The Derbyshire way: A bumpy ride ahead

Tony Palladino of Derbyshire

Mark Footitt will have been offered what we can afford and what we feel he is worth. If he doesn’t feel that offer is appropriate, he is entitled to see if anyone else has a better idea of that worth – or, more accurately, has more money to offer him. As I wrote the other night, I think Surrey will be offering him 2-3 times his Derbyshire salary as a ‘carrot’ and we cannot match that.

Why (again)? Because despite the best efforts of Messrs Grant and Storey, together with the best pound for pound marketing team in the country, we’re not on a level playing field. If we offered that sort of money to Mark, where does that leave other players, especially those who have made an even greater contribution to the successes of the summer? We’d end up with a staff of ten players on big money, some of them with a questionable fitness record, and nothing else.

As fans we have to accept that players will continue to go through the club like passengers on a bus. Some, like Wayne Madsen, Tony Palladino and Tim Groenewald, you would do your level best to keep, because you know they will always give good value. There may come a time that even our best offer for such players isn’t enough, because we cannot match what the likes of Surrey, Somerset, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire can offer.

Note that the first two named, with all their money and big name players, are little better performing than our lads this summer – the last two haven’t exactly set the heather on fire either.

There will be changes this winter, of that I am sure. But supporters will need to accept and understand that we cannot pick up England Lions. We’re looking for good, honest professionals who could help the cause while the development of our own exciting talent carries on apace and in the hope that enough make the grade with the right support and coaching.

It has to be the Derbyshire way. We have an established and admired business model and a club that is self-sufficient. We have no debt and as such are the envy of many counties. Some have benefactors who have thrown serious money at their club, but not especially with the desired results. What happens when they eventually walk away?

It’s not been a perfect season. But there have again been positive signs and lessons that will have been learned. Wherever we play our cricket next summer, it will be with players who want to play for Derbyshire and with administrators and coaches who want to be the best.

Stick with the ride. It’s bumpy and it will have a few twists and turns on the way. But we will get there and we’re all going to miss it for the next six months.

I know I am.