Fingers crossed, tomorrow will see a return to cricket and an end to as odd a week as I have had to write on in my time doing the blog. We should call it Watergate...nah, that's been used before...
There is a strong thirteen for the Falcons tomorrow at Leicester, where I expect a tougher level of opposition than we had at Derby for the first game between the two sides. I don't see a change to the team from Worcester, because we have really only had one bad display in this competition, sadly against you-know-who.
The squad:
Hamish Rutherford
Wes Durston
Chesney Hughes
Neil Broom
Wayne Madsen
Ben Slater
Shiv Thakor
Jimmy Neesham
Alex Hughes
Matt Critchley
Harvey Hosein
Tom Milnes
Andy Carter
Leicestershire welcome Farhaan Behardien to their squad, the South African a player of proven ability and experience.
Their side is the opposite of ours - packed with players of experience, though less mobile in the fied because of that. Nonetheless, it is a game we need to win, especially as Sunday sees an international-laden Yorkshire side visit the 3aaa County Ground.
Their squad:
Mark Pettini, Mark Cosgrove, Cameron Delport, Farhaan Behardien, Kevin
O’Brien, Paul Horton, Lewis Hill, Michael Burgess, Luke Wells, Neil
Dexter, Ben Raine, Clint McKay, Rob Taylor, Jigar Naik
If we produce the intensity of the majority of our performances, we will win. It will be tough and McKay is always a dangerous bowler, but I feel that this Derbyshire side is more than the sum of its parts, thanks to an excellent team spirit that ensures the players roll up their sleeves and battle.
Let's see if I am right tomorrow - meantime, what are your thoughts?
Postscript - a draw for the seconds in a good game against Worcestershire today, with Wes taking five wickets in the second innings.
Warm congratulations to Tom Wood, who recorded a double century and must have made a few people sit up and think. A 22-year old local lad who can play aggressively or with more restraint.
There's a lot to like about that sort of player...
A crucial few days in T20, three games in a week against the bottom three. Ideally two wins from these games will put us in the mix. Hopefully Wes's good form from the seconds will rub off as he is important in getting our innings off to a good start. Having just watched the last four days of the seconds in action, I feel that Scott Elstone deserves another chance soon, he has batted well this week and his fielding has been exemplary, he took some fine catches during the course of the week.
ReplyDeleteI think we do with a win as a pick-me-up as it's been a pretty depressing week for us. I am confident we can do so too.
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