I feel sorry for Khawaja...

Those who have stuck with this blog for any length of time will know that I didn't rate Usman Khawaja as a T20 player. He is a top bloke, a very good batsman and an improving fielder. Yet I have seldom seen him bat T20 and been impressed, his batting appearing too one-dimensional and his running indecisive.

Having said that, and with several weeks of watching his side in the Australian Big Bash, he is by some distance a standout player in a side that is singularly ineffectual at the format.

A standout? Why, Chris Gayle is in the unfortunately named Sydney Thunder, presumably so called because they are clapped out. There have been seven straight losses for a side that, Khawaja and Dirk Nannes apart, seems to have little aptitude for the format. Khawaja averages 45, having moved down the order, and the next best batsman averages 20. Gayle, who looks woefully out of touch, has just 72 runs from six starts, while Mark Cosgrove, Chris Rogers and Matthew Prior average 14, 14 and 8 respectively.

Nannes still bowls quick and well, but no other bowler looks threatening nor bowls tight. They don't field well either and there have been some shockingly poor dropped catches. At no point in any of the games that I have seen did the players appear to feel they could win and morale seems very low.

Indeed, the Big Bash has been quite poor this year. Although they are in fourth place at present, the best team for me has been the Hobart Hurricanes. The bowling is steady, if not especially penetrative, but with Ricky Ponting, Travis Birt, George Bailey, Owais Shah, Tim Paine and Scott Styris in the batting they seldom lack for runs.

The Melbourne Renegades are currently top, primarily because of a fine team ethic that generally sees someone bail them out at tough times. Marlon Samuels and Murali have both done pretty well, but Aaron Finch so often gets them away to a flier that the rest can knock it around for the win. Netherlands star Tom Cooper continues to look a decent player too and if Finch stays in his current form they should make the final. He is built like Travis Birt and gives the ball an almighty thump, as well as bowling decent left-arm spin.

The competition again highlights the way to success for Derbyshire. Bat long and have two or three spin options. Malinga and Nannes apart, the best bowlers have been the tweakers and twirlers who mix up the pace, line and length and keep the opposition batsmen guessing.

Derbyshire are well-equipped in this area, with Hughes, Durston, Knight, Burgoyne and Wainwright all capable of bowling good, steady spin and all of them capable of scoring runs too. I'm not suggesting that we go into games with all five of them, but the value of such players is being proven on a weekly basis in Australia.

I reckon it would be no bad thing come summer time here, either.