100 objects p 82 MCC in County Set p 84 Paul Nixon interview p 88 Alex Gidman on retiring p 90

County Diary

Richard Gibson snifis out stories from all 18 counties

DERBYSHIRE

Derbyshire’s first-team squad were put through intense fitness checks on their return to training at the start of November, the results of which will help strength and conditioning coach Jonty Norris develop bespoke training programmes.

“We’ve been focusing on speed and power to get an idea of how fast the guys are over a straight 20 metres, but also running between the wickets – so making it really cricketspecific,” Norris said. “We’re also looking at endurance and strength testing_and some of that is to get a picture of where they are at, but some of it is to allow me to prescribe training based on the individual’s needs. We don’t have squad training plans anymore, it’s about individual plans depending on what the player needs to get out of it.”

The club escaped with a warning after the Championship match against Kent at Chesterfield was washed out. It had been moved from Derby because of a concert.

GLAMORGAN

Matthew Maynard is back at Glamorgan 20 years after leading them to the Championship_title.

Maynard, 51, has returned to Cardiff as a batting consultant following a mutual early release from his contract as head coach at_Somerset.

“Matt has a wealth of experience as both a player and a coach which will be invaluable to the club,” said chief executive Hugh Morris.

“He has a genuine passion and enthusiasm for batting and with his history at_Glamorgan is the ideal person to bring on board to oversee and develop the first-team batting, as well as our young Welsh talent.

“He will support the current coaching team under the leadership of Robert Croft and bring extra technical expertise to the batting as we look to build on our one-day success and begin to compete across all three formats.”

GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Julian Calefato, with experience of working in several sports including rugby union, sailing, ice hockey and weightlifting, is Gloucestershire’s new physiotherapist.

Calefato, previously based at Loughborough and most recently at Derbyshire, said: “I enjoy building relationships with people and contributing to their success both personally and on the sports field.”

Meanwhile, the club’s strength and conditioning coach Bob Smith has enrolled those members of the first-team squad remaining in the UK this winter into weekly hot yoga_sessions.

It is part of a policy of encouraging players to keep an open mind when it comes to training methods.

DURHAM

Paul Collingwood says he took the end-of-season departures of Keaton Jennings and Paul Coughlin – the men identified in the club’s succession – personally. Both were given a taste of captaincy in 2017 as Durham prepare for the 41-year-old’s eventual retirement.

“Losing them impacts on you pretty hard. You probably shouldn’t but you take it personally,” he told The Cricketer. “I find loyalty is a two-way thing. When you have put so much time and effort into players, for them to think they have to move on to further their careers – that hurts me.