Derbyshire over 60s player, Richard Merriman, will captain the England side at the upcoming Over 60s World Cup in India.
Merriman will be joined at the competition, which begins next month, by fellow Derbyshire player, Jason Caunt and will lead the side in their first World Cup appearance.
England enjoyed a successful 2023, winning the Caribbean Cup and the Grey Ashes, and they’ll now be looking to add World Cup glory to that list of honours.
Group A consists of England will take on New Zealand, Canada, USA, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Rest of the World, with the top two from each group qualifying for the semi-finals.
England will face India in a warm up game on Wednesday 14 February ahead of the tournament starting, this will mark the first official ODI between the two sides at Over 60s level.
Ahead of the competition, Merriman has outlined the work which has gone into preparing for the World Cup in India, and he’s confident the squad will rise to the occasion.
“This is a phenomenal opportunity and one we’ve been working hard for 18 months for,” he said.
“When myself and Paul Bradley (Team Manager) took over in 2022, we set our objective to win the World Cup, that remains our target. We have built our whole programme to align ourselves with that goal.
“To lead the country is another great honour, I have great local ties with Derbyshire, I played for the Second XI in the 1980’s and to go to a World Cup as a Derbyshire player just feels perfect.
“If we can pull this off, it will be incredible, but we aren’t going to win it as an XI, we’re going to win it as a squad. We’ve got 18 players and ten games in just three weeks, that’s tough when you’re 30, never mind 60.
“So we’re going to need everyone to contribute, but together, we will win the World Cup.”
Over 60s cricket is among the fastest-growing areas in the game, with more than 3,000 players competing for counties across the country throughout the summer months.
Merriman is excited by the growth and has invited anyone who would like to get involved to reach out to the Derbyshire over 60s team.
“We’ve now got 3,500 players registered for the Over 60s County Championship, with 33 first teams, 31 second teams and some counties even go down to fourth and fifth teams!
“The over 60s were born out of the over 50s, naturally, we started back in 2009 and Derbyshire has produced a good number of England players in that time.
“We would be delighted to welcome anyone over the age of 60 to Derbyshire, we’re one of the few counties who don’t yet have a second team, but we’re keen to develop one.
“We’re also looking to establish our own over 70s team, so if people are looking to get involved with that or the over 60s, the best way would be to get in touch through the Derbyshire Cricket Foundation, who can point you in our direction.”
England Squad & Staff
Steve Aston (Staffordshire), Tony Birbeck (Durham), John Butterworth (Kent), Jason Caunt (Derbyshire), Phil Deakin (Lancashire), Chris Dearden (Lancashire), Montie Douglas (Lincolnshire), Nick Gaywood (Yorkshire), Edward Gordon Lennox (Vice-Captain, Gloucestershire), Mel Hussain (Essex), Richard Merriman (Captain, Derbyshire), Nick Newman (Leicestershire), Michael Palmer (Warwickshire), Jim Phillips (Kent), Simon Routh (Kent), Graham Shaw (Durham), Kevin Watson (Yorkshire), Marcus Young (Essex)
Paul Bradley (Team Manager), David Fisher (Scorer), Madhan Kumar Ramanathan (Physio), Paolo Iorio (Osteopath), Chris Johnson (International Masters Cricket Umpire Panel), Ian Gorton (Umpire), Keith Boyall (Umpire), Rash Mahmood (Commentator), Mel Mahmood
Reserves: Neil Brathwaite (Essex), Tony Rhodes (Hertfordshire), Lee Selfe (Bedfordshire)
Tournament Information
Monday 19 February – Saturday 2 March (Knockout stages from Thursday 29 February)
Group A: England, New Zealand, Canada, USA, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Rest of the World
Group B: Pakistan, Australia, Wales, India, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh
Top two from each group qualify for the semi-finals.
England’s Schedule
Friendly: Madras Cricket Club, Wednesday 14 February
Warmup ODI: India, Friday 16 February
Game One: New Zealand, Monday 19 February
Game Two: Zimbabwe, Tuesday 20 February
Game Three: South Africa, Thursday 22 February
Game Four: Rest of the World, Friday 23 February
Game Five: Canada, Monday 26 February
Game Six: USA, Wednesday 28 February
