Derbyshire are aiming high after recruitment drive
KIM Barnett has certainly not wasted any time in re-modelling Derbyshire’s squad and the new director of cricket is confident the changes will bear fruit immediately.
Since taking over at the end of September, Barnett’s recruitment drive has left no stone unturned in a bid to put their dreadful 2016 summer in the rear-view mirror.
The announcement of Matt Henry as an overseas signing for the Blast earlier this month adds to other arrivals that include Imran Tahir, Daryn Smit, Gary Wilson and Hardus Viljoen.
John Wright has also come on board as specialist T20 coach for the Blast and Barnett admits he wanted to make a statement from the outset and turn the county’s fortunes around.
“We wanted to set the tone, and that was set down in the winter, people start to think that they would like to come and play here,” said Barnett.
“Particularly because we have got John (Wright) here it has certainly helped. If you had said to me in September that’s what you are going to get – I would have been very pleased.
“It’s not an easy thing for people who have moved to a new county, they don’t always have great starts.
“But we are confident that the guys coming in are the right guys – it’s not about getting a hundred in week one but over the season we are expecting them to have a really positive effect on the group.
“I would have thought with the business that we have done that getting into the top four or five in the Championship and making a quarter-final would be a good return, especially compared to last year.”
Derbyshire and Worcestershire remain the only two counties never to have made it to T20 finals day – and that record was enough to convince Barnett something had to change.
“We have been pretty unsuccessful in T20, to put it mildly,” he added.“John has his strategies and one of the things he was asking me for was a quality bowling attack so we can have a chance of keeping the runs down.
“With Hardus, Imran and Henry and some good allrounders we are not far off that.”