As the early spring sunshine bathed the County Ground earlier this month, it was time once again for Mickey Arthur to chat to Derbyshire’s Heritage Officer David Griffin, the fourth time they have conducted a pre-season conversation.
There’s never a better time to be positive about a cricket season than with just a month to go before play gets underway. But before we look at what’s to come, can we go back to 2024 and get your take on the three competitions starting with the Metro Bank One Day Cup.
Derbyshire had four really good wins, two convincing ones and two which were dramatic and very close. Disappointingly, despite finishing fourth in the group, there was no quarter final for Derbyshire. What’s your take on the 50-over cricket played in 2024?
I love the 50 over competition and it has a really important place in the calendar, especially because you get to see so many young players who would ordinarily perhaps not get a chance to play in the first team. I think it’s very competitive and my take on our performances is that we should have gone through and if there’s room for quarter finals in the Vitality Blast then there should be room for quarter finals in the 50-overs. I think when you’ve got a pool or group of nine teams, the top four should really go through. But even saying that we played well enough to progress as one of the top three, we were very competitive, and while it’s easy to say now, we should have made it to the quarter finals. We should have closed the game out against Kent here at Derby and that would have seen us through.
Run rate counted against us in the final analysis – a less heavy defeat at Southampton, for example, would probably have seen Derbyshire into the quarter finals.
That Hampshire game was a disappointment because I knew they would put out a good team and it gave us an opportunity to test ourselves against a good side, but otherwise I was happy with the performances and several stood out, especially Zac Chappell’s batting at Northampton and Harry Moore and Anuj Dal were superb at Taunton.
You’ve just mentioned Harry Moore – you’ve given him an opportunity at such a tender age and he seems to have both skill and the character to go with it. His batting at Taunton was exceptional.
I see that he has a killer instinct and the exceptional players seem to have that inbuilt quality; he knows what to do in a situation and has the confidence to execute it. I mean, he went down the wicket at Taunton when there was a long on out there and I thought “what has he done” and then I saw the ball soaring into the stands. He’s an exceptional and potentially, generational, talent. I’m close with him, spending a lot of time talking through his journey and that’s why we’ve signed him for three years.
Moving on to the T20; it always felt as if Derbyshire were playing catch-up in 2024 – loss, win, loss, win, loss, win – never able to get a consistent winning run going. When we did win, against Nottinghamshire here at Derby and against Yorkshire at Chesterfield, the performances were excellent and there was a sense that if Derbyshire were going to do well in 2024, it was likely to be in this format based on the signings you made.
It was disappointing. We were occasionally exceptional, occasionally good and occasionally average, but – and I remember having this conversation with you this time last year – the real frustration was once again getting to the last game and knowing that qualification was on us and we went into that last round and played very poorly against Durham. That for me was a massive disappointment.
In the Championship, we can’t beat about the bush; finishing bottom, lots of draws, four defeats by an innings and only one win was nowhere near good enough.
There’s no sugar-coating it, we were poor in the Championship. And that’s really frustrating because it’s the competition I want to do well in, above all others. Offer me winning Finals Day or getting promotion, for me, it will always be promotion because you have to play consistently good red ball cricket all summer and it’s the form of the game on which you are judged. I think we did things well from time to time, but not consistently.
I invested heavily in bringing in white ball specialists, particularly Samit Patel and Ross Whiteley, but I think for 2025 I have got a better balance and my expectations are much higher in red ball cricket.
Somebody said to me the other day that looking back on 2024 it wasn’t very good and if you don’t play well in red ball cricket it always tarnishes whatever you did in white ball cricket because you play red ball at the start and end of the season and if you start and end badly, that’s what tends to be at the forefront of people’s minds.
Going into 2025, to a large extent you have a settled squad and you’re bringing back Blair Tickner, although Caleb Jewell is an unknown quantity as far as Derbyshire followers are concerned. What can we expect from the two overseas players?
Caleb Jewell arrives on 25th March and is here for the whole summer. Blair arrives on 7th April and will miss the opening game; he’s here until the end of the Vitality Blast.
Blair’s had a phenomenal year. He’s the leading wicket-taker in all formats in New Zealand and he’s raring to go. He loved being here last year and knows what we’re trying to do and bought into our ethos. That’s why we wanted him back and also I felt that he had unfinished business here – he was unlucky in 2024 and he remains totally invested in what we’re trying to do and is very influential in our dressing room.
Caleb is a very punchy left-hander who will take it to the opposition at the top of the order. He’s highly-rated in Australia and George Bailey (Australian National Selector) recommended him. I saw Tim David in Bangladesh recently and he told me that he rates him too so I’m looking forward to him playing for us. He’s a slip fielder too, and I should add that we have worked incredibly hard this winter on our slip catching.
Martin Andersson is a new signing having appeared on loan for us in 2024 and presumably is set to be an integral member of your side.
