What next?

So, as I suggested might be the case last week, other counties are making moves on Chris Rogers with a view to taking him from Derbyshire.

As I also said about Graham Wagg, you can't blame the guy. It's a short career and he's entitled to go where the money is. If he does go (and he's not yet decided to, from what it seems) he will go down as one of our finest overseas players, without a doubt.

Though not a great captain, at least in my book. Great skippers are active, rather than reactive and make things happen on the field. Rogers didn't seem to, or maybe he just never had the resources to do so.

So now it is Greg Smith's turn. The next month will let John Morris see if he has a genuine prospect for next season who will thrive in the role, or someone whose natural ability is buried under the responsibility. I wasn't fully convinced by Smith in the T20, to be honest, but that is a high octane environment where you have to think quickly, not easy for a novice. I liked his willingness to take responsibility and bowl at the death, but he'll need to accept there are times for that and times to give others the gig.

My own feelings at this point are that the captaincy could be a sweetener to bring someone to Derbyshire, whether an overseas player or an English one. Of course, Morris may be using it as such to keep Smith at Derby, as he'd be unlikely to get such a role elsewhere.

Over on 606 the names are already being touted for who might replace Rogers if he does leave. One suggested Morne Morkel, but I would be astonished if the South Africans allowed him to play a full season in England. He and Steyn, as pointed out by another contributor, ARE the Saffer attack. To be fair, they are on the right track, as only New Zealand and South Africa are clear of international cricket next summer... at the moment.

Much as I'd love to see Kallis, de Villiers or Smith at Derby, I cannot see it. All make serious money in the IPL and from their national contracts. Maybe JP Duminy needs to cement his place, but again he makes ten times what we could pay him for a month in India. Again, I'm afraid I don't see it.

New Zealand? Yes, I'd be happy with Ross Taylor who is a class act and a crowd-pleaser too. Martin Guptill is a batsman of Martin Crowe-like poise but not yet the consistency, while a wild card could be Mathew Sinclair. While an under-achiever in Tests (averaging mid-30s,) Sinclair has a first-class one of just under 50. He has also fancied a crack at county cricket for several years and could be an inspired choice. We'd also take Daniel Vettori, but there's more chance of me playing county cricket next year than the Kiwi skipper.

Of course, we could also get lucky. Maybe James Hopes would be out of the Aussie reckoning, Mohammad Yousuf (again) out of Pakistan's, VVS Laxman out of India's. You never know, but I'm happy to trust John Morris to come up with a good name if Chris Rogers decided his future lay elsewhere.

Let's just hope it doesn't come to that.