Prolific Madsen hopes numbers count in pursuit of England call
THEY say if you knock long enough and loud enough, someone will hear you.
Wayne Madsen is hoping that will be the case at the end of a season in which he set out to endorse his international credentials.
The 32-year-old’s decision to step down from the captaincy back in the spring was partly driven by a desire to play for England following his qualification in 2015.
His application has been impressive with more than 1,000 Championship runs including five hundreds, the latest which came against a county who are probably sick of the sight of him.
The hundred which changed the course of the game at Derby this week was his fourth against the Foxes and boosted his average in matches with Leicestershire to the high 60s.
It was his fifth first-class century of the season, four of which have come in the last nine Championship games, and his 23rd for Derbyshire who have awarded him a benefit in 2017.
There is an unspoken view in the game that runs outside of Division One carry less weight with the selectors although Madsen demonstrated he can perform in the top tier of domestic cricket with more than 1,200 runs in 2013.
Whether he has done enough to register with the selectors remains to be seen and Madsen is realistic about his prospects.
“There are a lot of young players coming through who are performing well but I have experience and have been doing it for a number of years now,” he said.
“I’ve been scoring runs consistently so I’d like to think there is still a chance for me. Looking around the country there are other batters who are scoring runs and trying to put their name in the hat as well so the best thing for me is to keep scoring runs, let the bat do the talking and, hopefully, the rest will take care of itself.
“To have done really well in a team that’s not performing could potentially count against me because it’s not in a winning team but for me it’s about runs on the board and this is the first time I’ve scored five hundreds in a season.”
This has been a difficult season to be a Derbyshire player but Madsen believes there are grounds for optimism despite the disappointing results in the Championship.
“I think a real positive is that we are seeing some of our young guys, in particular in the last couple of games, starting to stand up, and for us the key is to add a bit of experience through the winter which I know we are trying to do.”
Two half centuries in the game from 19-year-old wicketkeeper Harvey Hosein underlined the potential in the club and Madsen said: “He is a great example.
“The way he played over the last few games he’s shown a lot of maturity and the young bowlers have started to come through so there are a lot of talented young cricketers coming through.
“What’s now is important is to nurture that with experience so I think our signings through the winter will be crucial.
“It’s always disappointing when you get to this stage of the season and aren’t competing anywhere near the top but in white ball cricket we’ve shown a lot of improvement and in red ball cricket we need to do better.”
Leicester skipper Mark Cosgrove made a gritty four-hour second innings century as Derbyshire pushed for victory after Tony Palladino blew their top order away. It wasn’t to be though.