Sunday 15 December 2013

Something for the weekend

Party time at my place tonight, as family Peakfan now have a holiday booked in the delights of Scarborough, a break coinciding with a cricket match that - by sheer coincidence of course - is happening during that stay at the ground there.

That's the penultimate thing checked off my 'to do' list as far as cricket is concerned, always assuming that the day dawns with bright sunshine, the gulls are circling and they're fast running out of sun cream and ice cream. Being on the east coast, the resort is prone to what, in Scotland at least, is known as harr, when the mist rolls in from the sea, much as it did in Paul McCartney's Mull of Kintyre. I've always found it a funny word, one I struggle to say without adopting a piratical voice like Long John Silver in Treasure Island.

It is something to look forward to and I'm sure there will be a good representation among Derbyshire fans on the day. Hopefully we're not dodging the raindrops, but for now I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed and hope for a four-day break in the resort that is blessed by the very best of English summer.

From the Birmingham Mail this weekend comes news that Graham Welch has thrown his hat into the ring for the Derbyshire Elite Cricket Performance Director role. Besides being a job title that makes me look for a computer shortcut, it is confirmation that the role will attract some strong applicants.

Few will be better qualified than Welch, one of the most popular Derbyshire players of the past twenty years. It wasn't just that he was a very skilled seam bowler who had to retire far too soon, nor a batsman good enough to contribute valuable runs down the order. It was the fact that he was always approachable and happy to talk to supporters. I've little doubt that a thicker skin may be required for the different role, but Welch will be a strong candidate for the post.

He has done an excellent job as bowling coach at Essex, where the likes of Graeme Napier, Reece Topley and Tymal Mills improved under his tutelage, while his work at Warwickshire has seen Chris Wright, Keith Barker and Boyd Rankin improve dramatically.

As I have written previously, I have a lot of respect for Karl Krikken as a man and as a coach. Should he choose to apply for the role, he would himself be a worthy candidate, but we now know that there is at least one other strong option and it will be interesting to see how it all develops.

It will do so soon enough, with the closing date for applications being noon tomorrow. I'm sure we're all watching developments there very closely.

Time to go now and wonder whether I should change my final cricket ambition from playing a match for Derbyshire, to coaching them. The chances of the former are, I'd have thought, somewhat slim at this stage, but the latter?

About the same. I'll leave this one to the professionals...

1 comment:

  1. Re wekch at essex, he did a fine job and was much admired and missed and many want him back as full coach, but he did little with mills topley, and napes has always been doing this but only now has he been injury free for a whle to sow it off.

    mills did little if any work with welch (if he had mills would be doing a damn site better than he is now under chris silverwood who is not held in much regard, other than the head coach who he is best mates with) and topley is dealt with by his old man.

    welch worked on the likes of chambers, and chambers under welch looked a top top prospect and started putting performances to match, even in div 1 during essex brief sojourn, how far chambers regressed since welc left says it all.

    ReplyDelete

Please remember to add your name. Avoid personal comment at all times. Thanks!