All-rounders Alex Hughes and Tillakaratne Dilshan return to be named in Graeme Welch’s 12-man squad for Derbyshire Falcons’ NatWest T20 Blast clash versus Leicestershire Foxes on Thursday evening; 7pm start.
Hughes has been out of action since suffering a thumb injury in May but returns to the squad which also includes Dilshan who missed the LV= County Championship defeat to Essex due to personal reasons.
It will be Dilshan’s final NatWest T20 Blast appearance before leaving for the Caribbean Premier League, with the Sri Lanka batsman set to return to The 3aaa County Ground in August for the final two months of the season.
Ben Cotton, however, is still absent due to injury.
Elite Performance Director, Graeme Welch said: “Alex Hughes is back and it’s been great to have Wayne Madsen back in the team, who we have really missed. We have had a lot of injuries and had to play different players in different games.
“We’re still confident we can win games in this format and if we can beat Leicestershire then we can start to put ourselves back in the mix.
“We haven’t really put a game together yet. We’ve bowled well in games and batted badly, and in other games we’ve batted well and our bowling has let us down.
“Leicestershire have got some good players in the likes of Mark Cosgrove, Niall O’Brien and Umar Akmal and we will have to cope with their threats.”
DERBYSHIRE FALCONS squad to play Leicestershire Foxes:
5. Tillakaratne Dilshan
3. Wes Durston (capt)
22. Chesney Hughes
77. Wayne Madsen
10. Scott Elstone
1. Billy Godleman
57. Shiv Thakor
18. Alex Hughes
27. Tom Knight
23. Tom Poynton
11. Wayne White
35. Nathan Rimmington
Leicestershire have enjoyed a promising start to their NatWest T20 Blast campaign, winning three and losing two of their six matches, with their last match against Northamptonshire Steelbacks ending in no result due to bad weather.
Experienced New Zealand international Grant Elliott is unavailable for this fixture due to him being on international duty, but they will once again be able to call on Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal who hit 76 from 49 balls in the win over Nottinghamshire Outlaws last week.
The Foxes are led by the big-hitting Mark Cosgrove, and have a bowling attack spearheaded by fellow Australian Clint McKay who is particularly effective in the shorter formats of the game.
Leicestershire are the most successful side in English T20 cricket history, winning the competition on three occasions.
LEICESTERSHIRE FOXES squad to face Derbyshire Falcons:
55. Mark Cosgrove (capt)
5. Andrea Agathangelou
96. Umar Akmal
11. Matthew Boyce
33. Ned Eckersley
27. Clint McKay
22. Jigar Naik
81. Niall O’Brien
44. Ben Raine
3. Atif Sheikh
4. Charlie Shreck
20. James Sykes
10. Rob Taylor
19. Tom Wells
Best value for adults can be found through one of our popular Six Pack Tickets which entitle the holder to gain entry to any six days of cricket for just £72.
New for 2015 is the ‘Double the Action Ticket’ that allows supporters to attend two successive fixtures for £25, saving £15 from buying tickets on the gate for both encounters.
All single adult tickets purchased in advance are at a discounted rate of £16 – a saving of £4 to tickets bought on the gate.
£1 off per ticket for groups of 10+ when purchased in advance.
There are no booking fees for all forms of cricket.
You can buy tickets:
In person at The 3aaa County Ground; Grandstand Road, Derby, DE21 6AF.
You can follow live updates on Twitter (@DerbyshireCCC) by using the #DERvLEI hashtag, plus regular updates will be available on Facebook throughout the match.
Supporters can also listen to live ball-by-ball commentary with BBC Radio Derby online.
Derbyshire are back in home NatWest T20 Blast action on Thursday 18 June when they welcome Leicestershire Foxes to The 3aaa County Ground.
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