Final thoughts on season eve..eve!

With the exception of the injury to Wayne Madsen, it has been a remarkably serene last couple of weeks for Derbyshire. 

Both overseas players, Caleb Jewell and Mohammad Abbas have arrived and look to be fit and raring to go, according to the videos from the club site. Even a beanie hat on his head could not detract from the menace of Abbas, the videos showing his team mates looking on in a combination of fascination and awe as he zipped the ball around in the nets.

Elsewhere, however, there are a good few counties not having to look too far for challenges. 

I mentioned Friday's opposition, Worcestershire, in my previous piece. They may or may not have the services of Beyer Swanepoel in Friday's game, but the thinking money would be on him being unavailable. 

Lancashire will not have the services of Australian seamer Mitch Perry, who has been ruled out of his spell with them due to a stress fracture. Marcus Harris will not be over in time for the first game, after appearing in the Sheffield Shield final, while Keaton Jennings has also been ruled out with a pulled calf muscle.

Gloucestershire has been rocked today by the news that Ben Charlesworth intends to leave at the end of the season. Having already effectively lost their seam attack from last year, it cannot do much for morale at this early stage.

Further afield, Leicestershire have had to replace both of their overseas players, Sussex are facing losing their Head Coach, Paul Farbrace, at season end, Middlesex had an overseas player lined up but he too is injured, while Hampshire had to replace Michael Neser with Jaydon Seales, who in turn had to he replaced by South African Codi Yusuf.

It doesn't make for ideal season preparation, nor anything close to it. Injuries will always occur, especially when recruiting seam bowlers, but it seems to be far more common these days than it used to. 

Every club makes signings that they feel are right for the balance of their squad, then any subsequent change appears from distance to be the equivalent of a supermarket panic buy. Certainly there will be limited availability at this stage, with most of the big names snapped up or contracted elsewhere to one franchise or another. 

I honestly don't think Derbyshire put a foot wrong in the winter. Jewell was signed before the end of last year, while the pursuit of Mohammad Abbas was lengthy, dogged and ultimately successful. It may well be that Hampshire are currently wishing they had been more prepared to fight for the services of a player who has never let any side down.

As for Matt Montgomery, his was a signing I advocated some time before it was announced and there is something reassuring about a middle order that will eventually contain both he and Madsen. On top of all that, we secured the services of England's number one spinner, which as recruitment goes, is the equivalent of a campaign undertaken by a well-known brewery. 

The acid test is when the action starts, of course. That Derbyshire has a squad depth better than in years is undeniable. It is now down to Mickey Arthur, his coaches and staff to keep them fit and provide an environment in which they can produce their best cricket. 

I expect us to be in the mix at the end of the red ball summer. Further than that will depend on our managing game situations better than we did last year. We should have won away matches at Glamorgan and Gloucestershire, both of them run chases that petered out poorly after very good starts. 

Improvement on that this year - and with a stronger attack to boot - shouldn't see us too far away.

It won't be long now..