Cricket Archive

Brief profile of Adrian Pierson by Matthew Reed

Player:

Adrian Pierson enjoyed a long and at times triumphant county career across 16 playing seasons before having his cricketing experience soured by a coaching stint at Derbyshire. When Pierson was sacked at the end of the 2003 season to make way for the imminent arrival of new Director of Cricket Dave Houghton, he spoke openly of having been made a scapegoat and of having to endure unwelcome and meddlesome interference from committee members. His relationship with skipper Dominic Cork was damaged when the former spoke publicly of his desires to have someone other than Pierson on the coaching staff at Derby. In Pierson’s brief playing appearances for Derbyshire in 2001 he had showed he was still a tidy and economical bowler.

During his time at Leicestershire, Pierson was so highly thought of that in 1993 home pitches were frequently prepared to be slow and spin receptive, despite West Indian quick Winston Benjamin being the Grace Road club’s overseas player that year. A career highlight was undoubtedly his part in Leicestershire’s 1996 County Championship win, when only David Millns and Gordon Parsons bowled more overs than him, as his long and economical spells provided a base from which the pace bowlers could attack.

Pierson is a qualified commercial pilot, and it is thought that he has pursued a career in this field, obviously deciding that 25,000 ft up is a safer and less stressful environment than a County committee room.

(November 2005)