Derbyshire v Durham T20 game 14

Are you feeling hopeful, Derbyshire fans? 

I suspect that Durham supporters are, given that they welcome back Mattie Potts and David Bedingham for this one, international players both. With Alex Lees, historically prolific against Derbyshire, to lead a side that also includes Colin Ackermann, Callum Parkinson and Ben Raine, we are up against it , even before we consider their TWO overseas players, Australians Ben Dwarshuis and Ashton Turner. They play their overseas players, an interesting concept one hopes might catch on...

I would love to see Derbyshire win tonight. There would be no expectation of further progress, because the sides in the southern group look stronger, to me. But my expectations are low, because options are limited by injury, selection idiosyncrasies and poor recruitment. 

We have too many single format players on a small staff, which limits the options. Patel, Whiteley and Brown are seen as one-day players,  so much so that the latter two have seemingly  been allowed to take part in the 'Caymans T10' in August, according to reports. Meanwhile, Dal, Conners and Lamb are perceived as four-day players, Reece is, but is drafted in anyway, Potts has effectively disappeared  and Aitchison has been injured and largely missed the season. 

So the options for change are limited, further complicated by recruitment of overseas players who duplicate our areas of strength (Dupavillon) and numbers (Fletcher). The latter is apparently still struggling with a groin injury, which poses the question why he is included in matchday squads? 

So it is fair to say I am baffled, not overly optimistic and with few real expectations of a win tonight. As we saw again last night of course, when Saif Zaib hit the Birmingham bowling to all corners of Northampton, one player can have a special day and turn form on its head. Yet Derbyshire are again struggling because of a lack of clarity in roles and team selection.

It made no sense to have Luis Reece open again last night, when his tournament high this year is just 23, from seven matches. The argument that he is a fifth bowler doesn't really wash, because he has only bowled six overs in those seven games. Yet Guest is omitted, very much to the detriment of the wicket keeping and fielding standard, with an average of just under 30. Maybe he was injured, but such an occurrence is as rare as elephant eggs on your breakfast table.

For what it is worth, I would go for this side tonight, giving us the best chance of success: 

Donald, Guest, Lloyd, Madsen, Patel, Whiteley, Thomson, Chappell, Amir, Brown, Dupavillon

It is a long tail, but you could argue that if the top eight don't score the runs, you shouldn't expect the bottom three to do so. Equally, it gets your best bowlers out on the pitch, at the same time as your best batters. Surely such common sense is a prerequisite of team selection? If there are injuries, so be it, but shouldn't supporters be made aware of this? 

Durham bring the following squad: 

Ackerman, Bedingham, Clark, Coughlin, de Leede, Dwarshuis, Jones, Lees, McKinney, Parkinson, Potts, Raine, Robinson, Sowter, Turner.

As always, I will be watching intently, as will all of you, in person or via the stream.

Yet I'm afraid to say my confidence isn't high.

Having said which, you have no idea how happy I would be to be proved wrong. Yet even if we win, we need to keep our NRR above that of Yorkshire (against Nottinghamshire) while Birmingham beat Leicestershire. It's going to be one of those nights.

What are your thoughts?