Pre-Match Pack: Essex

Derbyshire have named a 13-man squad for their LV= County Championship fixture against Essex at the Cloudfm County Ground, starting on Thursday (11am).

Australia international Billy Stanlake is named in the travelling group for the first time, while fellow overseas quick Dustin Melton is available for selection after recovering from an adductor strain.

Captain Billy Godleman, who missed the previous two matches through injury, has trained ahead of this fixture and is poised to regain his place in the top-order, alongside Luis Reece, Leus du Plooy and Wayne Madsen.

PCA Player of the Month for April, Matt Critchley, will be aiming to continue his fine form with bat and ball, while Harvey Hosein has also impressed so far, hitting four half-centuries.

Alex Hughes is recalled to the squad, joining Brooke Guest, Michael Cohen and Sam Conners. Fynn Hudson-Prentice completes the squad, after claiming eight wickets in the match against Nottinghamshire last time out.

Derbyshire Squad: 

1. Billy Godleman (C)
10. Luis Reece
76. Leus du Plooy
77. Wayne Madsen
20. Matt Critchley
18. Alex Hughes
16. Harvey Hosein
29. Brooke Guest
33. Fynn Hudson-Prentice
8. Michael Cohen
59. Sam Conners
37. Billy Stanlake
13. Dustin Melton

Bite-sized Stats

This will be the 183rd meeting of these two sides, one of which was abandoned without a ball bowled at Buxton in 1953. Derbyshire have won 31 times, Essex 78 times with 72 draws.

Derbyshire largest margin of victory was by an innings and 227 runs at Chesterfield in 1967 when Derek Morgan scored 52 and took 11-66, and David Smith made 114. Morgan’s feat of scoring a half century and taking ten wickets against Essex, matched the effort of Les Townsend a generation earlier when he scored 85 and took 11-65, on the same ground.

On 15 occasions, Derbyshire’s bowlers have taken ten wickets in the match, with Joe Hulme, Arnold Warren and Les Jackson all performing the feat twice; Dominic Cork was the last to do it, taking 8-53 before lunch on his 20th birthday at Derby in 1991 and ending the match with 10-78.

Click HERE to read the full stats preview.

Pre-Match Talk

Wayne Madsen says Derbyshire are determined to bounce back from their defeat to Nottinghamshire when they face Essex in the LV= County Championship.

The side’s unbeaten streak was ended two weeks ago in Derby, and they have not played since due to a gap in their fixture schedule. Prior to that, Derbyshire had earned three draws, with plenty of positive performances in each game.

Madsen believes the game at the Cloudfm County Ground will be crucial for the team’s chances of a strong finish, and they will be looking to put things right on the road.

“We knew that we were off the mark against Nottinghamshire, but we’ve put in some good performances prior to that,” he said.

“We want to be consistent, the last game hurt us but the positives we can take from some performances in that game, as well as in the other matches, are pretty important going into the rest of the competition.

“The next two games, Essex away and then Durham at home, will be really important, in terms of giving us a chance to finish higher up the table.”

How to follow

The hosts live stream footage will be available to all Derbyshire Members and supporters via our new Match Centre at derbyshireccc.com.

With Live Streaming, in-play scorecards, ball by ball commentary, clips, statistics and so much more, you can put yourself at the heart of the action, even from the comfort of your own home!

Safety Regulations

Due to current safety and capacity regulations, Derbyshire’s away fixture with Essex will be held behind closed doors. We urge supporters not to travel to The Cloudfm County Ground.

Coverage of the fixture will be provided via the club website in our Match Centre.

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