Pre-Match Pack: Gloucestershire (H)

Derbyshire have named a 13-player squad for the LV= County Championship fixture against Gloucestershire at The Incora County Ground, starting on Thursday (11am). 

Cricket Derbyshire Academy graduate, Mitch Wagstaff, is named in a squad for the first time this season, alongside batters Harry Came, Haider Ali, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy and Matt Lamb.

All-rounder, Luis Reece, impresed with the ball against Leicestershire and will be part of an attack boosted by the returning Suranga Lakmal, with spinner, Alex Thomson, also named after a string of impressive showings in the Second XI, where he has claimed 12 wickets at an average of 13.67.

Derbyshire Squad:

12. Haider Ali
4. Harry Came
10. Luis Reece
29. Brooke Guest (wk)
77. Wayne Madsen
76. Leus du Plooy (c)
7. Matt Lamb
22. Mitch Wagstaff
32. Zak Chappell
59. Sam Conners
15. Alex Thomson
8. Henry Brookes
82. Suranga Lakmal

The Opposition

Gloucestershire are bottom of the LV= County Championship Division Two, with weather badly affecting their start to the season. 

They have played three rain-affected draws so far, while their game against Yorkshire at Bristol was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

All-rounder, Tom Price, recently stole the headlines against Worcestershire, scoring a century while batting at number nine, before claiming a hat-trick on the same day!

Pre-Match Talk

Head of Cricket, Mickey Arthur, says Derbyshire’s performance in the draw with Leicestershire as one which should boost the squad’s confidence going forward. 

The hosts were mainly thwarted by the weather, losing the whole of Day Three as well as a number of overs on days One and Two, but still managed to bowl Leicestershire out twice in a total of five sessions across the match.

Despite this, the visitors hung on long enough on the final afternoon to secure a draw, with Arthur’s side not having enough time to chase down the target set.

Harry Came and Haider Ali put on a century opening stand in their first time batting together, while Wayne Madsen and Leus du Plooy scored half-centuries. With the ball, loanee Henry Brookes took an exceptional 6-20 in the first innings, while Luis Reece troubled Leicestershire throughout.

Arthur said the side were frustrated not to pick up a first win of the season, but felt the performance was a lot closer to what is expected this season.

“The disappointing thing was, in our dressing room, it was almost like we’d lost,” he said.

“I had to remind the guys that there were some really good performances and our disciplines over a length of time were as good as I’ve seen them. We’ve spoken about standards, talent and backing your ability, everything we’ve spoken about I saw in the game, so I’m immensely proud of the players and their response from the Durham game.

“They’re a very resilient bunch who are learning every day, it’s an inexperienced group, by and large, but they are getting better every day. We keep challenging them and looking forward. The session between lunch and tea on Day Four was as good as I’ve seen since I’ve been at the Club and we had a bit of attitude around our fielding too.”

How to follow

Derbyshire’s LV= County Championship fixture against Gloucestershire will be covered live on the club website, through our improved Match Centre, delivered in partnership with Purpose Media.

Our Match Centre includes Live Streaming, in-play live scorecards, ball by ball commentary and statistics, everything you need to stay up-to-date, no matter where you’re following from!

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