Headline makers

There are a few headlines that I'm just waiting on the opportunity to use on this blog. You know the ones, the type that headline writers in newspapers spend hours - or perhaps seconds - thinking up, that are normally excruciatingly poor puns.

The best of any I have seen, or am likely to see, was the one where Inverness Caledonian Thistle - "The Cally" as they are known, beat Celtic in the cup a few years back, resulting in the memorable headline that read "Super Cally Go Ballistic, Celtic are Atrocious."

It was the stuff of legend and I've always hoped that the hack responsible got a little extra in his salary that month for a job well done.

In cricket terms, of course, it is less the done thing to produce such headlines, especially in the "proper" press, but I'll give you advance warning of my intention to use, at the earliest available opportunity:

"Batsman Robin to the rescue"
"Buck Rogers 21st century"
"Garry Parks for the day"

and

"Graham helps the tail Wagg"

Changing tack, I was surprised to see Simon Katich signing for Lancashire as a part-season overseas player with Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Katich was a fine player at Derby, but seems to be on a quest to be the first man to play for all eighteen first class counties. As it stands, he has played for us, Durham, Yorkshire, Hampshire and now Lancashire. Only Marcus North (five counties) stands between him and global domination...

The days of the loyal overseas star are a thing of the past. When one thinks back to such loyal, one county servants as Keith Boyce, Gordon Greenidge, Mike Procter, John Shepherd, Clive Lloyd and many others, it is a world away from the modern "have bat, will travel" mentality, where players change counties as often as some folk change their shirt.

There are still a few survivors of that bygone (better) age. Men like Chris Rogers, Martin van Jaarsveld, Jacques Rudolph and Nick Boje have thrown in their lot with a county to mutual benefit. They have built a rapport with the fans and shown themselves to be men of integrity in the face of offers from elsewhere. I'm not "getting" at Katich, who is entitled to play for whoever offers him the contract as a free agent, but I can't see anything but short term benefit, if that, in a bloke coming over for a few games at some point in the season.

Remember Chris Harris? Daren Powell? They came to Derbyshire on short term deals and were no better than someone from the local leagues would have been. Yet the increasingly congested cricket calendar and the likelihood of an IPL that may eventually go on for half of the year makes such signings increasingly likely in the years ahead.

It'll soon be May - time for our Sri Lankan. We've an Aussie for six weeks in June and a Saffer for September. We'll soon be judging the passing of the season by the overseas pro of the month.

Can't say I look forward to it personally. Unless we get Ponting, Kallis, Vettori and de Villiers for a month each. As the old saying goes, the porcine flying squadron are scrambling at the possibility of that one...