Absolutely, and is also a very underrated batsman. He has a terrific work rate and I’ve been immensely impressed with his skill and expect him to feature in all formats for us. I’m very happy with that signing.
Jack Morley also came on loan last summer but has now signed a permanent deal.
He’s incredibly competitive and he brings real desire, hunger and a never-say-die attitude plus plenty of ambition. He’s a left-armer and we need that in the squad. I’m really excited about Jack and his best ball will get good players out – we now need more consistency, but he’s only 22.
Five years ago Ben Aitchison emerged and took wickets quite cheaply and one of the major cricket magazines named him as one of their five to watch. He then got injured and we’ve seen little of him in recent seasons. At his best he looked a high quality bowler; what’s the situation with Ben?
We gave him a contract for 2025 because I think he can bowl a very heavy ball, is really competitive and has that X-factor. And he can catch. All quick bowlers can get stress fractures but our medical staff have done a great job with him and recently at Loughborough he was bowling at about 75 per cent and looking very good. He will start the first second eleven game in mid-April with restrictions on workload. Ben’s almost like a new signing for us. I’m really keen to see him go ahead and he helps to bolster our pace bowling stocks.
Going back to Harry Moore who we discussed earlier; is Harry available from the outset in 2025 or do you have to factor in his education commitments at this stage?
Harry has had an incredible winter. He’s been to South Africa twice and is off to Abu Dhabi with the England Lions and he’s still trying to do some schoolwork. Harry and I connect every Sunday and we plot his weekly diary and we are aware of his exam timetable. With Tickner missing the opening game, it is possible that Harry could start the season for us.
We saw Yousaf bin Naeem in the Metro Bank competition and he looked an impressive young cricketer too.
Well he’s finished his education and he’s available full time and has made a really good impression on everyone here this winter. He’s worked very hard and is a student of the game and watches and examines the game in a really in-depth way. I’ve been really impressed with him.
At the other end of the age scale, Wayne Madsen is still scoring runs and from the boundary there seems to be no reduction in his powers. Presumably, he’s every bit as integral to your plans today as he was when you arrived four years ago.
Yes. He looks after himself and is very fit. He does his job season after season and he has not lost any enthusiasm for the game. He is integral to us in that number four position. I’m confident that he’ll score plenty of runs again.
You’ve said previously that you have cover within the squad for most positions in your side, but how do you manage expectations within that squad when you have to exclude players from the side?
I have to be open and honest with my players. When I arrived in season one we got 100% out of our players – and some were unable to maintain that level of intensity thereafter. I now look at our dressing room and we’ve almost got two men for every position and so the squad creates a sense of competition for the eleven spots. If they want to play, form is the key, although this gives me selection headaches.
You’ve got two non-first class pre-season games ahead of you. How do you go about selecting the side for those games?
These are games which require intensity. Having the right standards are an expectation every day, regardless of the opposition and some of our guys may well be going head to head for a place in the first Championship match.
The weather is pretty good at present and we hope to get outside soon and that’s where we’ll take a good look at the players. Some will be playing for their places.
From the outset in 2022, you talked about positive cricket and a positive approach and last summer was disappointing for our supporters. What can you do to improve things in 2025?
We need a good start, which we didn’t get last year. I believe we can start on the front foot this year and I remain optimistic that we will.
Derbyshire is my baby. I get quite emotional when I talk about it but Derbyshire means so much to me and I just want us to get better and better. I have put my heart and soul into Derbyshire and I live and breathe this cricket club. I haven’t failed much in my life and I’m not going to fail here.
I think Caleb Jewell will help and he’s going to open with David Lloyd and those two are going to take the game to the opposition.
There has been much discussion about your additional role in The Hundred as Director of Cricket with Northern Superchargers. How will this impact on your role here at Derbyshire?
My role with Northern Superchargers finally gives Derbyshire a voice in that competition; a sense of credibility. It also allows my players here at Derbyshire to know that they are under consideration for The Hundred because I have a role within it.
I won’t be abandoning Derbyshire. My role is to head up the retentions and draft for both men and women – something which is being managed right now. During The Hundred I will facilitate and challenge the head coaches but every time Derbyshire plays I expect to be with the side.
I genuinely think my role in The Hundred will enhance the reputation of Derbyshire County Cricket Club.
Lastly, Mickey, there was some understandable despondency around the club at the end of 2024. What’s the Mickey message of encouragement to our members and supporters?
I understand that and when members are unhappy that demonstrates their ambition to see a better performing team and better results. I see passion in our supporters and I guarantee that passion is mirrored in our dressing room. I don’t want negativity around Derbyshire cricket and I will do everything to bring positivity and optimism to our county and I urge everyone to stick with us and join us in bringing success to Derbyshire.
Thanks Mickey and here’s to a successful 2025
