Gary Wilson returns to a 15-man Derbyshire squad for the Specsavers County Championship match versus Glamorgan at The 3aaa County Ground, starting on Tuesday 5 September; 10.30am start.
Wilson missed the match versus Durham at Emirates Riverside due to illness, but returns to bolster the batting line-up as the team prepares to play at The 3aaa County Ground for the final time in the 2017 season.
In the reverse fixture, Derbyshire claimed a first Specsavers County Championship victory since July 2015 and 16-year-old off-spinner Hamidullah Qadri hit the headlines with a match-winning performance including 5-60 in the second innings to seal victory.
Will Davis picked up five wickets in the drawn Second XI friendly versus Yorkshire last week, and the quick bowler is included in the squad alongside Hardus Viljoen and Middlesex loanee Harry Podmore.
Billy Godleman and Matt Critchley both have averages above 40, whilst Alex Hughes is enjoying a career-best 35 average in the competition so far, having hit 554 runs with a top-score of 108.
Luis Reece hit 106 in the last Specsavers County Championship fixture versus Durham and he is set to continue at the top of the order alongside Ben Slater, who himself hit 57 in the second innings at Emirates Riverside.
1. Billy Godleman
10. Luis Reece
26. Ben Slater
77. Wayne Madsen
18. Alex Hughes
20. Matt Critchley
9. Gary Wilson
16. Harvey Hosein
8. Tom Milnes
28. Tony Palladino
7. Hardus Viljoen
25. Harry Podmore
44. Will Davis
99. Imran Tahir
75. Hamidullah Qadri
Glamorgan were beaten semi-finalists on NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day, but return to red ball cricket sitting seventh in Specsavers County Championship Division Two, 17 points above Derbyshire.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Chris Cooke tops the batting averages for the visitors, with 460 runs at an average of 42. Colin Ingram has a top score of 155 not out and closely follows Cook in the rankings, averaging 40 across nine matches.
Timm van der Gugten leads the way with the ball, returning 22 wickets in five matches, whilst Michael Hogan has 30 wickets at an average of 26. Andrew Salter is expected to lead the spin attack and the off-break bowler has taken 14 wickets so far this campaign.
Glamorgan Squad: Rudolph, Selman, Murphy, Ingram, Carlson, Cooke, Salter, Meschede, de Lange, Carey, Hogan, Smith.
Director of Cricket Kim Barnett hopes Derbyshire can win at least one of the two final home Specsavers County Championship matches to help build a template for next season.
Derbyshire face Glamorgan at The 3aaa County Ground before the visit of Kent to Chesterfield, and despite a first victory in the competition since July 2015, Billy Godleman’s side are yet to win at home with two matches left to play.
Barnett said: “Although you don’t want to lose away, I’m more concerned about winning at home and I think these next two home matches are crucial to see if we have some sort of template for the future to win home cricket matches.
“If we win three or four first-class matches at home then we’re on the right path and then you have to deal with what happens when you go away. At the moment we haven’t got that template right at home, but we have the chance to set the tone with these two home games coming up.
“The stats say everything after a period of time. Last year we averaged around 44 with the ball and we’ve brought that down this season to 32. But the danger of bringing it down with the ball is if the bat comes down with it then you are no better off and unfortunately that has happened so far in four day cricket this season.”
He added: “Hardus Viljoen is now charging in and he looks fit and is bowling well. We obviously hoped to have him earlier on in the season and bowling alongside Will Davis, but it’s good to see him back firing.
“As for Davis, we’ve got to manage his winter programme so that he can get through a full season next year. Alongside Hamidullah Qadri they’re exciting prospects for the future.”
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