Monday musings

Sorry about the silence from the blog over the last few days, but a concerted effort to clear a lot of accumulated stuff from our loft took up a fair bit of time, including car boot sales on both Saturday and Sunday. It was worthwhile though and we now have space up there again. Not that I cleared out cricket books, of course. Trying to sell them at a car boot sale in Scotland is far from a sound business proposition...

I had a quick look on the Forum this morning for the first time in a while and a correspondent asks if Derbyshire have done enough in strengthening for life in division one thus far. There is still the question of an overseas player to look at, but for me the answer has to be 'yes'.

We had an acknowledged weakness in the opening batting which has been obviously addressed by the signing of Billy Godleman and perhaps less obviously so with the addition of Richard Johnson, who also adds important competition for the wicket-keeping berth. The overseas recruit will almost certainly be able to open, while the vast majority of a young squad have been tied up on long-term deals. Improved contracts will naturally mean increased pension contributions from the club, who will undoubtedly have steered young players towards thinking of life after the game.

All of the above costs money and for a small club like Derbyshire it is a considerable investment, one that will  require increased off-field activity to fund. In some clubs one might be concerned about stretching resources and living beyond means, but in Chris Grant and Simon Storey Derbyshire are in very good and shrewd hands. Whatever is spent this winter will be done with a degree of confidence that it is affordable. The club is among the best run in the country and securing the services of its young talent is indicative of that.

What is left for the overseas roles - the main one and the T20 specialist - is anyone's guess, but Grant and Storey will be well aware of the importance of this role, especially when we're going to be mixing it with the big boys next summer. I am sure that many conversations have taken place with agents in recent weeks and we might hear something before Christmas.

If we don't, the likelihood is that any announcement will be possibly into Spring when tour parties are announced and international commitments around the globe (not just in the IPL) are known. There is no need for panic though, it will all come together in good time.

I hope today's announcement in the media that Lord McAlpine is set to sue thousands of Twitter users for comments made about him comes to fruition. It would be a landmark legal action but far too many people use social networking sites and web forums to say things that would be unacceptable elsewhere in the media. Nor would many people be big enough to do it face to face and it is high time that something was done about it.

For too long individuals have hidden behind assumed identities and IP addresses and recent arrests for 'trolling' have illustrated that such issues are now rightly being seen as crimes. I am a firm believer in individuals being responsible for their actions and as such will never allow this site to be connected with such nonsense. That's why my face is on the blog and my e-mail address is there for the world to see. It is also why I will allow criticism when it is justified, but not personal attacks on people who are, at the end of the day, representing the club that we support and are doing their best.

Sometimes, as we may see this summer, that won't be enough. There will be times in 2013 that we play badly and are hammered. There will also be times when we play to potential and give strong teams good games, perhaps even beat them.

The players and staff will be doing their best. It is down to us all as fans to do the same.