Big summer ahead

I have to say that I don't share concerns of some supporters regarding the age of Suranga Lakmal.

For one thing, he looks as lean and fit as the proverbial butcher's dog, as he would have to be to feature in Mickey Arthur's plans. The Head of Cricket knows him well, respects what he will bring to the side and presumably expects him to stay fit.

He is still Sri Lanka's main strike bowler,  which speaks volumes. He is also the fourth highest wicket - taker in their history and if he is on a list with Muralitharan, Herath and Vaas he will do me. 

Might he get injured? Yes of course, it goes with the territory, but he will know his body. He is the same age as Charl Langeveldt and Ravi Rampaul when they signed and they turned out OK.

Two years is right for him, with the other position dependent on the greater need at the end of this season.

Because the end of this summer sees a lot of contracts end. From memory, Messrs Godleman, Madsen, du Plooy, Dal, McKiernan, Guest, Cohen, Melton and Aitchison are all contracted to the end of the summer. The hope would be that some of these will be extended before we are too far down the line, but it offers an opportunity for Arthur to reshape the squad as he sees fit and on what he sees around the country.

One consideration will be the Performance Related Fee Payments from the ECB.

To get any, counties must average 7.5 English-qualified players per team over the season. Playing two overseas takes it down to nine, for most, playing du Plooy takes it to eight for us, with Cohen dropping it to seven. That's why getting Dusty Melton's qualification through is important, as his playing too would currently take it to six.

Yet Arthur is arriving too late this year to be picking up out of contract English players and he wants to offer opportunity . There is a school of thought that we play who we want, but I am wary of returning to the days when we were known as 'Kolpakshire' and with good reason.

Arthur will be aware that the two biggest earners on the staff, by a distance, are Billy Godleman and Wayne Madsen. Both these fine servants, top cricketers and men both, go into the season with question marks.

If Billy isn't playing T20 - and I would be astonished if he does - then his weight of runs in other formats needs to make the case for his retention compelling. It wasn't last year, so he has a big summer ahead. I don't see him in my T20 side again, so there is a challenge. He has been a run machine, but only passed 500 runs in his last innings, not enough at the top of the order. 

Wayne is a county legend, but missed the T20 last year through injury and his four - day average was mid-thirties. Indeed, until 2016 his four-day average was 42 with 24 hundreds, but since then  he has averaged 35, with only seven tons in six seasons, one of them against Bradford/Leeds UCCE.

Of course, his one-day form still makes him the prized wicket for opponents, but the challenge is there for him, the decision for the Head of Cricket. It is hard to imagine a Derbyshire side without Wayne, but weight of runs will always need to match reputation for any batter. 

You could go down that list of players and make cases for and against the retention of most of them. It depends on who becomes available, as well as form and fitness over this summer. In professional and amateur sport, players are aware that someone may come in who is better than them. Illness, injury and loss of form are constant concerns. 

I would hope that Ben Aitchison sees a new deal forthcoming very quickly, as I see him, with Sam Conners and Suranga Lakmal, as a very handy attack. Besides which, approaches from elsewhere will be forthcoming, as he looks a player of serious potential. 

The rest must prove that their bodies can handle the demands of first-class cricket, which is way more challenging than any of us realise. You have only to look at poor Luis Reece, limited this summer after surgery on knee and shoulder, for confirmation of that. Dusty Melton deserves an injury-free summer, as anyone who read the harrowing story of how he got here will testify. But like the rest, he will know there are no guarantees. 

Even the supremely - talented Leus du Plooy starts with question marks. Had I been on a desert island last summer and been asked the question, in order to get lifted to safety, 'Did Leus average 18 or 48 this year in the county championship?', I would still be munching on coconuts. 18 it was and well short of 500 runs. 

Number three was too high for him against the red ball, five works better and Reece is a good option for that first-wicket down. I suspect that Leus will get a bucket-load of runs this summer, as I don't expect Mickey Arthur to subscribe to the 'square peg in round hole' methods of Dave Houghton. 

For all the questions and concerns, however, we're all looking forward to the season, aren't we?

58 days to our first 'proper' match. 

It can't come soon enough.