Worcestershire v Derbyshire T20 preview

Having started so brightly in an admittedly tough group, then lost narrowly to some very good sides, Derbyshire travel to the delights of Worcester tomorrow for a 'must win' game in the T20 Blast.

Four straight losses have taken us from potential qualifiers to third bottom, though a win tomorrow will put us back in the mix for the qualifying berths, especially if we can follow it up with a win at Queens Park on Sunday.

After excellent efforts in the second eleven's eight-wicket win over Nottinghamshire today (more later), Scott Elstone and Tom Milnes are back in the squad  for the game. It is one that we will approach in good heart, having acquitted ourselves well against them this season, though we really could do with our Kiwis coming up with the goods. When the situation gets tight, you want your hired hands to do that and they will line up in this squad:

Hamish Rutherford
Wes Durston
Chesney Hughes
Neil Broom
Wayne Madsen
Scott Elstone
Jimmy Neesham
Alex Hughes
Shiv Thakor
Matt Critchley
Tom Poynton
Tom Milnes
Andy Carter

Great to see Wes back in the side and his thunderous starts have been missed of late. Ben Cotton is rested after a lot of overs at Canterbury and I don't expect any changes to the recent eleven.

Our hosts welcome Saffer Kyle Abbott into their ranks and have a good team in this format. It will be a very good game of cricket against this squad:

 Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Daryl Mitchell, Joe Clarke, Alexei Kervezee, Brett D’Oliveira, Ross Whiteley, Ben Cox, Joe Leach, Ed Barnard, Matt Henry, Kyle Abbott, Jack Shantry

We have enough in the side to win the game, but whether we do so is  anyone's guess. I always feel we have a better chance when chasing, so the toss will be important.

Fingers crossed...

Meanwhile, at Worksop, the seconds limited our dear local neighbours to 191-8 in 43 overs. Will Gidman and Greg Smith made 33 each, while Andy Carter took 3-37 and Tom Milnes 2-35.

In reply, Wes and Jon Tattersall went cheaply, but Scott Elstone (85 not) and Charlie McDonnell (67 not) eased their side to a win with four overs to spare.

Good effort lads!