Jon Dyson says the progression of Women’s Cricket in Derbyshire will continue to be a “huge team effort” between the county club and their Foundation as the Falcons get set to enter Tier 2 in the new domestic structure.
Dyson has recently been appointed as the county’s first Head of Women’s Cricket following a successful period working for the Derbyshire Foundation, leading the Derbyshire Women’s side and their Girls Pathway.
It comes as the running of Derbyshire Women has also transitioned from the Foundation to the Club.
“Women’s Cricket is now woven into the fabric of the club, which is great,” said Dyson.
“Going back 20 years, you wouldn’t see a girl in training at Derbyshire. But you walk into the Performance Centre now at the County Ground and see a group of girls training and you just wouldn’t look twice.”
The club, having taken over the running of Derbyshire Women, aim to build on the platform the Foundation’s work has created. Within this project, they have short and long-term aims.
Form a short-term perspective they want to set an early marker and be competitive in the Vitality Blast Women’s League 2 and Metro Bank One-Day Cup Women’s League 2 competitions when they begin next summer.
Derbyshire Women won the ECB’s County T20 Cup during the summer just gone.
“Our message has been not, ‘We want to win this or that’,” continued Dyson, whose role is a hybrid of hands on coaching and strategic development. “It’s more measurable.
“Our language would be ‘We want to compete across a season but also within games. Can our opening bowlers win their battle with their openers?’ That kind of thing.
“If we win more phases than not, then results should come naturally.
“Yorkshire are clearly our benchmark because the pressure is on them to win it all in Tier 2. They’ll be feeling the pressure of only being in it for a season before moving up to Tier 1.
“For us, when we play against Yorkshire in 50-over and T20 cricket, did we compete against them? That’s the kind of thing I want from our players.”
Coincidentally, Derbyshire have been drawn away to Yorkshire in Round One of the new Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup knockout competition, a tie to be played on May 5.
Long-term, Dyson wants to make sure Derbyshire are ready to move up to Tier 1 should the ECB meet their ambition of expanding Tier 1 to 12 teams by 2029. Eight teams will start in Tier 1 in 2025, with Yorkshire added in 2026 and Glamorgan in 2027.
To do that, player production will have to back up on-field performance, and the signs are already encouraging from a county who count current England players Bess Heath, Sarah Glenn and Danni Wyatt-Hodge as homegrown heroes – even if they have now moved on to pastures new.
“That’s great, but our next challenge is, ‘Who are the girls in and around our set-up now?’” said Dyson.
“Someone like a Maria Andrews, at 16-years-old, is currently with the England Under 19s squad as a left-arm spinner. She’s been named as a reserve for the World Cup in January, and she could be our next big role model.
“Girls coming into our pathway structure at 10 or 11 can see someone who is 16 getting into an England Under 19s squad.”
That is where the Foundation will continue to play a huge and vital role. They are almost the first contact point for many a young player within the county.
“When we hold open trials, we’re reliant on clubs supplying those players,” said Dyson.
“Those clubs are supported and guided by the Foundation and their community officers and coaches, Chance to Shine, the MCC Foundation hubs. The community coaches are going out the length and breadth of the county setting up games of cricket in those harder to reach areas where there might be some barriers.
“We’re trying to remove as many barriers as we can, open trials is one, financial assistance towards training costs, buying equipment, clothing and travel. The Foundation will still hold that supportive financial pot.
“We just want the best players coming in and not being put off by where they live, what school they go to. We’re also exploring kids that play hockey, tennis, netball – there are a lot of transferrable skills.
“Also, very rarely do we host a Level One or Two coaching course without a female candidate on it. They’re a part of the coaching network and inspire when they go back to their clubs.
“It’s been a strong county for a number of years in terms of club development through the Foundation, encouraging clubs to set up women’s and girls’ sides and breaking down barriers. That will continue, without a doubt.”
Dyson anticipates that Derbyshire will head into 2025 with a senior squad of 18-20 players. As a Tier Two club they will be semi professionals as the women’s game continues to take proactive steps towards offering more opportunities for players to chase their cricket dream.
“Ours will be semi-professional players without the payment to play,” he said. “We’ll cover match day expenses and training costs – travel to and from training. We’ll also cover things which go around the increased contact time such as physio support.
“They also get a bespoke helmet fitting, medical insurance. It’s everything a Tier 1 professional player would receive, apart from the actual payment to play.”
Below senior level, there will be an Emerging Players Programme made up of nine of the county’s most talented 15-18 year-olds who will work to a more bespoke development plan. That has been enabled by the increased funding from the ECB which comes with Tier 2 status.
Derbyshire will also run a County Age Group Programme from Under 11s-18s.
Returning to the formation of Derbyshire’s senior squad, ongoing open trials are part of their recruitment strategy, though Dyson insisted: “I’m pretty confident that seven or eight will be Derbyshire players who won the ECB T20 county comp in August.
“But there are still areas in our squad where we can strengthen.
“There will be an external influence, but the core will be Derbyshire, and that’s testament to the pathway structure we have and the work everyone has put into that. We’re in a strong position and know we have good players.”
The new tiered structure will be very fluid in the sense of player movement – to allow best playing opportunities. An example is that players on the fringes of a Tier 1 side can be loaned out to Tier 2.
Tier 1 Academies will also be able to promote the best young players from their neighbouring Tier 2 counties and take the lead on their development. Those players will, however, still play Tier 2 cricket for their home counties.
Derbyshire trio Andrews, Mim Aldred and Lara Shaw are such examples. They are with The Blaze who have Trent Bridge as their headquarters.
“It’s all based around a player’s development. What’s best for them,” said Dyson. “It’s great for players involved because they can see a real route through to the top of the game.”
And returning to on-field performance in 2025, Dyson added: “This is a product the club wants to sell. They want to sell tickets for people to come and watch these girls play, they want sponsors to put their names on a shirt.
“We have a responsibility to try and do well in Tier 2 cricket because we want to sell this product, not only in Derbyshire but across the country as well.
“If we can inspire a girl anywhere else in the country, that’s fantastic. Every single one of us has a part to play in promoting the game as a whole.”
Membership 2025 | Expectations Evolved
For more than 150 years, we have battled as underdogs. As we move into a new era of Derbyshire cricket, we strive for more.
We understand what it means to wear the Rose and Crown, to follow in the footsteps of the game’s greats and to represent this county with pride.
And while everyone thinks they know the Derbyshire story, it’s time to flip the script, to re-define everything you know and push for greatness.
Projects take time, and our time is now. In 2025, we play with Expectations Evolved.
