Madsen relishing expectation

Wayne Madsen says Derbyshire are relishing the chance to challenge for silverware in 2020, ahead of their Vitality Blast campaign.

The batsman, who was the club’s leading Vitality Blast run-scorer last season, has been ever-present in Derbyshire’s unbeaten start to the Bob Willis Trophy, and will be a key member of the top-order in the white-ball games as well.

Madsen hit four half-centuries in last year’s competition, as Derbyshire reached Finals Day for the first time, and he believes the side come into the competition with added pressure due to recent performances.

“I think there’s an expectation because of how we’ve performed in the last few years,” Madsen told BBC Radio Derby.

“We’re confident in how we play in white ball cricket, and it’s part and parcel of how we’ve performed in that time, but we have expectations of ourselves as well to go out and perform in the Twenty20.

“It’s great to be a part of this team, we’ve been a building team for the last few years and it’s great to be winning games and challenging for trophies. That’s what you want as a player, and as a team we’re in that position.

“We have a great group of people, not just the players, but the coaching staff off the field and it’s obviously bringing a lot of joy to our supporters as well, which is great news.”

Having beaten Leicestershire in first-class action earlier this month, Derbyshire come into the game against Leicestershire full of confidence, but Madsen says the side will not be taking their opponents lightly.

“Leicestershire have some dangerous players, so we won’t go into the game underestimating them at all,” Madsen added.

“But we will take confidence into the game from the way we played towards the back-end of last season and the way that we’ve started this campaign, we’re playing with confidence as a team and that can only help. ”

Vitality Blast is back! Derbyshire Falcons return to Twenty20 action with ten North Group matches in search of the knockout stages. Follow every game live on our match centre at derbyshireccc.com. Derbyshire Falcons: Underestimated No More.