Monday musings

It's late October and cricket seems a long way off right now.

The cold, wet and miserable weather doesn't help, but we're well into Autumn and the sunshine (sorry...) of summer is but a distant memory.

The Champions Trophy final was duly contested by a team of good hitters and tight bowlers (Sydney Sixers) and one with the benefit of home advantage (the Titans). The victors were a team of no real stars but one that had a good team ethic and players who did the basics right for the format. Hit hard, run fast, bowl accurately and field like demons - that's the T20 way. It was good to see the final contested between two such teams, rather than the mega-money elevens of the IPL.

It also reinforces the view that such teams CAN be winners, just as Derbyshire showed in 2012. Maybe there were, on paper, stronger sides in the division, but we finished on top of the pile with exactly that team ethic and a focus on doing the basics well.

Closer to home, there is a debate over the possible return of Usman Khawaja over on the Forum, largely due to a comment attributed to Karl Krikken in the Cricket Paper, which said that we were talking to the player about coming back. I'm sure that such a conversation has taken place, but am equally sure that Khawaja is perhaps a plan D or E for the county, should A, B or C not come to fruition. I mean no disrespect to the player in saying that, but it would be impossible for any definite plans to be made in that regard at present.

Why? Because the player rightly holds out hopes of inclusion in the Ashes tour party next summer. A good winter in Australia would set him up nicely, but until that party is announced next Spring, Khawaja is unlikely to sign for Derbyshire or anyone else.

By the same token, his form needs to improve, as his current first class scores of 88, 20, 28, 3, 19 and 26 are neither here nor there. A move to Queensland from Sydney may yet galvanise his chances, but Khawaja needs to make the transition from good-looking player who doesn't make enough big scores sometime soon.

Usman is a lovely bloke who fitted well in to the Derbyshire dressing room. Next summer, however, we really need the services of a player who will guarantee us a thousand runs in the top division and I am unsure whether he is that player. There is a danger that his two crucial and memorable innings against Hampshire rose-tint a season in which there were simply too many failures. Given that we are moving up a level, the re-signing of the player would, in my opinion, be a gamble. It may be that for a summer in which overseas players of the requisite international background are going to prove elusive, Khawaja is a better option than most. Yet Derbyshire's greater need is for a batsman with more experience, or one who is a regular and willing opener.

I don't see us going into a massive season without a player who satisfies at least one of those criteria. If we managed to pick up someone who did both you could put up the bunting, ring the church bells and shout it from the roof tops...

But it is a massive task for Karl Krikken and Chris Grant. It reminds me, funnily enough, of the sort of questions I used to get in mathematics examinations at school.

"Christopher and Karl are trying to sign a top-class batsman from overseas. The player concerned must be good, must want to play in England and must be available for the whole summer. They must also satisfy the English Cricket Board with their recent international appearances and must be affordable, as well as fitting into a very tight dressing room. They should also, ideally, have international pedigree and experience of opening the batting, as well as of English conditions.

Draw a Venn diagram to represent this..."

I jest, of course, but this is indicative of the challenge. If Messrs Grant and Krikken can identify an appropriate player and use their undoubted skills to get them to Derby, they deserve every conceivable plaudit from the fans.

The big question is: can they?