Pre-Match Pack: Worcestershire

Derbyshire have named a 12-man squad for their LV= County Championship fixture against Worcestershire. 

Australia international Ben McDermott is named in the squad after arriving in Derbyshire last week, with the wicketkeeper-batsman joining Billy Godleman, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy and Brooke Guest as options up the order.

Matt Critchley claimed three wickets and made 49 runs during the limited play against Durham, and the all-rounder will be looking to continue his good form with bat and ball, alongside Alex Hughes, Fynn Hudson-Prentice and Anuj Dal.

Having taken career-best figures of 6-28 against Durham, Ben Aitchison comes into the game with 15 wickets this season at an average of 13.66, and he’s joined by Sam Conners and Dustin Melton as new ball options.

Luis Reece continues a focussed period of knee rehab, while Harvey Hosein is feeling well after being struck on the helmet against Durham, though he misses out due to concussion protocol.

Derbyshire Squad: 

1. Billy Godleman (C)
76. Leus du Plooy
77. Wayne Madsen
47. Ben McDermott
20. Matt Critchley
18. Alex Hughes
29. Brooke Guest
33. Fynn Hudson-Prentice
65. Anuj Dal
59. Sam Conners
11. Ben Aitchison
13. Dustin Melton

Bite-sized Stats

Derbyshire and Worcestershire have played each other 146 times with Derbyshire winning on 48 occasions, Worcestershire winning 44 times, with 54 draws, including the match at Derby in April. There were also two additional matches abandoned without a ball being bowled, in 1946 and 1969.

The most recent century came from Matt Critchley, who scored 109 (and 84) in the draw at Derby earlier this season; and in a remarkable match for the young all-rounder, he also took eight wickets in the game including 5-67 in the visitors’ first innings.

Click HERE to read the full stats preview.

Pre-Match Talk

Head of Cricket, Dave Houghton has confirmed that Australia international Ben McDermott has arrived in the country, and has said the wicketkeeper-batsman is keen to play first-class cricket, in addition to his white ball commitments.

McDermott joins Derbyshire in good form, after hitting 402 runs in the recent Big Bash, while also hitting a brilliant century for Australia ‘A’ in a red ball fixture against India in December.

In the 2020/21 Sheffield Shield, McDermott scored 355 runs in just seven innings, averaging 59.16 on his way to four half-centuries, while he also scored a classy 68 in his most recent Marsh Cup appearance.

McDermott was initially stated to be available for the upcoming Vitality Blast and Royal London Cup, but Houghton, has said there could be scope for the 26-year-old, who has more than 2,000 first class runs and two centuries to his name, to feature in the LV= County Championship this season.

“Should we want to use Ben in our four-day games, we can. He arrived on Friday morning,” he told BBC Radio Derby.

“We will get him down and around the team, but he’s keen to play first-class cricket, so that’s a bonus for us. It also means that Dustin Melton, who is contracted as an overseas player will potentially be able to play more games of cricket. That was a situation we were going to have to manage well with both Ben and Billy [Stanlake] here.”

How to follow

Derbyshire’s LV= County Championship fixture against Worcestershire will be Live Streamed on the club website through our improved Match Centre.

With the hosts’ Live Stream, 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!

Clips and updates will also be provides via our social media channels, so make sure you’re following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, so you never miss a moment of the action.

Safety Regulations

Tickets for this fixture are exclusively for Worcestershire Members, and no tickets will be available to Derbyshire supporters. We ask that no Derbyshire Members travel to New Road for this game.

You can keep up to date with the action through our dedicated Match Centre, social media channels and club website.

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