David Wainwright began his time at Yorkshire, where as a left-arm spinner he was one of crop of young slow bowlers on the staff. Initially he enjoyed some success, especially in one-day and Twenty20 cricket, and reached as far as England Lions level when he played three times for them in 2010.

He also built a reputation as one of the most doughty lower-order batsmen on the circuit, exemplified at Hove in 2008 when centuries from Wainwright and Adil Rashid, two spinners tucked away in the bottom four of the batting order, turned an overnight score of 84 for 6 into an imposing 400 for nine declared. It was one of his three first-class hundreds.

However, first-team opportunities, particularly in four-day cricket, were limited at Yorkshire due to the presence of Rashid and Azeem Rafiq and in 2011 he asked for a release, another left-arm spinner who had not quite measured up to Yorkshire's history.

He was subsequently signed by Derbyshire, after a previous brief loan spell, where he has flourished as their senior spinner in all formats. He picked up 50 first-class wickets at an average of 31 in 2012, which was a major factor in Derbyshire winning the Division Two title in the County Championship promotion. He quickly got his Derbyshire career off to a bright start with a career best 6 for 33 on debut against Northamptonshire and his bowling was the key to three of their six victories.

The success earned him a new four-year contract. In 2014, Wainwright became only the 14th Derbyshire player ever to make a century and take five wickets in a first class match as he helped down Leicestershire at Grace Road. But his impact lessened as Derbyshire yo-yoed between the two divisions and he was released in 2015. In total, he took 95 wickets in 43 first-class games and 39 wickets across the shorter formats.

ESPNcricinfo staff