Pre-Match Pack: Northants Steelbacks & Birmingham Bears

Derbyshire Falcons have named a 15-player squad for their Vitality Blast fixtures against Northants Steelbacks (Friday, 7pm) and Birmingham Bears (Sunday, 4pm) at The County Ground. 

The Falcons will be looking to maintain their unbeaten home record in this summer’s Vitality Blast, having overcome Leicestershire Foxes and Notts Outlaws so far.

Aneurin Donald struck a 19-ball half-century last time out, the fastest ever fifty for the Falcons, and he will be looking to once again provide the fireworks at the top of the order, alongside Wayne Madsen, David Lloyd and Cam Fletcher.

Derbyshire Squad:

21. Samit Patel (c)
04. Harry Came
08. Daryn Dupavillon
12. Aneurin Donald
15. Alex Thomson
22. Mitch Wagstaff
28. Cam Fletcher
29. Brooke Guest (wk)
32. Zak Chappell
36. Pat Brown
44. Ross Whiteley
46. David Lloyd
59. Sam Conners
65. Anuj Dal
77. Wayne Madsen

The Opposition

Northants Steelbacks are sitting in fourth place in the North Group, knowing the Falcons could leapfrog them with a win on Friday night at The County Ground.

Veteran all-rounder, Ravi Bopara, has been key with bat and ball so far, scoring 128 runs across four innings, as well as picking up six wickets.

Birmingham Bears are level on points with the Falcons, with four. Sam Hain and Jacob Bethell have let the way with the bat, while Paksitan’s Hasan Ali has picked up nine wickets.

Pre-Match Talk

Falcons batter, Wayne Madsen, is looking forward to playing in two huge Vitality Blast fixtures against Northants Steelbacks and Birmingham Bears this weekend. 

Madsen top-scored as the Falcons defeated Notts Outlaws last Friday, and will again be a key part of the batting lineup, as Mickey Arthur’s side look to maintain an unbeaten start at home.

Ahead of the two Blast fixtures this weekend, Madsen believes the Falcons have an opportunity to make a statement, on a crucial weekend for their quarter-final hopes.

“We played a really good game of cricket last Friday and we want to emulate that this weekend. We have two pretty important games as a group, both the teams we play are teams in the mix with us.

“The next two games are two big games but the guys are looking forward to the challenge.

On last week’s performance at The County Ground against Notts Outlaws, Madsen said: “It’s important to perform well in our own conditions and clearly we did that last week. We were excellent all round with bat, ball and especially in the field. We need to continue that tomorrow and then Sunday with some big performances.”

How to follow

Derbyshire’s Vitality Blast fixtures against Northants Steelbacks and Birmingham Bears 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 (where applicable), 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.