket bodies, getting the right man at the right price has never been more difficult.

It would be a lot easier if some of the Indians who grace the IPL were allowed to participate. I’m sure the likes of Raina, Kohli and Sharma would prove a huge draw here and, let’s face it, would be a nice bit of advertising for the IPL in turn. Yet their contracts preclude their participation in T20 anywhere else, which is a real shame. The top West Indians will no doubt opt to play in the Caribbean, while the New Zealanders will mostly want to go home. Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor apart, I don’t see T20 as the stronger suit of many Kiwis anyway.

The Australians will want their squad and fringe players in a Test frame of mind, and so are not going to allow anyone who could feasibly be used in England to play, which only leaves Pakistan and South Africa. Neither Bangladesh nor Zimbabwe have what I’d call genuine top players right now, with Brendon Taylor having gone back a bit in recent months. Shakib Al Hasan has been cleverly picked up by Leicestershire, and there’s little else to enthuse about at the moment.

Pakistani players aren’t common on the county circuit, so I suspect a few sides will look to South Africa for an overseas player and their strength in depth makes them a good option.

Who could do a job for Derbyshire? Dean Elgar would be one, as he is a fine batsman and useful spinner. Then there’s Albie Morkel, an under-achiever but someone who can win games with bat or ball, and Farhaan Behardien, who has an excellent T20 record with the bat, can bowl useful seam and is a brilliant fielder. There’s also Colin Ingram, whose powerful game is well-suited to the format and Henry Davids, who is likely to be the top order dasher for his country in the Champions Trophy.

These are names that are not part of the top tier of South African cricket, but fine players nonetheless. I suspect a few of them will come under consideration by county sides in the coming weeks.

I’d be happy with most of those names.

As long as we don’t end up with Chris Harris. And I still keep fingers crossed that Martin Guptill might say yes.