Footitt pushes claims to England's left-arm vacancy

Not for the first time, English cricket is gazing covetously upon an Australian side ahead of the Ashes. Having seen the damage inflicted by Trent Boult in the opening Test series of the summer, England now face the challenge posed by two more left-arm quicks - Australia's two Mitchells - knowing that it is a strength they cannot match.

In the five years since Ryan Sidebottom's last Test appearance, no left-arm pace bowler has played for England. Other English left-armers, notably Bill Voce and John Lever, have made a significant contribution, yet none has ever taken 100 Test wickets.

Enter - perhaps - Mark Footitt.

At first glance he does not look much like the left-arm hope tantalising England. His run-up begins rather diffidently, only gaining speed in his last few strides. When he gets to the crease, his right-arm falls away.

It all provides little indication of what comes next. Footitt can move the ball both ways at a speed near 90mph, has a formidable bouncer, and is skilled at bowling either over or around the wicket.

In his approach he draws inspiration from an Australian star of 2005. "One of my favourite bowlers was Brett Lee. All the time he ran in, hit the wicket hard, and tried to be aggressive," Footitt said. "That's what I'm in the team for - to be a strike bowler, break a partnership or try and mop up the tail."

The sight might yet be spotted against Australia this summer. Should England's phalanx of right-arm over-the-wicket bowlers struggle in the opening Tests, the selectors might seek out the greater variety Footitt would provide. There are few other contenders. "Left-armers are a bit like gold dust," he said.

"It would be a great opportunity and great experience for me to play in the Ashes. Obviously I would back my ability to play Test cricket." So he should. Since the start of 2014, Footitt has taken 116 first-class wickets at a smidgeon under 20 apiece.

Last winter Footitt was selected in the England Performance Programme squad. He also bowled in the nets to England as they readied themselves for the challenge of facing Boult. "I bowled really well, and I think they were really impressed," he said.

But to Graeme Welch, the Elite Performance Director at Derbyshire, the selectors are still not taking him quite seriously enough. "I've run out of breath speaking to them about him," Welch said. "He's international class. He's left-arm, he swings it, and he can bowl fast."

Welch is aghast when he recalls a visit to Derbyshire by Kevin Shine, the lead fast bowling coach at the ECB, last year. "He complained about Derby wickets doing a little bit too much. We looked at Mark's wickets and he got just as many away as he did at home."

Shine's reservations hint at the wider challenge for Footitt. Derbyshire have not produced an England debutant since Dominic Cork in 1995. The challenge is particularly acute while they remain in Division Two of the County Championship.

Not that Footitt regards Division Two cricket as inadequate preparation for a Test match. "The England captain plays in Division Two. There's still a load of good cricketers in Division Two. The gap's not as big as everyone says it is." He said: "If you're doing well, scoring runs, taking wickets, I think there should be the opportunity to play for England."

In an age when potential future England cricketers are marked out as separate from their county contemporaries, given tailor-made development programmes and spend copious time at the National Cricket Performance Centre at Loughborough, Footitt has followed a more circuitous route.

As a 19-year-old on first-class debut for Nottinghamshire in 2005, he took 4 for 45 against Glamorgan. But injuries, inconsistency and Nottinghamshire's formidable pace attack limited him to nine first-class games in five years, until Footitt was released after the 2009 season.

Only Derbyshire were interested. He is a poster boy for the merits of the 18-county structure: with fewer teams, his career would long ago have been toast. "If they'd put it down to 16 or 12 counties or whatever, it wouldn't give people opportunities to have a second chance," he recognised.

At Derbyshire he played more, but old problems remained. When Footitt turned 27 after three years at the club, he had still taken only 72 first-class wickets.

He could easily have never taken another. In October 2012, he had an operation to remove a disc from his back: "a nervewracking time." Though he was not told as much at the time, the operation could have ended his career.

He has scarcely missed a Championship game since, benefiting from a personal fitness programme developed by James Pipe and Jamie Tallent, Derbyshire's physio and the fitness coach; he no longer does squats or lifts weights to protect his back. He also rarely plays Twenty20 cricket, which he credits with being able to maintain his pace until deep in a Championship game.

After eight years as a professional had failed to marry potential and performance, and with a serious injury to overcome, he understandably struggled, in his own words, "to recognise that my talent was good enough to play first-class cricket." But 42 wickets in Division One in 2013 assuaged the doubts.

"You always have that little doubt in your mind when you have a bit of an off-day," he said. "But you've still got to keep yourself going. Self-belief is something that I try and concentrate on massively to keep myself going."

Since Welch joined Derbyshire before the 2014 season, Footitt has ascended remarkable heights, taking more first-class wickets than anyone else in England. He has put an end to the tinkering with Footitt's action. "He told me to leave things and told me to realise how good I am," Footitt said. "He's just basically just said 'do what you do.' "

The only tweak Welch has made has been to liberate him from fretting about no balls. "I always looked at the front foot, instead of looking at where the ball was supposed to go," Footitt reflected. No longer. "Now I look at where I'm bowling instead of where I'm going to land."

Footitt speaks with a palpable affection for Welch, who he credits with becoming more adaptable as a bowler. "Sometime you come in and you're going to have a four-over burst trying to bowl full, full-speed, and others you just want to sit in there and maybe hold it back a bit and just try to bowl maidens."

Yet, for all his delight at his recent form, he speaks slightly ruefully. "If I knew what I know now when I was 20 years old I think the world would be my oyster."

Perhaps it still could be. Despite his lack of batting aptitude - Welch calls him "definitely a No 11 - and it's a good job there's not 12 or else he'd be 12" - Footitt is becoming increasingly difficult for England to ignore.

"I think he could be good enough to play for England, yes," said Leicestershire's Niall O'Brien, who saw plenty of left-armers for Ireland during the World Cup. "Footit is a very talented bowler who over the last two years has improved more than most on the county circuit. Able to bowl at 90mph, and with good control and the right mix of aggression, he is a deadly weapon."

Even if the Ashes come too soon, England have another 21 Tests by the end of 2016: ample opportunity for Derbyshire's 20-year wait to produce an England player to end. Footitt's compelling story would make him an apt man to end that unwanted run.