Richard Harvey says eyes and ears are trained on all corners of Staffordshire ahead of the new season.
Harvey, chairman of the county club’s cricket committee, has outlined how Staffs have formulated their playing plans for the upcoming summer challenges.
Head coach Chris Milward and assistant Pete Wilshaw have welcomed new signings into the group, while players who haven’t featured for a number of seasons are also back on the radar.
Herefordshire duo Ollie Walker and Sam Keeling-Wright – both born in the county and who play for Staffs clubs Himley and Old Hill respectively – plus former Berkshire captain Dan Lincoln, have all been recruited.
And the likes of Alex Coates, Tom Steele and Sam Kelsall, who have represented Staffordshire in the past, have also increased competition for places.
‘Quality counts’
“Seeing Alex (Coates), Tom (Steele) and Sam (Kelsall) at training all winter has been fantastic,” said Harvey.
“They bring quality and experience and getting the best players from the leagues involved in the county squad is really important to us.
“They are the kind of players we need involved in Staffordshire cricket. I know the captain (James Kettleborough) and coaches have been hugely impressed with their attitudes through the winter and hopefully they will relish the opportunity to be back involved with the county set-up.
“There are obviously several South Staffs clubs playing in the Birmingham League and we need to make sure we have a strong handle on players that are doing well across the county.
“For a long time there’s been a perception that Staffordshire has a ‘North’ bias and while there are obviously a lot more Staffordshire clubs playing in the North Staffs and South Cheshire League, it’s our job to make sure players doing well in the Staffs County League, Birmingham league and over in the east of the county are being considered for inclusion in the squad.
“Ollie and Sam obviously come into that category but there are many others in the squad from clubs across the county which is really pleasing.”
‘Finding the right formula’
Walker and Keeling-Wright linking up with the squad strengthens Staffordshire’s ‘homegrown’ options.
National Counties Cricket Association rules state that sides must feature eight players who were either born, play their club cricket or were educated in that county.
Teams are allowed three ‘outside’ players in each XI – with Staffordshire currently having Liam Hurt, Tom Brett and new recruit Lincoln who all come into that category.
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Counties also have to comply with a team age limit. The oldest three players are exempt, but the other eight must have an average age of 25 or under. In effect, sides have 200 years to cover those eight spots.
“With regards to Oli, Sam and Dan they all offer something different in terms of skill sets so it obviously strengthens us in all departments,” explained Harvey.
“Sam and Ollie were particularly pleasing earlier in the winter in terms of signing the best players from the south of the county.
“They are both involved in the Challengers programme and are really talented young cricketers with decent levels of experience.
“Dan’s signing was an obvious bonus at the back end of the winter programme. When a player of his quality becomes available it has to be taken seriously.
“And then when it becomes clear what kind of character he is, how he’s keen to work with our players, and has the same values and mentality as we have, then it does feel like a really exciting acquisition.”
‘Winter work’
Staffordshire have undergone a rigorous winter training programme under the watchful eye of Milward and Wilshaw.
But despite having their squad in place, Harvey says that the door is always open for players to throw their names into the hat.
However, he says that – despite outside perceptions – it’s not always easy to pick certain cricketers to represent Staffordshire.
“We have a squad that consists of experienced, established players but also includes several players who have showed promise in club cricket, through the county age groups and who we want to expose to high quality cricket in the hope they will make the step up in standard to National Counties level,” added Harvey.
“I will say, though, performances are one of several factors when considering players for county selection. Attitude and actual desire to play are major considerations.
“I often get asked why ‘Player X’ isn’t playing for Staffs and in many cases it’s often because that particular player may not be able to commit to the games, they may have work commitments, or it may just be that they don’t want to be considered.
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“And that’s absolutely fine, I know the players who’ve been at nets through the winter are committed to Staffs and would all love to represent the first team and that’s the desire that’s really important.
“So, yes, performances in league cricket are really important and we hope to be able to provide opportunities through the season for as many squad players to be selected for first or second team cricket.
“And if players outside of the winter squad are pressing for a place in those teams because their form is consistently good in the leagues, then even better.”
‘Off-field business’
The coaching staff and players have been putting in the hard yards since the end of last season.
But so have Harvey and his cricket committee, which has representatives from all areas of Staffordshire, ahead of the 2026 action getting underway.
“Yeah there’s obviously been a few things happening with regards to players signing and the squad generally,” said Harvey.
“New signing wise, Ollie and Sam have been netting for the most part of the winter and with Dan signing more recently he’s managed to get to the final session and meet the lads.
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“Of course Joe (Hawkins) and Rory (Haydon) signing for Derbyshire has meant they haven’t been wintering with us and Anis (Raza) has moved to Shropshire so those guys haven’t been around the squad.
“Away from the playing side of things we’ve renamed the Development side. We very much see this team as a place where squad players can perform with a view to staking a claim in the first team, hence we want this to be our genuine second XI.
“In terms of venues we’re keen to play at grounds across the whole county and whether it be first or second team games we feel we’re making good progress with this.
“The clubs we do play at always do such a fantastic job of hosting the fixtures which is something as a county we’re extremely grateful for.”
‘Curtain raiser’
Staffordshire kick off their NCCA season on Sunday when they host Norfolk at West Bromwich Dartmouth in the Knockout Trophy.
Harvey is now relishing the prospect of seeing their winter work pay off handsomely over the next six months.
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“The winter programme has been delivered brilliantly by Chris and Pete and there’s been a real buzz,” explained former county skipper Harvey. “Numbers have been excellent all winter and that’s even though there have been quite a few of the squad spending the winter playing in Australia.
“Chris, Pete and Ketts are very clear with the lads about the values and expectations of being a Staffordshire player, and the standards of professionalism set over the past couple of years are embedded with the players so the sessions have been really high in quality as a result.
‘Speaking out’
“I listened to Pete telling the players what being a Staffs player meant to him during one of the sessions. It was brilliant to listen to.
“Pete’s passion for Staffs cricket is infectious and I hope the lads take inspiration from the messages he, Chris and Ketts have delivered over the winter.
“I do feel really positive about what this group of players could achieve. Training has been excellent, we’ve got competition for places and hopefully that level of competition will mean individuals take their own performance to its best level.
“If that happens then there’s no doubt we’ve got the ability to beat any side in any competition. But I’m not going to get carried away because for the 11 players we put out there for each game, there’s another 11 trying their best to beat us, so turning the ability into consistent performances is what we need to do.
“We have the quality to do well in all formats, so hopefully the season gets off to a good start and then the momentum carries us to a successful summer.”
Main image: Chairman of Staffordshire’s cricket committee, Richard Harvey, has been outlining the winter work put in.