Wayne Madsen feels Shivnarine Chanderpaul's experience could prove crucial to Derbsyhire's hopes of staying up
Wayne Madsen feels Shivnarine Chanderpaul's experience could prove crucial to Derbyshire's bid to stay in Division One.
Last Updated: 04/04/13 3:03pm
Chanderpaul, 38, has signed a two-year deal at the County Cricket Ground and will be expected to help bring steel to Derbyshire's batting line-up this term.
Madsen feels the obdurate left-hander - who has plenty of previous County experience with the likes of Durham, Lancashire and Warwickshire - can be an inspired capture and help the club's rising stars adapt to life at the top level.
"Obviously the stability of his batting and the runs that he scores are going to be massively important for us," Madsen told Sky Sports.
"But it's not just the runs, it's the experience he brings for the younger guys who are just starting off their careers."
Despite going up as champions last term, Derbyshire remain many observers' favourites to be relegated come the end of the season.
Steep learning curve
Madsen acknowledges that his youthful side face a steep learning curve having secured promotion back to the top flight for the first time since 2000, but is confident his troops can adapt to the challenge.
"I think there are going to be slight changes that we need to make, we've just had a couple of days down at Taunton playing Somerset and we got a little bit of lesson in playing cricket down there - especially in Division One," he continued.
"We had our eyes opened to a few different things which was great, exactly what we were looking for out of the game.
"We're under no illusions it's going to be tough this year and personally from a captaincy point of view I know there's going to be some challenging moments.
"We want to compete, we want to make sure that we're winnings games and will just look to compete in every game that we play."
