Weekend preview: Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire Vitality Blast games six and seven

I will be on North Derbyshire Radio again tomorrow, talking to Matt Rhodes about the T20 Blast and the contrast with the red ball summer. It isn't going to be something that can be sugar- coated, but I will attempt to offer some constructive criticism, as I always try to do.

I will post a link to the interview as soon as it has aired tomorrow evening.

Mickey Arthur did a lengthy interview on the club site this afternoon. As I said before, I really feel he should have fronted up after some of the matches we have played, which after all is part of his role. I didn't get an awful lot from the interview, to be honest. Yes, we haven't been able to field a first choice side, but the same goes for pretty much everyone and others have managed to do quite nicely in adversity. 

The only thing that came out of it was that Luis Reece and Anuj Dal have been recovering from injuries sustained in the red ball fixtures, so they have been unable to be considered for selection. I wouldn't have had either in my first choice white ball side before the tournament, in fact, the only one missing from that has been Harry Moore. Though I would have been very reluctant to pin pin our tournament hopes on a lad of 18, just as I felt it asked a lot to do so on Mohammad Ghazanfar.

The same squad is available for the weekend games against Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. I think the side that we fielded last night is the best we can put out at present. So the players and coaches need to find a way to play to potential.

The Head of Cricket did say that once it is clear we will not progress he will give opportunity to players who may contribute in the next year or two, so watch this space. As someone who is normally positive, I don't rate our chances of winning eight from ten very highly, but I would love to be proved wrong.

Anyway, Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, then Leicestershire at Edgbaston. Pre-tournament I would have said we could beat either of these teams, but it just hasn't happened. Maybe a collective return to form is around the corner, but the more realistic me feels a defeat tomorrow, with the possibility of a first win after that is a more likely scenario. 

Until we find a way to bat and bowl well in the same match, I don't see a change to the currently advertised program. For me, we initially shot ourselves in the foot with team selection, then caused further damage with batting orders that don't make a great deal of sense.

What do you think?