Done and dusted

So how was it for you?

Christmas, I mean. We'd a great time here up in the frozen north and the traditional turkey and trimmings was followed by the traditional dessert of Christmas Pudding and the even more traditional glass of Andrews later in the evening as the realisation hit that I'd overdone the eating yet again (despite vowing not to).

I'd a lovely clutch of presents including "The Derbyshire Chronicles" by Edward Giles which I'm enjoying becaise he's done his research and isn't just regurgitating the same old stuff. I even got a nice, home made cricket bookmark from my daughter to go with it.

I've spent a little time, as I'm off till early January, watching the Test from Melbourne and Matt Hayden's time as an Aussie opener seems to be coming to a close. Where that leaves us is a moot point, as Chris Rogers excellent form suggests that he may be next in line for an opening slot. Katich and Rogers, Derbyshire past and present, as opening batsmen would give us all something to be proud of.

Of course, it might also mean that we could be looking elsewhere for an overseas batsman/skipper next year if Rogers played and made a good fist of things. An Ashes tour may then be on the cards and we'd be back to that annual game we know and love, called "Replace the Overseas Pro".

It has happened with monotonous regularity of late, albeit through no fault of the club. They either get injured (Nathan Astle, Jacques Rudolph) or have commitments thrust upon them that they were unaware of (Mahela Jayawardene, Mohammad Yousuf) when they put pen to paper.

If Rogers did get an Ashes place, might an option be Matt Hayden, perhaps doing a similar job to Justin Langer (another we had for a short spell!) at Somerset? At 37 I suspect he'd retire from international cricket, but might just fancy a spell in the county game and one last payday. I've no doubt he wouldn't come cheap, but he's still a fine player, despite his recent Test problems. One only has to look at his average to see that and I'd be thrilled to see him in our colours next season if Buck was elevated to the national side.

His opposition would likely be either Shaun Marsh (son of ex-Aussie opener Geoff) or Phil Hughes, who has scored a lot of runs as an opener for New South Wales this year and is only 21. They may also consider playing Shane Watson as an opener/all rounder to get him in the side, and the Aussies certainly don't lack batting depth.

One that Derbyshire, like other counties, might keep an eye on, is Moises Henriques, a young all rounder, also from New South Wales, who has a Portuguese passport. At 21 he has precocious talent and bowls lively fast medium as well as being an aggressive middle order bat. At this stage I suspect he'll fancy his chances of making the national side as he's been called up for various training camps, but I hope we keep tabs on the youngster as his passport will certainly make him a target for counties in the future if national selection passes him by. Having said that, Jason Krejza was also linked with a county switch, with a Czech father and Polish mother. His recent Test call up knocked that for six, but I think his tendency to bowl a four ball every over might legislate against him unless he can eliminate this flaw in his game.

Anyway, that's it for now. I keep scouring the Internet and cricket sites for any club news and hope that we get something to be excited about in the near future. January is coming fast and then its full steam ahead to another season!