Jack Morley hopes his spell at Derbyshire will help his career catch up with that of his good friend Tom Hartley.

The left-arm spinners both made their Lancashire debuts in the Covid summer of 2020, and Morley outbowled Hartley on his first appearance, against Derbyshire at Aigburth.

Since then, Hartley has gone on to the highest of higher honours, bowling England to a Test win in India and becoming an automatic pick for Lancashire and the Manchester Originals in the shorter formats.

It’s not as though Morley has stood still – he made five Championship appearances for the Red Rose last summer and signed a new contract last month.

But when Aussie star Nathan Lyon arrived, and all the talk was about whether there was room for two spinners in the side, he knew his chances would be limited.

So a season-long loan at Derbyshire made sense to all parties.

“The lads have helped me settle in really nicely,” he said.

“After Lancs signed Nathan Lyon, they wanted me to go out and play some cricket. 

“I understand the reason they signed someone of that calibre, though I was a little bit gutted at the time. 

“But they’ve been really good at helping me get this loan move, and hopefully the chances of me playing in the 1st XI at Derbyshire are a bit higher.”

It’s yet to happen, but Morley was on standby at Headingley over the past four days – meaning Newton-le-Willows missed him for their season-opening defeat at Ormskirk on Saturday.

Morley took 32 wickets as Chris Chambers’ side won Division One last year, but the club understand his county chances have to take priority.

He said: “I’m not sure how it’s going to pan out, but if I’m available for Newton on a weekend because I’m not playing for the 1st XI and there’s cover, then the chances of me playing at Newton are pretty high. 

“But it depends on the situation, on what the coaches want and things like that.

“Newton are very good with that, they want what’s best for me and at the minute that’s playing County Championship cricket. 

“That’s one of the reasons I enjoy playing my cricket at Newton, there’s never any pressure if I’m not playing, they’re really understanding.”

Morley plans to use Hartley’s rapid rise as inspiration, and fuel to help him keep plugging away.

He added: “Tommy is one of my closest friends at Lancashire. 

“In the last five years, we’ve played a lot of cricket together, spent a lot of winters together and worked with the same coaches. 

“We know each other really well away from cricket and when I saw him doing what he’s done for England, I was so pleased for him. 

“And it gives me something to look up to, and something I can hope to do in the future.

“It’s just a case of when my opportunity comes, to take it with both hands and try to perform.”

“Whatever happens, happens but I’ve just got to control what I can control.”

The start of the county season has been characterised by bowlers complaining about the Kookaburra balls, used at the insistence of England managing director Rob Key.

It’s mostly considered a seamers’ problem, but Morley believes spinners notice the difference too.

“With the Kookaburras, there’s mixed reviews,” he said.

“The seam is wider but not as raised – some spinners really like it because they can grip it a little bit more, but some spinners like a raised seam because they feel like they’ve got something to hold on to. 

“I fall into that category but it’s very individualised. 

“What you can tend to find with a Kookaburra compared to the Dukes is that when it gets older, you can find it not spinning as much because there’s no contact with the seam on the pitch. 

“But I’m happy to bowl with whatever.”