Less than two months...

The season is fast approaching and I can almost smell the linseed oil, or at least could if I had any...

 I don't know how many of you watched the footage of Martin Guptill's astonishing twenty-over innings for Auckland, but it made great viewing. Full marks to the club for getting it and hosting it. On another day Gup could easily have gone lbw early in his knock, but his stroke play was astonishing in its power and selection of the ball to hit.

What strikes me about him is how still he is when the ball is on its way. Yes, he makes pre-meditated moves outside off to carve the bowling to all points of the leg compass, but watch his head and how still it is as he lines the ball up. I genuinely think Guptill will be regarded as one of the world's top players in a couple of years. He only needs to go on to the tons with greater regularity, such as the other night against Zimbabwe. When I went to bed he was approaching 70 at a rate that left 200 a possibility, but departed before he'd made 80. A fine knock for sure, but the really great players turn those into hundreds most of the time. That being the case, I hope that Martin makes the transition from very good to great batsman in the course of the next six months...

On to other news and I feel sorry for Chris Taylor tonight, a man who has lost his contract at Gloucestershire because they can't afford to employ him. I understand he is taking legal action but am not sure of the grounds for this or the likelihood of success. The reality is that Taylor was a good and model county professional who often scored the hard runs for his county - the ones when they were needed. If I was a fan of the county I would be asking one question - would my club be better off with Taylor for a season, or Muralitharan for the T20 only? I would guess the salaries are comparable and for all Murali's legendary status I think he is a spent force these days with at least one dodgy knee.

I wonder what the fans at Derbyshire would have said if forced to choose, say, between Loots Bosman or Wes Durston in similar circumstances? Or Groenewald for a season v Langeveldt for T20? Similar considerations might see a choice somewhere between James Dalrymple for a year v a T20 specialist. It comes down to the club focus and, as Ben points out below the last post (cue bugles...) how seriously a club takes T20. Leicestershire's handsome profit last season owed a lot to their success in this competition. Making the knockout stages for the first time since Gandhi was a lad would undoubtedly swell Derbyshire's coffers and is the rationale behind the chase for a "game changer".

I've mentioned Brett Lee before and most of you will have read of his broken foot that rules him out for a few weeks. With Shaun Tait hors de combat with a recurring elbow problem, it isn't a good time for quick bowlers. While Derbyshire would probably prefer a strike bowler, the likelihood is that there may not be many options in that line. With South Africans probably wrapped in cotton wool ahead of their tour of England and Aussies over here for one-day games, it increasingly looks like coming down to Hobson's choice - or going for a boundary basher.

Either way, I'd guess we should be hearing more sometime soon, especially now we know who has (or more importantly hasn't) got IPL deals. Missing out on a lucrative Indian gig might just focus a few players and agents thoughts on England, don't you think?