Sussex v. Derbyshire preview

Back to the red ball tomorrow, as Derbyshire travel down to Sussex by the sea, to quote the old song.

A thirteen-man squad has been named, which includes Tom Wood. We are getting to the stage of the season where the fit ones are effectively the squad and with Ben Aitchison ruled out for the summer with a stress fracture, it is good to see Suranga Lakmal return.

He will want to make an impression in the second half of the summer and takes his place in this squad:

Came, Reece, Guest, Madsen, Ali, du Plooy, Dal, Thomson, Potts, Scrimshaw, Lakmal, Conners, Wood.

I expect Wood and either Scrimshaw or Potts to miss out, though all three are deserving of opportunity in the format.

Sussex have also named thirteen, although there is no Cheteshwar Pujara in the squad. Another former Derbyshire man, Fynn Hudson-Prentice, is likely to play in a side that has some exciting young talent. I am a big admirer of Tom Haines and Ali Orr, though neither has been in the form they would have hoped for so far.

Their squad:

Alsop, Carson, Carter, Clark, Coles, Currie, Haines, Hudson-Prentice, Ibrahim, Karvelas, Lenham, McAndrew, Shipley.

Skipper Tom Alsop has been in fine form for them, while Aussie Nathan McAndrew has had a very good all round summer, averaging thirty with the bat while taking 30 wickets at 21.

Having looked at the weather forecast, I'm going for a draw here. Rain looks set to take sizeable chunks from the second and third days, so unless the captain's contrive a last afternoon run chase, I can't see a positive result in this one.

As always, I welcome your thoughts!