Redfern relishes his chance in the top flight

Dan Redfern is looking forward to the season ahead

Derbyshire’s Dan Redfern is relishing the chance to compete in the top flight of the County Championship, while creating history for the club.

Redfern,22, amassed 792 runs last season, helping the county pip Yorkshire to the Division Two title as they gained promotion to Division One for the first time in 13 years.

The left handed batsman insists the club are looking further than survival and the introduction of West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul shows the club’s ambition and goals.

“Being in Division One is where everyone wants to be,” Redfern told the Sentinel.

“It’s a massive chance for people to be noticed because the top division does attract more attention.

“We’d take staying up, of course, but we believe we can end higher than that.

“Our ambition is to become the best side that Derbyshire has ever fielded and I don’t see any reason why we can’t achieve that.

“Signing a player like Shiv is fantastic for the club and shows that we are developing as a county because we can attract a batsman of his calibre.”

Redern’s preseason hasn’t gone to plan after dislocating a finger on his right hand, on the opening day of their trip to Barbados.

The injury has kept the Derbyshire academy graduate out of action, missing all competitive cricket as the county look to iron out any problems.

“It was the first training session over there,”Redfern added.

“We were doing some slip catching and I took one on the end of my finger. It was dislocated and there is a small fracture in the joint as well.

“There were a few other counties out there, so I missed out on playing two-day games against Notts and Northants, plus a twenty20 tournament.

“It was frustrating, but I had some fitness work to do.

“I know I could have played in the matches, but the danger was if I was hit again, I’d need surgery and be out for a long time, which isn’t what I want.

“We’ve got a warm up game at Somerset next week, so hopefully I’ll be able to have a hit in that game and be ready for the first match.”

Derbyshire have a difficult start to life in Division One as they take on champions Warwickshire on April 10.

Derbyshire “fearless” on return to the topflight

Wayne Madsen has stated his side are in it to win it and have to be “fearless” upon their return to division one of LV= County Championship. 

Derbyshire are featuring in the top flight for just the second time, since the two tier split in 2000, following promotion last year.

Madsen’s men are the favourites to be relegated, but that isn’t going to affect his team’s mentality, as they will be approaching each match looking for victory. With only three points for a draw and 16 for a win, the South African realises what his county are up against.

Madsen said on the preseason trip to Barbados told the ECB: “You start the season looking to win it (the championship). There’s no point in us trying to just survive and stay in the division; if you do that, you’re going to be fighting at the bottom.

“We’re going to look to play positive cricket, fearless cricket exactly like we did last year and we’ll see where that takes us.

“You have to win games if you want to finish anywhere in the table and that’s what we did last year. We were able to win more games than anyone else, hence we won division two.”

Madsen wants his young side to build upon their championship winning season.

He continued: “We’ve started to get that winning mentality and the guys have learnt to finish off games, both with the bat and ball. That’s going to be a big asset to us.”

Derbyshire have added West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul to their side, who has 10,722 Test runs to his name and Madsen knows he is the “man to look out for.”

Despite the threat Chanderpaul will bring at the County Ground, Madsen is adamant his youngsters can’t be overlooked after their achievements last season.

“We’ve got a few youngsters coming through,” he added.

“Our bowling line up did particularly well for us last year and on the batting front we’ve got young Dan Redfern in the middle order and a few older heads at the top, who contributed last year and will be looking to do more of the same.”

Derbyshire travel to Leek as they take on Essex

Derbyshire look to broaden their fan base, moving away from the County Ground for the Yorkshire Bank 40 contest against Essex on Sunday 9 June.

The fixture will take place at Highfield, Leek, three years after an enthralling encounter between the same two counties, which saw 547 runs; with Essex winning by five wickets through D/L after the home side racked up 299-7.

Leek host YB40 match between Derbyshire and Essex

They returned to the Staffordshire Moorlands ground for a Friends Life T20 game against Warwickshire in 2011, which Derbyshire won by six wickets, Martin Guptill smashing 72 off 44 balls.

There was a break in their travels across the county border in 2012, but an eagerly awaited return is in prospect in the coming season, with the likes of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Wes Durston and local boy Dan Redfern available to make the visit.

Derbyshire Chief Executive Simon Storey said: “By taking this fixture to Leek we are making county cricket accessible to communities outside our usual catchment area.

“Leek will appeal to cricket fans from the Staffordshire Moorlands and Stoke-On-Trent as well as areas in Derbyshire, particularly, Ashbourne, Buxton and the Peak District, all of whom I hope will come out in support of the match.

“Having played matches at Highfield before, we know the facilities and infrastructure are in place to host a very successful match-day operation. It promises to be a very good for cricket supporters and families.”

Leek CC chairman Brian Mellor commented: “It’s a pleasure to host county cricket at Highfield and we’re looking forward to the opportunity of doing so again this summer.

“It will be a real treat for our members and the local community to see Derbyshire’s title winners, plus the new signing of (Shivnarine) Chanderpaul, in action at our venue.”