Circumstances force retired Derbyshire player, currently Head of Talent Pathway, to make a return for One-Dayer
COVID-19 has sent the world into a tizzy. Over the last year and a half, it has wreaked lives and livelihoods all over the world. It has affected the sporting world as well and cricket hasn’t been spared either. This deadly virus has forced cricket to take a different turn at almost every step. Bio-secure bubbles, no saliva, playing behind closed doors more often than not and whatnot.
Teams have started touring with a large pool of players on tours. They carry net bowlers and additional reserve players apart from their usual set of 16 or 17 players when they travel overseas even if it is for a short duration.
India have faced the situation twice already when they were without a host of their preferred set of players. If it was due to injury in Australia, the coronavirus hit the team in Sri Lanka which forced as many as eight players to go into isolation. England had their entire ODI squad go into isolation after a few players and support staff tested positive and they had to field an all-new team against Pakistan.
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What’s happening at Derbyshire?
Now, another such incident has occurred but this time in domestic cricket in England. Daryn Smit who is currently The Head of Talent Pathway for Derbyshire is all set to make a comeback. He has been named in the 13-man Derbyshire squad for their last group stage game of the Royal London One-Day Cup against Surrey.
Smit who is a Durban-born cricketer had played for Derbyshire between 2017 and 2019 and had affected 74 dismissals. He had made his first-class, List ‘A’ and T20 debut back in 2004 and finished his career with County cricket in England in 2019. He had retired at the end of the 2019 English domestic season and became Derbyshire’s Head of Talent Pathway.
Derbyshire have been forced to recall Smit due to some challenging circumstances. First-choice and regular wicket-keeper batsman Brooke Guest is currently in self-isolation while Harvey Hosein has been ruled out due to concussion protocols. The latter was hit on his head during the game against Leicestershire.
Daryn Smit, who retired at the end of the 2019 season to become Derbyshire's head of talent pathway, will keep wicket in the Royal London Cup tomorrow… https://t.co/T3C0OVFar6
— Nick Friend (@NickFriend1) August 11, 2021
Smit is all set to play his first competitive game in almost two years and he will also don the gloves. He had last featured in the Vitality T20 Blast in 2019. In that tournament, he batted five times in 14 matches and accumulated 80 runs while striking at 111.11. Overall, Smit’s has a decent List ‘A’ record. He has amassed 2139 runs at an average of 31.92 which includes one hundred and 11 half-centuries.
Derbyshire have already been knocked out of the ongoing Royal London One-Day Cup. They have no chance of making it to the quarter-final. They have a mere one win, five losses and one no-result from seven games so far and are languishing at the bottom of the Group B points table. Even a win will not help them avoid a wooden spoon finish.
The Alex Hughes-led Derbyshire side face fifth-placed Surrey in their final group stage encounter of this Royal London One-Day Cup 2021 which is scheduled to be played on the 12th of August at the County Ground in Derby.
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