Pre-Match Pack: Leicestershire Foxes (A) & Birmingham Bears (H)

Derbyshire Falcons have named a 14-player squad for their Vitality Blast clashes with Leicestershire Foxes (Thursday, 6.30pm) and Birmingham Bears (Friday, 7pm).

With half-centuries in each of his three Vitality Blast innings so far, Wayne Madsen is the competition’s leading run-scorer, and he will be hoping to solidify his place at the top of the charts and guide Derbyshire Falcons to a first win of the campaign at The Uptonsteel County Ground.

𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝟐𝟎 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐲! 😎

Friday night is shaping up to be another sunny one at The Incora County Ground! ☀

Join us for Derbyshire Falcons vs Birmingham Bears – tickets on sale now.

Buy ⤵

— Derbyshire CCC (@DerbyshireCCC) May 31, 2023

With two games in as many days, Leus du Plooy’s Falcons know positive results could see them move up the North Group table and back into contention for a quarter-final spot.

Fast bowler, Zaman Khan, has taken five wickets in his opening three Derbyshire appearances at an average of 17.60 and an economy of eight runs an over.

Derbyshire Squad:

12. Haider Ali
10. Luis Reece
24. Tom Wood
77. Wayne Madsen
76. Leus du Plooy (c)
29. Brooke Guest (wk)
65. Anuj Dal
21. Mattie McKiernan
15. Alex Thomson
32. Zak Chappell
51. Mark Watt
9. George Scrimshaw
99. Zaman Khan
11. Ben Aitchison

The Opposition

Like the Falcons, Leicestershire Foxes are looking for their first win of the campaign, with fast-bowler, Naveen ul-Haq arriving from his stint at the IPL in time to face Derbyshire on Thursday evening.

No Leicestershire batter has passed 50 in a T20 yet this season, but they will be aiming to put that right on Thursday, if they are to overcome Mickey Arthur’s side.

Conversely, Birmingham Bears have made a perfect start to the competition, with three wins from as many games. Batter Sam Hain has been a key reason for their good form, scoring two half-centuries and maintaining a strike-rate above 150.

With the ball, Danny Briggs has taken seven wickets at an average of 6.42, as the Blast’s all-time leading wicket-taker continues to show his class.

Pre-Match Talk

🗣 “We haven’t put a complete performance together.”

Mickey Arthur’s thoughts on today’s defeat. #WeAreDerbyshire #BeBoldBeDerbyshire pic.twitter.com/zXLeMW29tP

— Derbyshire CCC (@DerbyshireCCC) May 29, 2023

Head of Cricket, Mickey Arthur, gives his thoughts on Derbyshire Falcons’ defeat to Northants Steelbacks at The Incora County Ground. 

How to follow

Derbyshire Falcons’ Vitality Blast fixtures against Leicestershire Foxes (A) and Birmingham Bears (H) 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!

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.