There's an unchanged team for Derbyshire in this game, which hardly comes as a surprise. While the batting was hardly at its best in Southampton, nor is there anyone close to the form required to oust one of them from their position.
Nor do they deserve to lose out. I think the top six has a good look to it and the three younger players in there have all done enough in the past couple of matches to warrant a decent run. As for the bowlers, David Wainwright could come under pressure from Tom Knight in the near future, but the seamers largely speak for themselves and I don't foresee any changes.
The Derbyshire squad:
Borrington
Moore
Madsen
North
Elstone
Hughes (A)
Cross
Wainwright
Palladino
Groenewald
Footitt
Turner
As for Leicestershire, they're missing Ollie Freckingham and Nathan Buck to injury and there will be a late fitness test for the experienced Charlie Shreck, who pulled up after only three overs in their last championship game. Their squad is:
Smith, Robson, Eckersley, Sarwan, Cobb, O'Brien, Taylor, Raine, Naik, Sykes, Ireland, Shreck, Wyatt.
Angus Robson has been in good form for them and they are a side that habitually does well against us, despite not looking to be the strongest on paper. Ramnaresh Sarwan remains as overseas player, but this is a game that, weather permitting, we should really hope to win and kick start our season.
Will we? Monday and Tuesday are set for showers, but a good performance here will build on some positive vibes from the Nottinghamshire game last night. I know I'm tempting providence...
But I'll go for a win here.
Leicestershire are not a good side.
ReplyDeleteWeather permitting we need to put down a marker here and win some sessions, put pressure on the opposition and start to feel good about ourselves.
After a few days a long way north of the border I look forward to Leicestershire tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI can,t say i,m anywhere near as optimistic as you are,Peakfan,though obviously I will be happy if you are proved right.
For me,this match is the crossroads for the remainder of the season. Despite a reasonable start,Leicestershire are sinking fast and from a confidence aspect,they are unlikely to be in any better shape than we are.
The key to this game is who performs better in their respective first innings. I wouldn,t fancy either side if they are in a position of playing "catch up" later in the match.
Some of these batsmen have to start producing runs on a much more regular basis than we have seen so far. I don,t have any direct evidence to prove it,but I would be very surprised if there was any team in the country with a poorer scoring rate than ours.
It is not easy to determine whether this is the disease or merely a symptom of other underlying causes. We have to encourage a more positive outlook and break out of this two an over theme which has been a feature of our cricket for most of the season.
Both teams will look upon this game as a possible turning point and it may be a case of who dares,wins. For the losers it will probably become a point of no return. We can win it,but we have to eradicate the unforced errors which have so far blighted our season. If we lose then the time will have come to start asking some serious questions.
Unfortunately, news has broken to indicate Tim Groenewald has decided to leave the club at the end of the season, which is a big shame - I know you will feel likewise, Peakfan. As a consequence of this bombshell, he has been dropped from the forthcoming fixture.
ReplyDeleteMASTERVILLAIN