Stand-in skipper Godleman back in business

There was an understated satisfaction to Billy Godleman as, a little sheepishly, he raised his bat leaving the field. Derbyshire's captain had engineered a remarkable turnaround in the match. Resolute and undefeated until the end, he had underpinned Derbyshire's successful chase of 232.

Just twelve months ago, Godleman's very future as a professional cricketer was uncertain. He had not scored a first-class century since 2012. In mid-summer he was marooned in Derbyshire's second team, a precarious existence for a 25-year-old who was out of contract in the winter.

When Godleman was recalled for Derbyshire's final six Championship games, he returned "100% playing for my career," as he reflects. "There were times when I was very concerned about what would lie ahead in the future and whether it was actually going to be in the professional game."

No one would have envisaged such struggles when, as an 18-year-old opening batsman, Godleman scored 842 runs at 38.27 in 2007; that remains both his highest first-class aggregate and average in a campaign.

"I was reasonably successful straight away from a young age. Then when I started not to do very well I didn't quite know how to deal with that," he admits. "I also realised that I wasn't quite as good as I thought I was when I was 18, 19, 20."

Twice he suffered the pain of being released, by Middlesex in 2009 and again by Essex in 2012. Nine matches for Derbyshire in 2013 brought a miserable average of 17.18. When 2014 began equally badly, Godleman faced "accepting I wasn't at the level that I thought I was. And then working out a method of dealing with disappointment and looking at every experience as an opportunity to learn something."

Of one thing Godleman was certain: he was not ready to abandon the game. With Derbyshire faring miserably, Graeme Welch sounded Godleman out. "You've got our full support, go and show us what you can do," he was told.

And then something seemed to click. At The Kia Oval last September, Godleman finally scored a century - and it was a match-winning one to boot. After his recall, Derbyshire won five of their last games. He earned a new one-year contract. After an encouraging start to the season and an injury to Wayne Madsen, Godleman was even entrusted with the captaincy, quite a turn-up for a man with a somewhat chequered past.

It has evidently sat easily with him. Last week Godleman saved Derbyshire from defeat with an unbeaten 64 of 228 balls against Gloucestershire. Here, once again, Godleman's defence was unbreachable in the fourth innings.

Adhesiveness is integral to Godleman's game. He knew that trying to mimic Chesney Hughes or Tillakaratne Dilshan when they were smiting Kent's attack would be fool's gold. Yet, as he showed with a series of rasping cuts and neat pushes through mid-on, he has also expanded his repertoire. Five half centuries at an average of 62.14 so far in 2015 are testament to that.

"Previously he used to be a survivor, trying just to get through, and now he's starting to develop the game to actually influence the play and put the bowler under more pressure and look to be more assertive," says Neil Burns, who has worked extensively with Godleman.

When Essex released Godleman, Burns devised a 60-month programme to turn his game around. "He's had lots of ups and downs but the great thing about Billy is he's prepared to look inside himself and do the tough learning."

Here Godleman's assiduousness was rewarded with Derbyshire's first victory at Canterbury since 1999; quite the reversal after Kent had cruised to 63-1 in their second innings, a lead of 182, before lunch on day two.

Even a bumper crowd of school children on the third day would have done little for Kent's mood. Darren Stevens was immediately whisked away to Maidstone, to play for the second XI, hoping to find some semblance of form after 16 runs in his last six first-class innings. On the evidence of this game, in which Kent hemorrhaged 20 wickets for just 317 runs, perhaps some of his teammates here should join him.