In the final part of our ‘Down the Pathway’ series, Head of Talent Pathway, Daryn Smit, discusses the plans for developing Derbyshire’s next generation, and the promise being shown already.
Throughout the season so far, former Academy players like Alex Hughes, Harvey Hosein and Sam Conners have all been regulars in the side, while fellow graduates Tom Wood and Nils Priestley have been named in squads, with the former playing in the Bob Willis Trophy draw with Yorkshire.
Over the winter, Head of Cricket, Dave Houghton said the desire was to produce more players for the first team in the future, with the Second XI something of a proving ground for developing prospects.
Following his appointment as Head of Talent Pathway, Smit has echoed these thoughts, but emphasised that the process will not be a short-term plan.
“My remit when I was interviewed for the job was ‘how am I going to produce an England player in the next ten years,” said Smit.
“That’s not going to happen overnight, it’s definitely a long-term project, we are seeing the benefits of it already, but it will be slow.
“The amount of talent that we have coming through is unbelievable, with the exposure that our players are getting to high-quality coaching, and we’re definitely moving in the right direction.
“Our older Academy boys are putting in some great performances for their clubs, as well as when they’re rubbing shoulders with the first team.
“The prospects are looking really good, but it’s a process that we have to buy into and commit to moving forward.”
Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Derbyshire’s Academy players have been able to work with the first team at Repton School.
However, when looking ahead to the winter, Smit admits there is still a great deal of uncertainty around Academy training, but Derbyshire are not the only club facing that conundrum.
“I’d love to say that we’re going to be doing X, Y and Z, but at the moment things sort of put on-hold,” said Smit.
“With circumstances, there’s questions about how our winter program will be affected, and the number of players you can have in groups.
“But that’s not just a problem that Derbyshire are facing, every Academy Director or Head of Talent Pathway in the country is facing that dilemma, so we will have to be adaptable and play that one by ear.
“But we will be looking to ramp it up again, because we can see the promising signs from a good winter last year already, so we will be upping the intensity and try to keep the upward curve going.”
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