County roundup

Yorkshire Vikings eh?

A new name for our Norsen (sorry...) neighbours, one that will surely see them obliged to travel to away games by longboat. Which reminds me of the old joke about Nottingham Forest travelling to their away games by submarine. They'd heard there were 20,000 leagues under the sea and must have a chance of winning one of them...

It's the latest T20 name in a continual re-branding exercise for some clubs, all, of course, geared towards attracting young fans to the game. I have to say that when I was a nipper myself the cricket itself would have been enough for me, without sitting on the boundary with a Viking helmet and an axe. Perhaps they should bring in Ole Mortensen as an authenticity adviser.

Meanwhile, over in the Caribbean, Chanderpauls senior and junior will be lining up together in a first-class match for Guyana this weekend. I hope that Tagenarine is as aware of the significance of this moment as his Dad undoubtedly will be.

The first time I played alongside my son in a match I was thrilled and watched with pride whenever he fielded the ball. I hoped to bat alongside him too, though those plans were thwarted by my early departure, just when I hoped to impress him with my lavish range of strokes (I just had to find them first...)

I doubt that such an issue will raise its head with Shivnarine and son. It is a fairly rare occurrence, especially in the modern era when players generally retire earlier. Pre-WW2 it happened more regularly, but it was far from uncommon for players to go on until their late forties, even fifty, which gave them a fighting chance.

One to watch, for sure.

Over in India, Australia were hammered by the hosts and look a fairly ordinary outfit ahead of the Ashes battles. While they always seem to crank up a couple of gears for England, their batting looks fragile, the bowling largely ineffectual and their spin bowling barren. Why else would they be trying to fast track the registration of a Pakistani spinner whose record is hardly indicative of a new Abdul Qadir? The suggestion that Shane Warne might make a comeback has died a death and they don't look much of a side.

Take Michael Clarke from the batting and the rest are  inconsistent. It is likely that Usman Khawaja will get a chance in the next Test and he can hardly do worse than Phil Hughes and Dave Warner. Their techniques have been exposed on turning tracks and Usman should have a chance to impress that I hope he takes.

Finally tonight, Worcestershire have signed Jacob Oram for the T20, a player I have rated for some time but whose career has been ravaged by injury. At his best he is a powerful hitter and a very underrated bowler, but his recent record doesn't suggest he will manage the full campaign.

I'm still hoping a fellow countryman makes his way to the County Ground. Positive news on that will be the icing on a very good winter cake for Derbyshire fans.