Imran Tahir is set to make his Derbyshire debut as the county welcome Durham to Queen’s Park, Chesterfield, in the Specsavers County Championship.
The South Africa international has arrived and will take over as overseas player from Jeevan Mendis for the remainder of the 2017 season.
Billy Godleman’s 14-man squad includes left-arm fast bowler Gurjit Sandhu who appears in his first Derbyshire squad following impressive displays for the Second XI. Leg-spinner Matt Critchley, who plays his club cricket in Chesterfield, has also been added to the side that won at Glamorgan last time out.
16-year-old Hamidullah Qadri keeps his place after his stand-out performance at Cardiff, in which he took 5-60 in the second innings – the youngest player ever to achieve the feat in the UK on debut, surpassing the legendary WG Grace set in 1865.
Fast bowler Hardus Viljoen continues to have his workload managed and will miss the four-day fixture, with a view to be ready for the start of the NatWest T20 Blast on Friday.
Director of Cricket, Kim Barnett said: “Gurjit has performed really well for the Second XI and offers an additional variety with his left-arm swing bowling. With three spinners in the squad, the left-arm bowler will also offer some opportunities to get some rough outside the off stump.
“Meanwhile, John [Wright] and Gary [Wilson] continue to discuss plans about the upcoming NatWest T20 Blast, which starts on Friday, and we want to make sure our side is as fresh as possible for this competition.”
1. Billy Godleman
10. Luis Reece
26. Ben Slater
77. Wayne Madsen
18. Alex Hughes
9. Gary Wilson
11. Daryn Smit
15. Tom Taylor
20. Matt Critchley
8. Tom Milnes
28. Tony Palladino
99. Imran Tahir
75. Hamidullah Qadri
Gurjit Sandhu
Durham currently sit bottom of the Specsavers County Championship Division Two table with one win, three draws and four defeats from their eight matches.
Durham are without main threats Keaton Jennings, Ben Stokes and Mark Wood who have been included in the England Test squad to face South Africa.
The inform Paul Collingwood will be available for selection, the 41-year-old has surpassed 50 six times in his last five appearances.
Chris Rushworth possesses the main threat with the ball accompanied by off-break bowler Ryan Pringle who last time out claimed figures of 4-73 versus Worcestershire.
Durham Squad: Yet to be announced.
Billy Godleman says Derbyshire were deserved winners at Glamorgan last week, and he hopes his side can back up with another performance versus Durham at Chesterfield.
He said: “It was a really tough hard-fought four days at Cardiff. We played some really hard first-class cricket, both with bat and ball, and I think we ran out as deserved winners.
“We obviously haven’t won a four-day game in a long time, but there had been signs of progress this season. We were close to a certain victory at Trent Bridge before the rain, and I thought it was just a matter of time before we produced another four hard days of cricket to get that victory.
“As a group, I see how hard they work day in and day out, and at times this season how good the cricket has been.
“It’s important now that we continue to work hard. We will go back and work on our plans ready for Durham at Chesterfield this week. We want to back this up with another four tough days of good first-class cricket.”
Derbyshire return to Queen’s Park on Monday 3 July for the start of the Custom Solar Chesterfield Festival of Cricket, in partnership with Chesterfield Borough Council. Buy tickets in advance and save.
