Krikken bullish over Derbyshire prospects

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Head coach Karl Krikken insists Derbyshire will not be content to make up the numbers in Division One of the LV= County Championship.

Krikken’s side secured an unexpected promotion from the second tier last season, finishing top of the table ahead of Yorkshire, who also went up, and Hampshire.

They did so, too, with an array of homegrown youngsters making key contributions throughout the campaign.

Krikken admits he is not sure how his players will react to the step up in 2013, but is looking forward to finding out.

“We will be playing the same and doing things as well as we can. We feel well-equipped and will give it the best possible chance,” he told ecb.co.uk.

“We hear different stories about Division One; some coaches have said it’s a lot more difficult and others a little bit.

“We will see where we get next year. It was a five-year plan and still is. We had aimed to go up in the second or third year and have managed to do it in two.

Karl Krikken, far left, back row, was optimistic when assessing Derbyshire's prospects in LV= County Championship Division One

“But we are looking to win it really. You cannot go in with an attitude of just making do and hoping you will survive. We are looking to win every game - that’s what we did last year and we will do the same again.”

It is easy to see why Krikken is approaching the season with such confidence given the strides many of his players have made.

Young players like Dan Redfern have begun to fulfil their potential, while more experienced heads such as Wes Durston - signed on the back of good performances for the Unicorns two and a half years ago - have thrived in the environment Krikken has created since taking the reins in 2011.

“The sky’s the limit. We have got a lot of young players and we do not know how they will react,” he added. “We are hoping we can push those through and that the guys who delivered in Division Two will in Division One.

“The guys that we have are mid-20s or early-20s. They have got a lot of expectations on them, but they did marvellously well this year and I expect the same next.

“We are very lucky to have just one guy (Durston) in our team over the age of 30; it gives you a lot to work with and is great from a coach’s point of view.”

One player likely to fit neatly into Derbyshire’s set-up is new signing Billy Godleman, who until recently held the England Under-19s record as their most prolific batsman.

He has yet to transfer those exploits into the domestic game and Krikken is looking forward to trying to bring the best out of the opener following his move from Essex.

“He fits our profile perfectly,” added Krikken. “There is no doubt he can play and he will have an opportunity to do that. Hopefully, our environment will be such that he can thrive.

“We are looking forward to having him on board and hoping he can score a lot of runs. We think we can do a lot for Billy and I am sure he will come good.”

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