Clare the next to sign

I'm delighted to see that Jonathan Clare is the latest player to sign a new deal at Derbyshire, not just because it secures his future at the club for the next three summers.

It also puts an end to the nonsense that was started by party or parties unknown at the County Ground that the player was set to sign for Nottinghamshire. I always had my reservations about the story, as those of you who remember my mentioning it will recall and was convinced that the "story" came about either through misunderstanding or mischief.

Clare's words in today's press release highlight is happiness at the county and echoes the words of Ross Whiteley and Tony Palladino earlier in the week. Derbyshire's IS a happy dressing room  environment - why would players want to leave such a place for one that may be less enjoyable? I have no doubt that money talks and that any player could have his head turned on being offered obscene amounts of money, but I'm firmly with the club on their treatment of players. They look after them and deserve to reap the rewards of loyalty when the time comes for contract renewals.

Talking to several Derbyshire players at the end of the season, it was patently clear that they felt valued and appreciated at the club, something that everyone enjoys, especially in a working environment. To a man they spoke highly of Karl Krikken and Chris Grant and, that being the case, this spate of signings is hardly a surprise. I expect more to follow and would not be surprised if the club moved to secure the long-term future of David Houghton as batting coach.

Houghton has winter commitments in his native Zimbabwe but to retain his services for the pre-season and summer will be important for a club reliant on young players and needing experienced, high quality men to get the best out of them. Our best hope of attracting young batsmen from elsewhere is in the opportunity to work with a coach of world standing who can make them better cricketers. Houghton has proven ability in this area and will undoubtedly improve players who are prepared to listen.

I'm also pleased that the club are drip-feeding the news of these contracts to us. There must have been a temptation  to pool them all together, but good news, disseminated slowly, is what good corporate marketing is all about. Simon Storey's career in marketing will ensure that Derbyshire follow best practice in this area and keep themselves on the sports pages of the national press. We've not featured on them for the right reasons in a long time and it is heartening to read positive news on the club on an almost daily basis.

Further afield, my pre-tournament favourites for the World T20, South Africa, blew it with inconsistent and erratic team selection. One has the impression that they don't yet know their best side and each game brought a different batting line-up. Graeme Smith doesn't play this form of the game and I'm not convinced that for all he is one of the best three batsmen in the world game that Hasim Amla should open their batting either.

Players like Richard Levi, Colin Ingram, David Miller and Dean Elgar flit in and out of the side but I'd open with two men who have done so with success in the IPL for several years, Jacques Kallis and Faf du Plessis, with de Villiers batting at three to have as much time at the crease as possible. The secret to one-day success is in consistent team selections and batting orders, with each position having its own skill set. With players moving up and down the order like yo-yos, the South Africans were knocked out of a competition in which they looked a good pre-tournament bet. Nor am I convinced that Behardien, a good cricketer, is better for them at six than those named above, while Albie Morkel isn't quite the player that he once looked like becoming.

Sri Lanka on their own turf will take some beating, especially if Malinga locks those yorkers onto the base of the stumps as he did against England.

Finally tonight, how sad to see that Abdur Rehmann has been found to have taken a "recreational substance" in his stint at Somerset and now faces a lengthy ban from the game. Just when the country's cricketers were getting back on their feet after the various betting scandals, one of their brightest talents is taken from the game for what may be up to two years.

It is a shame for the country, which has produced so many outstanding cricketers in recent years, but an even bigger one for the player himself, who has shown signs of becoming a player of genuine world-class.

On that sobering note I bid you adieu for this evening.