People have been putting two and two together and getting five, sensing Nye Donald was therefore set to be given the gloves for the tournament opener.
I am not saying it won't happen, but I agree with everyone that it would be the wrong decision. Furthermore, looking at the 15-man squad announced for Leicester, I cannot see anyone outside of the obvious selections whose presence would otherwise strengthen the team.
Nye Donald hasn't kept in a game this season and has just returned from a shoulder injury. Do you really want a key batter potentially hurting that again in diving around? Or a part time wicket keeper trying to read the variations of a mystery spinner? If I was Samit Patel, I would want my best gloveman and I expect to see Brooke in the side tomorrow.
If he isn't, I would be very surprised.
It would leave the 'other' four overs between Andersson, Whiteley and Lloyd, possibly Madsen. Variations in pace and angle, that would work.
There is no Luis Reece, so one option is out of the window. My own thoughts, for what they are worth, is that Brooke wanted a hit ahead of the game and he has got that, making 44 while batting at three
The Derbyshire squad - my likeliest team first:
Jewell
Donald
Lloyd
Madsen
Andersson
Whiteley
Patel
Guest
Chappell
Ghazanfar
Brown
Came, Thomson, Aitchison, Potts
The order can be fluid and depends on the circumstances. Brooke could easily bat three, as he did today and knock it around as sheet anchor, if not chasing a massive total.
Leicestershire will pin their hopes on a big hitting top four of Sol Budinger, Rishi Patel, skipper Louis Kimber and former Derbyshire player Shan Masood. But they have lost several players - Josh Hull and Rehan Ahmed are with England Lions, Ben Green has gone back to Somerset, Ian Holland is in America for the MLC and Ben Mike has a hamstring strain.
Logan van Beek will be their other overseas player and is having a good season. Liam Trevaskis will likely come into the squad too, as will Sam Wood, both in good form for the second team in the past week.
As I write, there is no news on their squad, but I expect Derbyshire to get off to a winning start. The toss will be important with rain forecast, but as long as we keep that top four quiet, I think we can start the tournament in the very best style.
What do you think?
Postscript - Derbyshire ran out easy winners against Yorkshire. The home side was restricted to 134-5 in 20 overs, with Jack Morley taking 3-26.
Derbyshire knocked off the runs with 28 balls to spare. Amrit Basra, so impressive this summer, made an unbeaten 42 from 25 deliveries, to add to Guest's 44 from 33. George Lavelle contributed an unbeaten 16 to seal the win.
Scorecard and video clips here
Update - Leicestershire squad:
Budinger, Cox, A Green, Hill, Kimber, Masood, Patel, Salisbury, Scriven, Swindells, Trevaskis, van Beek, Walker, Wood
I think we should sign the lad Basra up looks class
ReplyDeleteYes, obviously we don't know the jump between that and first class level, but he looks a serious player. I would have thought he could translate that to the senior game
DeleteHard to call tonight's game, Leicestershire have a good squad and that batting line up looks powerful. I think Came and Thomson might get the nod over Lloyd and Ghazanfar for this one, Thomson a safer bet as he can bat a bit lower down, Came shades it over Lloyd just for me, come on Falcons!
ReplyDeleteMate, there's zero chance we've got a lad over from Afghanistan not to play!
DeleteChoosing one overseas player for the game, when we have 3 at the club, would be a somewhat surprising thing to do. Came for Lloyd would be less so, but Lloyd offers a possible option with the ball.
DeleteI would be amazed if the final eleven isn't the one listed above, with the batting order fluid, as mentioned.
I would be amazed if Guest doesn't play. It would be unthinkable not to have him behind the stumps. Even if he wasn't a keeper, I'd include him a T20 team for his batting. While he's not a big hitter, like Donald or Whiteley, for example, he can score quickly with pushes for singles and twos plus the occasional boundary.
ReplyDeleteWhat on earth is happening at Derbyshire? The first XI is second in the table and unbeaten, the second XI have won all their games, and the under-18s have just won two games. I predict a win tonight.
The bookies don't rate our chances.
ReplyDeleteSo 2+2 does =4 ! Very surprised
ReplyDeleteI don’t think there was any panic about Guest, just observations. Looking at the team it would seem that they were correct. A bold call but it could be one that gets us that bit extra. I am surprised to see Potts in ahead of Aitchison as the latter offers more with the bat. Let’s hope MA has made the right calls
ReplyDeleteMarkB
Oh well, on to the 2nd match
ReplyDeleteConcentrating on the league then….
ReplyDeleteProbably the worst 2 power plays I have ever seen! Very disappointing. Outside of the power plays we were ok with some promise. A bit of work to do
ReplyDeleteMarkB