They will face Durham, easily the best side in the division and likely to be reinforced by the appearance of Ben Stokes, the former England captain. They will also have Brydon Carse playing, after he was released from England duty to play, as has Shoaib Bashir.
It will be a stiff task for Derbyshire, although the forecast for tomorrow suggests the game is likely to be one of closer to three days than four.
Mickey Arthur has named a squad of twelve, which is basically everyone left when the extensive injury list is taken out of the equation. The final place would appear to be between Jack Morley and Nick Potts, with the latter more likely to get the nod, while the opening partner for Harry Came is likely to be between Caleb Jewell and Martin Andersson, who did so well in the white ball format.
Brett Randell is set to make his county debut and will open the bowling with Ben Aitchison in what looks likely to be this side:
Came, Andersson, Montgomery, Madsen, Jewell, Guest, Dal, Potts, Aitchison, Randell, Bashir (Morley 12th man)
Carse is set to make his first county Championship appearance of the summer for Durham, but Ben Raine is unavailable for selection due to the expected arrival of he and his wife’s second child.
Their squad:
Colin Ackermann, Kasey Aldridge, David Bedingham, Brydon Carse, Graham Clark, Alex Lees, Ben McKinney, Duanne Olivier, Callum Parkinson, Matthew Potts, Will Rhodes, Luke Robinson, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes.
It is hard to see a Derbyshire win in this game, but the forecast suggests that a draw might be possible and I don't think there will be great disappointment if they achieve that at the end of this fixture. Durham will go up this year as champions and deservedly so.
I think Derbyshire are a better side in this format than with the white ball, so I'm happy to predict a draw here
What do you think?
Maybe my glasses are particularly rose tinted, but I look at our likely starting 11 and see grounds for optimism.
ReplyDeleteThere is no reason to believe that at least 3 or 4 of the top 7 batsmen should not be able put together decent scores.
Aitchison is having the sort of red ball season you can only dream of. Randell will want to prove his worth. Dal always bowls tightly and often picks up wickets. Bashir is an international class spinner.
Of course we don't have the class of Durham, but with luck and a following breeze we could give them a good game.
On the other hand, its the hope that hurts.
They are indeed a pair of very rose tinted spectacles! 😆
DeleteI would certainly take a draw, rain affected or otherwise.
I would have played Donald instead of probably Potts. An hour of his striking would give the innings some impetus. I think we need a better batter than Potts coming in at 8. Grant from Telford
ReplyDeleteWhite ball striking is very different to Red ball. Completely different skillset and Donald should focus on just playing white ball in my opinion
DeleteIf NYE Donald was to play more FC cricket it would probably make him into a rounded batsman
ReplyDeleteWe are going to need to win some games if we want to go up and he has the ability to do that on his own. Worth the gamble in my opinion. Grant from Telford
Delete