By Matt Somerford
Derbyshire left-armer Mark Footitt could have been excused for not wanting the summer to end.
It began with the first of his six five-wicket hauls, as Derbyshire rattled out an Essex side including England skipper Alastair Cook for 94 on the opening day of the LV= County Championship season.
It ended with 102 wickets in all formats, Derbyshire’s player of the season award and his first call-up to an England squad for almost a decade.
It was a spectacular return that almost doubled the stats he had slowly built during a self-confessed “stop-start” career that began with Nottinghamshire as a teenager.
“Yeah, something definitely clicked this year,” a modest and understated Footitt told ecb.co.uk.
"I just kept it simple and the wickets came.”
When the wickets came they came in a rush.
The 28-year-old returned six-wicket hauls on four occasions en-route to 82 championship scalps– 10 more than any other bowler in the country.
“When I’ve got wickets they have been in quick bursts and I get that five or six quite quickly,” he said.
“They are never stretched over a long period of time. When I get on that roll it was hard to stop.
“That said there are other times when you are looking at line and length, bowling maidens to put pressure on the batters.
“I was especially proud this year that I did a bit of both and the rewards came.”
So why the turnaround in fortune?
Footitt believes the appointment of elite performance director Graeme Welch in January, as part of a major shake-up at the 3aaa County Ground following relegation, was significant.
“Graeme coming in, I’ve benefitted from that massively,” he added.
“He’s someone who has instilled confidence not just in me but the whole squad as well. He’s got us to go out there and play fearless cricket and keep everything simple – I think it’s worked well, especially in the second half of the season.
“Playing in Division One last season gave me an eye-opener how to bowl and I took that on board this season while keeping things simple.
“Having the confidence of a coach who tells you to go out there and express yourself and play with no fears is big as well.”
The results have been clear to see: Derbyshire finished the summer with five wins from their final six championship games, while for Footitt the benefits are set to continue on into the next few months.
Indeed, his memorable summer is set to linger on as – after a family trip to Lanzarote this month – he will follow the sun to South Africa with the England fast bowlers’ camp in Potchefstroom at the end of November.
It is the first time he has been around an England squad since he played with the Under-19s almost a decade ago and a preliminary catch-up with the squad at Loughborough immediately after the season gave Footitt a gentle reminder of life in the international set-up.
“I’m really excited by the prospect,” he said.
“I went to Loughborough for the fitness tests and screenings and it was an eye-opener with the way things are done compared to when I was with the under-19s.
“There was work on mental side of the game, personal side of the game and what you want to do after cricket and what you want to get from the winter.
“I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in and learning and hopefully developing my game a little bit more.
“I think it was 2006 when I was last with the England Under-19s when they did an academy in the winter.
“At 18 or 19 you take it for granted a little bit. You think this is brilliant and you are having a good time and you don’t realise until you get a bit older that you could probably have done things a little bit better.”
Footitt does not intend to let this opportunity pass him by in South Africa, especially with England on the look-out for left-armers.
“It will be interesting. I just want to try and learn as much as I can and I hope bigger things come from it,” he said.
“If England are looking for a left-armer, obviously there is Harry Gurney as well, but there are not many of us about. That does work in my favour and if I work hard and do well then hopefully bigger things will come from it.
“If it happens, it happens and if it doesn’t then I should have learnt from it and I can come back to Derby and help Derby push for honours and trophies.”
Derbyshire ended the season with a feel-good factor as their late surge helped them to fourth in Division Two, while they reached the knockout stages of a limited-overs competition for the first time since 2005.
Footitt’s form highlighted a sense of growth at the 3aaa County Ground after they had suffered relegation the previous season.
And under Welch, Footitt believes the environment is right to kick on next term.
“There is a massive potential at Derby,” Footitt said.
“It has changed completely with the structure that has been brought in and Graham has come in and set a professional environment out. The lads have all bought into it.
“We started the season not as well as we wanted to. The coaching staff and the players staff were finding their feet with each other and the best ways to work with each other.
“During the one-day competition we did brilliantly. To get to a quarter-final was absolutely fantastic, I wish we could have gone on a bit further but hopefully that happens next year.
“Then to win five of the last sixth championship games to finish fourth was a massive achievement for us and we just want to push on and hopefully take the momentum we had at the end of this season into the start of next season.”