Derbys' Dino Is Proving That He Is No Dinosaur

HAVING come so close to calling it a day, Derbyshire seamer Tony Palladino has found a new lease of life.

- Bradley West

A phenomenal late-career burst brought 51 Championship wickets in 2018 and he’s continued in a similar vein with 17 dismissals in six four-day matches this summer.

Last year – in an attack featuring Duanne Olivier, Hardus Viljoen and current World Cup star Lockie Ferguson – it was Palladino who shone brightest as his canny, full-length seam deliveries bamboozled Division Two’s best and brightest at an average of 19.72.

That won him a two-year contract extension and very few people, not least Palladino himself, could have envisaged this scenario when the former Essex bowler became a playercoach at Derbyshire in 2016, with one eye on winding down.

His renaissance came at just the right time as the 35-year-old, with well in excess of 100 firstclass matches to his name, had come mightily close to ending his playing days, believing his best was behind him.

“A couple of years ago I was doing a dual role with coaching and playing and I kind of felt like I moved away from my cricket a bit,” Palladino said.