Gary Wilson returns to a 14-man Derbyshire squad for their final home Specsavers County Championship match of the season against Kent at Queen’s Park, starting on Tuesday 19 September; 10.30am.
Wilson will captain Derbyshire in Billy Godleman’s absence after returning from international duty with Ireland. Godleman suffered a broken bone in his hand during the victory over Sussex and will miss the final two games of the season.
Leg spinner Imran Tahir also comes into the Derbyshire squad for the fixture at Queen’s Park after representing a World XI in their Twenty20 series defeat to Pakistan.
Hardus Viljoen inspired Derbyshire to a 45-run win over Sussex last time out in the Specsavers County Championship and the South Africa paceman is set to lead the pace attack, with Harry Podmore and Tony Palladino providing further seam options.
In Godleman’s absence, there is a chance for batsmen to progress up the order and Wayne Madsen and the in-form Alex Hughes are likely to feature in the middle order alongside Wilson and 21-year-old Harvey Hosein.
Derbyshire lost to Durham by six wickets at Queen’s Park in late June, but head into the penultimate Specsavers County Championship fixture of the season on the back of a win and good team performance.
10. Luis Reece
26. Ben Slater
2. Callum Brodrick
77. Wayne Madsen
18. Alex Hughes
20. Matt Critchley
9. Gary Wilson
16. Harvey Hosein
28. Tony Palladino
7. Hardus Viljoen
44. Will Davis
25. Harry Podmore
75. Hamidullah Qadri
99. Imran Tahir
Kent currently sit fourth in Specsavers County Championship Division Two on 164 points, with hopes of promotion still alive with two games to play.
Last time out they drew with Gloucestershire, with Captain Sam Northeast continuing his form which has seen him hit 1011 first-class runs so far this season. With two more runs to his name in the campaign is Joe Denly, who averages 53 with three centuries and five half-centuries.
Darren Stevens has performed well with both bat and ball, earning a batting average of 45 and returning 57 wickets at an average of 18. Matt Coles is the next best performing bowler and the seamer with 32 wickets, including best figures of 6-84.
New Zealand quick Adam Milne provides a further pace option and he has taken 11 wickets and bowled 44 maidens in his four matches.
Kent Squad: Daniel Bell-Drummond, Sean Dickson, Joe Denly, Sam Northeast, Sam Billings, Zak Crawley, Darren Stevens, Will Gidman, Calum Haggett, Grant Stewart, James Tredwell, Imran Qayyum, Matt Hunn, Oliver Robinson.
Fast bowler Hardus Viljoen is looking forward to the challenge of facing his old teammates after returning career-best match figures of 15-170 against Sussex at Hove.
Derbyshire’s final home fixture of the season is a chance for the South African quick to continue his fine run of form against his former club Kent, who remain in the hunt for promotion.
Viljoen said: “Yes it was a good game for me at Hove and more importantly a good team performance from everyone to get the win. I am really proud of everyone and the way the batters batted together to put us in a dominating position that day.
“The team’s in a great mindset and I’ve got a great changing room behind me at the moment and everyone is bowling well too, there are definitely positives to take into next season.
He added: “It’s going to make an interesting game at Chesterfield playing against old teammates and I’m looking forward to that, everybody will be looking to finish well.”
Derbyshire’s final home game is vs Kent at Chesterfield. Save £4 by purchasing your matchday tickets in advance. While further discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Buy online or call 01332 388 101.
