Footitt in the driving seat as he puts the family first
Joshua Peck discovers the reasons why the left-arm paceman decided to return this month to his roots in the east Midlands
Doing the school run is just something that, as a parent, you have to do. It is not necessarily something you look forward to. Unless you are Mark Footitt.
Footitt has returned to Nottinghamshire, where he started his professional career, having been unable to settle at Surrey, away from his family. But now he is back where it all began, alongside his wife and daughter, and ready to get straight into the swing of things.
“It’s been nice to be back at home,” Footitt told The Cricket Paper. “It was a big reason for me coming back. It was nothing do with the cricket as to why I left Surrey, it was 100 per cent down to family reasons. They were really good about it and agreed that family has to come first.
“Everyone has a bad day at the office and when you have one but you haven’t got your family around you, then you’re just sitting on your own and thinking about it all night.
“It wasn’t really much help for myself, but now if I have a bad day I’ve got someone who will sit down with me and take my mind off it. It took a lot of weight off my shoulders.
“I’ve got one daughter and she struggled with me being away. When I was home she wasn’t herself, almost as if she was waiting for me to leave, so it was definitely the right thing to do.
“Now I’m about 15-20 minutes away from the ground which is perfect for me so I can do school runs in the morning, and if our training is finished I can pick her up in the afternoon. I can start being a dad again instead of an absent dad.”
At 31, some would argue that Footitt’s best days are behind him. Having spent his younger years at Trent Bridge, he departed for Derbyshire in 2009 – and it was at the County Ground that he flourished.
His left-arm swing took an astounding 82 County Championship wickets in 2014 before he followed it up with 76 the following year, when Footitt was also named in England’s Ashes squad. That earned him a move to Division One when Surrey came calling.
“Going to Surrey was an opportunity that was too good to turn down,” added Footitt. “You’re going to play for one of the biggest clubs in the country at the Oval every week. It is a big club and it does swallow you up and eat you if you’re not careful. I’ve got no regrets of going there and they were brilliant with my departure so I’m thankful for that.”
Having been given that England chance two years ago, Footitt was again selected for his country as they toured South Africa in 2015-16, but is still to make his Test bow.
Despite an injury-hit 2016, he took 34 scalps in eight matches, and the impression is that he would still do anything to earn that international cap.
Footitt said: “Until someone comes up to you and says you’re either too old or just never going to play for England then you never give up and you’re still dreaming at any age. We saw that with Gareth Batty last year, he was 39 and went away with England.
“I learned a lot from being around the England set-up about what it takes to be a Test player. It makes you figure out how much you need to do and how successful these guys are.You learn a lot from being around an international setup but Surrey and Notts are like that.
“At Notts, we’ve got Peter Moores, who used to be England coach, and Michael di Venuto at Surrey was Australia’s batting coach so they bring international philosophies in. It was a bit different at Derbyshire, the coaches were brilliant but still learning, too.”
You never stop learning, though, as a professional sportsman. Notts have just lost Luke Fletcher to injury while their star of the first half of the campaign, James Pattinson, has returned to Australia. But there is still plenty of experience for Footitt to tap into should he wish.
“Having the likes of Stuart Broad and Jake Ball at the club is brilliant,” he said. “I played with Broady when I was with England U19 and Bally was pretty young the first time I was at Notts. They’re both brilliant bowlers to learn from even if I’m 31!
“They’ve played Test cricket so you can ask questions of them. If you get someone who has been around international cricket, it does make a difference. I’m not saying those who haven’t been around it can’t do it but those that have got that experience definitely use it.”
Until someone comes up to you and says you’re too old or just never going to play for England, then you never give up