So who's it going to be?

Hampshire have signed Shahid Afridi, Leicestershire have signed Brad Hodge. Gilchrist and maybe Tendulkar are going to Middlesex and Cameron White is Somerset-bound.

So who will be at Derbyshire next season for the T20?

Like all of you, I would love to know who our "bums on seats" player is going to be, though I have little doubt that Robin Peterson will make a big difference to our game in that format. I'm not a betting man, but given that John Morris has good contacts in South Africa and we have picked up several players from there already, my "money" would be on another South African being our new man.

There would be no shortage of their accents next year and whoever he is should feel at home. With Wayne Madsen, Garry Park, Greg Smith, Tim Groenewald and Peterson likely to be in the T20 side, our new signing should be very much at home.

My other suggestion is that it would be someone who could contribute with both bat and ball. Morris likes plenty of options on the park and a top batsman who bowls, bowler who bats or genuine all rounder would have a great deal to offer.

For what it is worth, here is my top four. All of them wonderful options, with the first perhaps out of our league, but there's no harm in dreaming...

JP Duminy

OK, he has had only an average series against England in the Tests, but he's a very fine batsman, a more than useful bowler and a world-class fielder. No one has signed him yet, so we can at least dream until then. He is on a $950,000 annual contract from the Mumbai Indians so can't exactly need the money, nor will he necessarily want to play any more cricket. Just think though - Smith, Peterson and Duminy in the middle order! An underrated off spinner who is getting better all the time and he may just want to keep his eye in and play with a team mate from the Cape Cobras in Peterson. I'd be very surprised if it were him though!

Albie Morkel

He has not yet made the world class all rounder that was predicted in the longer forms of the game, but there are few better at the shortest. A batsman who can score 50 in three/four overs and a reasonably economical bowler. Like Duminy, an excellent fielder too and a real powerhouse of a cricketer. Yes please...

Jacques Kallis

For me a better Test and one day cricketer than T20 player, but you wouldn't be disappointed to see "Special K" in Derbyshire colours, surely? Catches flies and while not as mobile as some of the others as he nears the twilight of his career, he is a wonderful player.

Wayne Parnell

More a bowler who bats than an all rounder at this stage, but Parnell is a tremendous talent who will surely grace the South African international sides for some time to come. He is usually a very hostile opening bowler who bowled beautifully in the T20 World Cup. His youth cricket suggested he would become a genuine all rounder and at 20 he has time on his side.

The thing is that South Africa has plenty of talented players, some of whom are at this stage unknown over here. If we were going for a batsman, then Alviro Petersen and Ghulam Bodi would have merit, though not as much as the brilliant AB de Villiers. If we were going for a bowler, you might not discount Charl Langeveldt but Jo Louw could be another option.

My guess is that we might know a little more as soon as the current distraction of the Test series is over. I may be completely wide of the mark, but I would be surprised if our T20 man did not come from South Africa. Whatever else, I'm confident that John Morris will pull out a good 'un within our available budget.

We'll see soon enough.