Derbyshire v Lancashire RLODC preview

Well, Leicestershire did it today, so let's hope that Derbyshire can emulate them, beat Lancashire tomorrow and put one foot in the Royal London One-Day Cup knock-out stages.

In fact, our East Midlands rivals trounced them and if we go into tomorrow's game with the level of commitment and focus that has characterised most of our one-day cricket this summer, we can get the points.

With Warwickshire handing out a good hiding to Northamptonshire, the game offers us a chance to put daylight between us and the chasing pack ahead of the games against Northamptonshire and Leicestershire. It goes without saying, in such a tough group, that qualification would be an impressive achievement.

There have been plenty of pictures from today's training, with Dominic Cork involved with the bowlers and turning his arm over himself. He still looks fit enough to be playing, though the fielding might catch him out a bit these days. I can relate to that...

Tomorrow he will back behind the microphone and maintaining impartiality as best he can for Sky. John Sadler has named a fourteen that shouldn't see much change, in the final eleven, from Sunday at Welbeck. From reports we did little wrong there but ran into a very good side on a good day. For us to realistically entertain hopes of beating such sides, someone has to produce something special and hope for an off-day from the opposition.

Our unchanged squad:

Wes Durston
Billy Godleman
Ben Slater
Chesney Hughes
Hamish Rutherford
Wayne Madsen
Neil Broom
Shiv Thakor
Alex Hughes
Harvey Hosein
Matt Critchley
Tony Palladino
Ben Cotton
Will Davis

The big decision, I would think, is who misses out among the batsmen. Chesney and Billy did at Welbeck, but Neil Broom needs to deliver sometime soon to keep gaining selection ahead of them. It is a dilemma to have to consider dropping a man who, although on a British passport, is essentially an overseas player with international experience and a good track record. Yet it hasn't really happened for Neil (or Hamish Rutherford) this year. Might this be 'the one' where it does?

I'm sure we all hope so.

Lancashire's side today, presumably similar to tomorrow, was:

Smith, Petersen,  Brown, Procter, Livingstone, Croft, Clark, Moores, Parry, Jarvis, Buck

Alviro Petersen is the key man, but there are some dangerous players in the side and we will need to be at our best to come out on top.

I think we will. There appears to be a good 'vibe' around the club at present and, even in front of TV cameras, I think we can deliver the type of performance that can maintain our place in the top four.

And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, winning the toss tomorrow will help our cause immensely.

Good luck lads. Do us proud.