It is as you were for Derbyshire, as they travel to our East Midlands rivals Leicestershire for our second county championship match tomorrow.
After the tremendous win over fancied Middlesex, who sadly heard today that Toby Roland-Jones is out for the summer with a stress fracture of the back, some will think that this should be a walkover for Derbyshire.
Therein lies the challenge. A Derbyshire eleven that competes from the first ball can beat anyone, as we have proven over recent seasons in different formats. Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Warwickshire, Middlesex - they have all been beaten handsomely, so the ability is there. If Billy Godleman and his men can maintain intensity, they are capable of a very fine season.
With the second team match abandoned without a ball bowled this week, there was no chance for Daryn Smit to win a place over Gary Wilson, but the latter has to score runs and maintain his form behind the timbers. Hamidullah Qadri, Callum Brodrick and Will Davis travel with the squad, Qadri or Davis options if they decide to rest Tony Palladino or the pitch dictates a change to the eleven.
Leicestershire are still to announce their squad, but Indian Test bowler Varun Aaron is in the frame for a county debut as their overseas player. They had a high scoring draw with Sussex to start the season, and new captain Michael Carberry heads an experienced batting line up that includes Colin Ackerman, who scored 186 against Sussex, as well as the prolific Mark Cosgrove.
Their likely line up is:
Carberry, Horton, Ackerman, Cosgrove, Javid, Dexter, Hill, Raine, Parkinson, Griffiths, Aaron
I'm putting this down as a draw, for no other reason than that tomorrow's weather, like Monday's, suggests a lot of rain. So unless the forecast is wrong, or the wicket is like a few around the country in the past fortnight and allows a two-day finish, I can't see how either side will have the time to force a positive result.
When there is play, you will be able to follow it through their live stream, which you can see by clicking here
It will be nice to see their covers tomorrow. If there's more than that, I'll be back to comment on it.
If it’s likely to be a draw because of rain and/or a dull pitch like their last game, is it worth resting one of the quicks? They bowled a lot of overs in the last game without much recovery time, and it wouldn’t hurt to give Qadri some overs.
ReplyDeleteFair point they may consider. But equally could let Davis have some short, sharp spells
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