Players/Coaches retention/movements 2024 into 2025:

Big Micky has been thanked for his service...

I'm sorry but it's a dirty trick of Lancashire playing for relegation to avoid having to play  Yorkshire in a Roses Championship game in 2025 though I think Yorkshire's 'kids' would give theirs a run for their money.

I can't remember who at Lancashire ( Chair, Coach or CEO ) was bemoaning the fact that the problem for their Championship efforts is that the player's agents  are trying to persuade them to play in more franchises , presumably so that the players earn more (and so do the agents). Apparently it's hard to get players earning £80-90,000 pa making uo the |Lancashire team. Where is the loyalty from the players themselves? I haven't analysed where the county players come from but I believe a high proportion have been 'bought in' and certainly many more than for the White Rose County loyal players. 

( mind you things are changing and we might never see  again 11 Yorkshire born and bred players making up the team . If people like Dom Bess are good enough to turn out for us then they are Yorkshire enough for me and he's certainly made of the 'right stuff')  
 

Oh Lanky Lanky!!
I thought Oh Jimmy Jimmy would re-appear at the end but England must have called in his role as mentor
Lancs signed Buttler and Salt but of course the CC is off limits for them.
The overseas signings did not really work whilst Wells and Jennings were below their best.
Of course Livingstone is also off limits whilst Mahmood’s re-availability was haphazard.
They miss Croft and Vilas.
I think the most frustrating loss for them was Luke Wood who, I think after injury, went off in Sept to a desert for a T10 comp. I mean can you believe it.
A season in Div 2 might be what their younger players need. It has arguably helped ours. And they do have lots of potentially good young players.

Just conformation that Mickey Edwards is heading back to Australia and has called time on professional cricket.

We won't miss his cricket, but he did seem to be quite an affable chap and I wish him well for the next chapter of his life.

Signing for Notts I believe

McKerr has indeed signed for Notts, joining their host of others conspicuously not from Nottingham. Whilst we need reinforcements to our seam bowling ranks, I'm not too disappointed by this, it would have felt like a stop gap solution; when we thought we were stuck with another season of Division 2 cricket, maybe he was a decent bet but for the top division I think we need to look elsewhere. Some of it, I think, will have to be by putting faith in Cliff and Wade (who, if he is hitting 90mph now, needs looking after) whilst we should also look to use our two overseas slots wisely. That may mean a Fernando or two, or a scout around the worlds hotspots for our new coach, whoever they may be.

In other news, Geddes - who I agree looked far too good for Surrey to release at 23 - has left because he had another county lined up. The rumour I heard was Hampshire.