Derbyshire have named a 13-man squad for the Royal London One-Day Cup fixture away to Northants Steelbacks on Friday 1 June, 2pm start.
The Falcons sit third in the Royal London One-Day Cup North Group on six points after five games. With three games to go, Derbyshire will be aiming to bounce back from defeat to Yorkshire in the race for a spot in the knockout stages.
Luis Reece has been ruled out of the remainder of Derbyshire’s Royal London One-Day Cup group stage matches with a broken metatarsal in his right foot.
Callum Brodrick is in line to replace the injured Reece and make his List A debut for the Club, following a score of 52 on his first-class debut last summer.
Billy Godleman remains Derbyshire’s leading run-scorer with 305 runs at an average of 61 and a top-score of 137. Fellow opener Ben Slater is 64 runs behind following a fine unbeaten 109 against Yorkshire, taking his average to 60.
Ravi Rampaul has taken eight wickets, including 5-48 versus Yorkshire Vikings, whilst Duanne Olivier and Matt Critchley have both claimed seven.
1. Billy Godleman
26. Ben Slater
77. Wayne Madsen
18. Alex Hughes
19. Callum Brodrick
20. Matt Critchley
14. Gary Wilson
11. Daryn Smit
7. Hardus Viljoen
41. Ravi Rampaul
74. Duanne Olivier
50. Safyaan Sharif
8. Dan Wheeldon
Northants Steelbacks have two wins, two defeats and one no result from their opening five Royal London One-Day Cup matches.
The Steelbacks are one point behind Derbyshire and head into the fixture in a similar position to the Falcons, knowing they need to return to winning ways after a defeat and a washed out game.
Proving they are still rightly considered dangerous limited overs opponents, Alex Wakely’s men beat Notts Outlaws by 49 runs, their first of two victories.
Josh Cobb remains a threat at the top of the order, whilst Ben Duckett and Richard Levi are powerful hitters capable of striking well over 100.
Whilst it’s too soon for a return for Richard Gleeson, Ben Sanderson and the experienced Nathan Buck are likely to lead the seam attack, alongside former Outlaws bowler, Brett Hutton.
Northants Steelbacks Squad: Josh Cobb, Rob Newton, Ben Duckett, Alex Wakely (c), Rob Keogh, Ricardo Vasconcelos (wk), Luke Procter, Rory Kleinveldt, Graeme White, Nathan Buck, Ben Sanderson, Brett Hutton, Saif Zaib, Richard Levi.
Ben Slater hopes Derbyshire can bounce back in the Royal London One-Day Cup with a win over Northants Steelbacks on Friday.
The opener batted throughout Derbyshire’s innings versus Yorkshire Vikings to record his fourth List A ton for the Club and close on 109 not out, off 82 balls with 13 fours and one six.
But ultimately Derbyshire’s total of 189-6 was hauled in by a strong Yorkshire side as Matt Fisher hit the winning runs with one ball to spare after Ravi Rampaul had earlier claimed five wickets.
Slater said: “It’s nice the get the score, but it would be even nicer to get it on a winning side.
“I think I’ve started well in this competition, got a 60 then a couple of starts, so it’s nice to have managed to get a good score.”
The 26-year-old admits the narrow defeat was disappointing as the Falcons chase a spot in the knockout stages, but he now turns his attention to the big game away to Northants Steelbacks.
Slater added: “To get so close to beating a side like that with the players they’ve got is disappointing. We’d all like to have got over the line, but they’re a good side.
“Northants are a good side with some good players, but there’s no reason why we can’t go there and get a win.”
Royal London One-Day Cup is back at The 3aaa County Ground! Derbyshire will host four 50-over fixtures in May and June. Buy your match tickets in advance & save.
Derbyshire vs Lancashire Lightning – Sunday 3 June
