Anuj Dal is back from his leave of absence for personal reasons and is joined in the squad by Pat Brown, returned from duty in the other competition going on at the moment.
Both will be pushing for inclusion in the side, though I hope not at the expense of Harry Moore, who has done really well so far. Brown may replace Zak Chappell, who limped his way through the game against Middlesex, while Nuj could find a slot in the middle order. My likely team:
Came, Reece, Guest, Lloyd, Lamb, Patel, Dal, Moore, Conners, Dupavillon, Brown
Chappell, Bin Naeem, Wagstaff, Potts in squad.
My heart says Bin Naeem should retain a place, but Arthur will likely go for his strongest eleven. The concern is over the length of that tail and either Chappell or Bin Naeem would shorten that.
The good news is that Lancashire have lost Keaton Jennings to that other competition. The bad news is that they still have Chris Green, the Australian all-rounder who effectively won them the T20 game between these two sides at Old Trafford. They also give a debut to Indian international Venkatesh Iyer, who averages just under 50 in this format, in both List A cricket and one day internationals.
Having said that, you only need one good ball to dismiss anyone and Derbyshire confidence should be high after a very good start to this competition.
Lancashire squad:
Bohannon, Bailey, Balderson, Barnard, Bell, Blatherwick, Boyden, Flintoff, Green, Iyer, Lavelle, Morley, Singh, Williams
I still think that there is enough in this Derbyshire side to maintain their winning start. I couldn't begin to call the visiting team, though Jack Morley may play on his return to Derby after his early season loan. There may also be a first Derby appearance for Rocky Flintoff, but he, at 16, only be there for the experience.
Time will tell, but it should be a cracking game tomorrow. The weather is set fine and hopefully the cricket matches it.
Not to mention the result..
What do you think?
MA said at the meeting last night that Pat Brown was back and in the same breath said it was unfair to ask Harry Moore to play every match. I disagree strongly; not for the first time.
ReplyDeleteAs a Lancs fan, we're properly banjaxed at the moment with an entire first team away at the crisp festival. There are a lot of promising lads in this squad, and Jack Blatherwick (who really needs a move away and is out of contract, probably worth a look for Derbyshire) but you should have plenty to see Lancs off here as our batting is basically Josh Bohannon, George Balderson who can't do everything - but we keep asking him to - George Bell, who is so out of form it's almost cruel to keep playing him, and George Lavelle who appears to have been cursed by some kind of evil wizard to receive the best ball of every innings as soon as he steps onto the crease. Have to admit I am not at all unhappy to see Derbyshire top of the table though and I wouldn't be overly upset if we helped keep you there.
ReplyDeleteYou will be looking forward to seeing Iyer, Lancs Fan? I quite like Blatherwick and he might be an option for us if we decide to change things up at season end.
DeleteFingers crossed your prediction comes true!
Blatherwick is a good lad, strong as an ox and has a big heart and it simply hasn't happened for him at Lancs. He always looks like he's just about to really kick on but I think it's time for his sake he tried somewhere else. As to my prediction, sadly, I'm feeling pretty good about it after what passed for our innings!
DeleteWell, I think my prediction was proven right! (sigh). Blatherwick is a good lad with a big heart who loves his cricket but it simply hasn't happened for him at Lancs (he is, by the way, far from the first good young player who hasn't kicked on here but that's our problem not yours). I think if he got regular cricket at a place that felt like home to him you'd get a willing workhorse capable of bowling rapid when required, he just needs to get his radar working more often.
DeleteIf Zak isn’t fit (if he is, he’s one of the first names on the team list for me), I’d play Bin Naeem instead of Dupavillon and reduce the length of that tail. It’ll be great to have Dal back. Moore was fantastic the other day and should certainly play. As I’ve said before, though, I do hope we will get a chance before the end of the season to work out whether Potts has the potential to be the player that we thought he was three or four years ago.
ReplyDeleteAndy T. Cleckheaton
I hope he is fit, Andy. I am a big fan and he would always be in my team!
DeleteBBC headline today. CEO Ryan Duckett says "Mickey Arthur is going nowhere" I suppose it depends on how you interpret that 😉
ReplyDeleteI know its a weakened Lancashire team, but that was excellent. Surely we can mess up chasing 100? 😬
ReplyDeleteWe're winning this Cup aren't we, nobody can handle our seam attack!
ReplyDeleteGreat bowling display today. Brown, Chappell and Moore were superb.
ReplyDelete