We are now into July and what I like to refer to as the silly season.

With the season almost halfway through it is time for teams to evaluate their performance, their realistic goal for the season and whether there is a need to dip into the market to bolster their squads.

I call it the silly season because it always seems way too early when it arrives but when it does arrive it does so in a cascade.

For several days now my mobile phone has been ringing non-stop. With the increasing number of players using football style agents it seems that the list of players either out of favour, disenchanted or just seeking that move to increase their financial status is getting larger and larger each year.

Of course, the divisional split has been a major factor in this switch from tradition. I say tradition because five or six years ago it was almost unheard of to see young players moving counties. Experienced players, yes, who perhaps moved for reasons other than cricketing ones but not youngsters who had come through a club's junior system, are given their first contract and introduced to the first class game only to walk at the first offer by one of the more financially supported clubs.

Sadly, it seems that this is now an accepted practice and subsequently less experienced players are commanding means way beyond what is fair, purely and simply by holding clubs to ransom.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for players maximising their potential both on and off the field but let's get the balance right. Many time I have seen a young player burst on to the scene, given an over-inflated contract either in length or financially only to disappear into the wilderness just as quickly as they arrived months later.

So, when the silly season arrives you have to deal with the issues sensibly. Firstly, do you need to add to your squad, with experience or youth? The youth I believe should always come from your own youth system and I'm glad to say that Sussex have an excellent system in place. Experienced players are much harder to judge. Are your own experienced players doing the business? Can they continue to be a force in the game? Maybe the balance of experience and youth is too heavily weighted in the favour of one or the other.

Getting these discussions right is undoubtedly the toughest part of my job. Calling time on anyone whether they have never made it or whether they have had a golden career is never pleasant and many hours are spent deliberating over who should stay and who should go, and rightly so.

This year more than any other we will see much more activity around the counties. With the number of EU passport holders on the increase the lists of players available become longer and longer. Only time will tell what impact this will have on our game, good or bad, one thing is certain though, legally there is nothing that can be done to restrict and control these players.

Particularly after the World Cup, expect to see one or two of the bigger names in South African cricket making the switch of allegiance to English county cricket and as always the odd Australian who it seems cannot force his way in to the Australian squad. Funny that!

Saturday July 6