All is set...

It might be me, but the T20 campaign at some counties seems to be developing into a game of "Tag Overseas Player," where the outgoing player, in the style of a tag wrestler, touches the incoming one scheduled to replace him.

Leicestershire have now lost Andrew McDonald and Yorkshire likewise with Clint McKay, while Worcestershire have replaced the injured Vikram Solanki and the Aussie-selected Steve Smith with Sanath Jayasuriya, who had the T20 World Cup from hell and must surely be past his best. Some of the signings around the country this time have smacked of desperation, an overseas player of convenience.

I'm still puzzled why Lancashire, a team of considerable talents, decided to augment it for the T20 with Simon Katich and Nathan McCullum. That Katich is an outstanding batsman is beyond doubt, as we know all too well at Derbyshire, but we are also well aware that he is not a T20 player, in much the same way that Chris Rogers isn't. Both have made stacks of runs for their respective counties over the years (and between them they've covered around half of those possible) but have rarely scored runs at the rate required in this form of the game.

The same goes for their signing of Nathan McCullum, a decent but far from deadly off spinner who can bat a bit, not remotely close to his brother Brendan as a player at this stage. Neither were the sort of signing that would have made the fans sit up, yet they have been replicated around the country as counties have signed two overseas players because they could, with little apparent regard to whether the players concerned were any better than they already had.
Last night I watched Somerset throw away a game they had in the bag against Essex, after Trescothick and Compton added 99 for the first wicket in ten overs in pursuit of 170-odd. When Trescothick holed out at mid-off, Kieron Pollard came in and smashed three sixes in four balls before being flummoxed by a quicker ball from Danish Kaneria and the innings subsided. Granted, the Essex bowling at the death was exemplary, but Somerset's players perished in trying to emulate Pollard, rather than using their heads.

Tonight's game at Derby features two sides who have recruited very cleverly for this competition. The visitors have the admirable David Hussey in their batting line-up and Dirk Nannes to open their bowling. We, of course, have the impressive Loots Bosman, one of the game's most dangerous hitters, to open the batting and Charl Langeveldt to do the same in the bowling. The two bowlers were the most economical in the recent World Cup, while the two batsmen can make a mockery of any total when they get in. The only other county to have recruited so shrewdly is Durham, who have the dangerous Albie Morkel and Ross Taylor in their line-up, players whose game is perfect for this format.

It should be a fine game and seems set to be blessed by good weather. I hope the crowds come out accordingly and we enjoy a fine game - and the right result, of course!