ANOTHER chapter may yet be added to the colourful and often controversial career of former Derbyshire captain Dominic Cork.

This is the last year of his contract with Lancashire and the prospect of a new deal appears remote. He has as good as been told to look for another county.

Next month, he will be 37, which usually means a player is coming towards the end of his shelf-life but Cork does not play by the normal rules.

Two counties have already reportedly shown an interest – Derbyshire are not one of them – and one is believed to have put in the 28 days' notice that they would like to talk to the player.

This season, Cork has played five first-class matches for Lancashire for a modest return of 14 wickets at 26 and has a batting average of 13.6.

Cork announced his arrival at Old Trafford in 2004 with three five-wicket hauls in his first four months but has only managed the feat once in the past three seasons.

It is becoming increasingly difficult for Lancashire to justify giving Cork a place in the side when they have young seamers such as Kyle Hogg, Tom Smith and Oliver Newby pushing through.

You can see why Lancashire may feel Cork's time at the club is up but, on the face of it, why would another county want to take him on?

The answer is simple. What Cork has that many other cricketers do not is a capacity for the extraordinary.

Derbyshire followers saw that time and again almost from the day he burst onto the scene in 1990. He proved it on his England debut five years later by taking 7-43 and though there were not enough days like it in his 37-Test career, there were still occasions to stick in the mind – such as his defiance of Walsh and Ambrose to save the second Test at Lord's in 2000.

Only last season, he almost pulled off a remarkable last-day win for Lancashire at The Oval to clinch the Championship.

Give him a cause to rally to and there are still very few players who can muster higher levels of fighting spirit.

That is why counties are interested. At 37, he may not be able to pull out the heroics so often but there will still be days when he can – and that is worth a gam- ble.