Derbyshire has named a 14-man squad for the Specsavers County Championship match versus Kent starting on Friday 21 April at Canterbury; 11am start.
Luis Reece is set to continue at the top of the order following his performances against the new ball in overcast conditions in both innings against Northamptonshire, resulting in a second innings debut score of 168.
Charlie Macdonell earns a place in the squad following an impressive 149 versus Lancashire in the Second XI Championship earlier in the week.
After taking six wickets in the match against Northants, pace bowler Will Davis is included as well as fellow seamer Ben Cotton, who took two wickets in limited overs cricket for the Derbyshire Second XI on Monday.
Hardus Viljoen remains unavailable through injury. The initial symptoms, caused by an recurrence of a previous injury, are beginning to settle and he is now working with the Club’s medical team to work back up to match fitness.
Captain, Billy Godleman said: “The medical team are working with Hardus to get him back to full fitness as soon as possible. He will miss the Kent trip, but we hope it’s not too long before he’s back.
“But as a squad we have depth in the team and a bowling unit capable of taking 20 wickets in this fixture. Will Davis has always been a dangerous bowler and he proved that against Northamptonshire. He has the ability to bowl a sequence of wicket-taking deliveries and as he is still young – this is brilliant for us.
“For Jeevan Mendis to take five wickets in the match on his debut for the Club was a real positive point as we look ahead to Kent.”
1. Billy Godleman
10. Luis Reece
26. Ben Slater
3. Charlie Macdonell
57. Shiv Thakor
77. Wayne Madsen
11. Daryn Smit
88. Jeevan Mendis
9. Gary Wilson
18. Alex Hughes
8. Tom Milnes
28. Tony Palladino
44. Will Davis
36. Ben Cotton
Kent have only lost twice in their last 21 outings in the Specsavers County Championship and have won both matches so far this season.
The South East side opened the season with a 334 run win over Gloucestershire with Darren Stevens and James Harris shining with the ball, taking eight and six wickets in the match respectively.
40-year-old Stevens was at the centre of the action in their second match against Sussex, scoring 68 and 71 not out as well as taking five wickets in the second innings.
Top-order batsman, Sam Northeast, has also been in good form, recording five Specsavers County Championship hundreds since June 2016. The Captain’s unbeaten 173 at Hove helped steer Kent to their second victory, which sees them third in the table, one point off first.
Billy Godleman took plenty of positives from last week’s season opener against Northamptonshire and wants the team to execute their plans to get a positive result at Kent.
He said: “Over the next six months we will call upon the experiences from Northamptonshire. As a bowling unit and a team we are even clearer in what we need to execute in order to win matches.
“We have prepared in the best way we can for Kent. We go into the fixture with a well informed plan and whether we are batting or bowling on the first day we have to play the situation. When we go out there we have to make sure our plans are well executed.”
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