More than a little uneasy...

I've been writing this blog for over three years now and if you are a regular reader you will know that I offer opinions freely. We all have them about a lot of things and I am continually flattered that you check in on a regular basis to read mine on Derbyshire cricket.

This is a piece I've thought long and hard about, to be honest and I'm prepared to stand in a minority of one when I receive your comments and e mails, but I still think this needs to be said.

Over on the Forum, a relatively new contributor "therealdeal" is attracting attention with stories of what is happening inside the club. There is a temptation to write it off as someone else with a 'story', but he/she seems too consistently informed and plausible for that. No doubt the veracity of the comments will be proven in coming weeks and months, but I feel considerable and increasing unease at the disclosures, which is what they appear to be.

Why? Because I feel there's a big difference between the standard post saying "I was talking to a mate down the pub and he told me..." and someone, either inside the club or close to them, giving away information that is intended and entitled to be kept within it, until those in charge decide the time is right for it to be revealed. There is a genuine danger, in someone trying to make a very minor reputation, that individuals could be hurt or embarrassed and that potential work on signings could be dashed. I know this for a fact, because we almost missed out on a player a few seasons back, when someone "went public" and alerted another county to a player's availaibility when he had yet to sign on the dotted line. Someone chanced across an article on the web, though not the Forum, nor indeed this blog, just in case you wondered.

No names, of course. Like I say, the club is a business and as such is entitled to carry on its work without a "mole" potentially ruining work. I hear a lot of names and stories, but am well aware that there may be issues in revealing most of them, so choose not to do so. Call me old-fashioned, but I think that the people behind the scenes working to do X and sign Y have a right to reveal that information at a time that they feel is appropriate. I've written before that one of the greatest thrills of my sporting life was picking up a newspaper and reading "Derbyshire sign Eddie Barlow." If somebody had revealed that in advance, it would have taken a lot of the edge off the news.

I've also written before that people should be very careful in what they post on the internet. If I wrote something detrimental, or something that compromised the business or reputation of the company that I work for, I would be sacked - end of story. All staff are aware of that, whether using blogs or social networking sites, so we don't do it. It is written into our contracts of employment for one thing and quite honestly doesn't seem right to 'bite the hand that feeds you' anyway.

If Derbyshire are going to sign  - and I stress I'm plucking two names at random here - Brett Lee and AB de Villiers for the T20 this season, they have a right to reveal that news when it suits them and when all the requisite contractual work has been completed. If they release a player, they and that player have a right to private discussions about the parting of ways remaining confidential. There are legalities of business confidentiality that for me are currently being compromised and I wouldn't be at all happy if I was involved in the club. As you can see, I'm not too happy and I'm outside it...

"Ah,,," I hear you say, "old Peakfan is afraid of someone stealing his thunder." Actually, no. Over the last two seasons there is only one signing that I had not heard about, through accident or design and a number of sources, in advance. Yet I chose and will continue to choose to defer revealing that information until it is officially released by the club - assuming I do hear about it, of course. Once it hits the press feeds and the embargo date it is fair game, but prior to that point it rather smacks of pettiness, one-upmanship and, to be frank, stupidity. Something akin to copying the homework of the clever kid in school and taking the credit for it.

If I worked for Derbyshire County Cricket Club and went public with information on internal matters I would expect to be sacked if caught. If I was a mate of someone in the club who gave me information, I would keep in mind the fact that he/she could face that fate if I was silly enough to put confidential information in the public domain. A quiet and confidential conversation in a pub between two trusting mates is one thing. Putting it out on the web for the world to see - and expecting to retain anonymity - is daft beyond belief.

"I need some more news" cried one contributor to "therealdeal" the other night. I'm sure we all do, but it should come from the right party at the right time. We're cricket fans for goodness sake, not junkies craving a next fix.

PS Don't look at my blogs from now on and second guess....if I mention names, for example, like Dalrymple and Cheetham, it is merely an opinion, not the result of inside information. Sometimes the opinion of those that matter simply happens to coincide with mine..