Derbyshire has named a 14-man squad for the trip to The Fischer County Ground to face Leicestershire in the Specsavers County Championship, starting on Friday 27 April; 11am.
Billy Godleman’s men will be looking to secure back-to-back four-day wins to start the new season after beating Middlesex by 101 runs last time out at The 3aaa County Ground.
The 11 that claimed victory at Derby have been selected for the trip to Leicestershire, with Will Davis, Hamidullah Qadri and Callum Brodrick making up the 14-man squad.
New signing Duanne Olivier enjoyed a record-breaking debut last week taking 8-108 in the match – the best figures on Derbyshire debut since John O’Connor in 1900.
Luis Reece (157*) and Ben Slater (99), meanwhile, will be looking to continue their excellent start to the season after the pair shared a record 219-run opening stand in the win over Middlesex.
1. Billy Godleman
26. Ben Slater
10. Luis Reece
77. Wayne Madsen
18. Alex Hughes
20. Matt Critchley
19. Callum Brodrick
9. Gary Wilson
28. Tony Palladino
41. Ravi Rampaul
7. Hardus Viljoen
74. Duanne Olivier
44. Will Davis
75. Hamidullah Qadri
Leicestershire played out a high-scoring draw against Sussex at home in their opening Specsavers County Championship of the summer.
South Africa-born batsman Colin Ackermann was the standout performer, hitting 186 in the county’s 422-9 declared in the first innings – in response to Sussex’s 438-8 declared.
It was hard work for the bowlers on a good pitch at The Fischer County Ground, but the hosts will be boosted by the arrival of India Test bowler Varun Arron for this week’s clash. Ex-Derbyshire left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson is also expected to feature against his former county.
Leicestershire Squad: Carberry (capt), Aaron, Ackermann, Cosgrove, Eckersley, Dexter, Griffiths, Hill, Horton, Klein, Parkinson, Raine.
Opening batsman Luis Reece is hoping Derbyshire can build on the win against Middlesex last week and put in another good performance, this time against Leicestershire from Friday.
Reece hit an unbeaten 157 as part of a record-breaking 219-run opening stand with Ben Slater versus Middlesex – the second year in a row the batsman has hit a century in the opening match of the season.
He now hopes the county can back up the display last week with another good outing at The Fischer County Ground.
“I thought the lads overall were outstanding against Middlesex, especially with the ball,” he said. “We were very pleased with how we performed and now have momentum to take into the next game against Leicestershire.
“Personally, it was nice to spend time out in the middle. We had limited outdoor pre-season practice due to the bad weather so it was a bit of an unknown going out there, but I was able to get a bit of luck and score a few runs.
“The boys are itching to build on the good result and hopefully the rain can stay away and we can put in another good performance at Leicestershire.”
Price freeze for 2018. Club Membership will once again offer one great value price for all in 2018. Join today for only £159 and don’t miss a moment of the action this summer.
