Mark Footitt returns to the Club on loan and is included in a 14-man squad for the trip to Edgbaston to face Warwickshire in the Specsavers County Championship, starting on Thursday 3 May; 11am.
Having joined on an initial 28-day loan, the former Derbyshire fast bowler returns to the county at which he claimed 251 wickets in 64 first-class matches between 2011 and 2015. He is expected to join a strong pace attack which also includes Duanne Olivier, who has taken nine wickets in his first two matches for the Club.
Tony Palladino is absent from the squad after suffering a minor side stride in training prior to the fixture versus Leicestershire.
Ben Slater and Luis Reece are set to continue opening the batting after a bright start to the summer has seen them earn averages of 53 and 88 respectively.
Alex Hughes and Matt Critchley slot into the middle order and both scored runs in the first innings against Leicestershire at The Fischer County Ground.
Last time out Billy Godleman’s men earned 10 points in a highly-competitive draw with Leicestershire in a rain-affected match at The Fischer County Ground. They will be looking to build on an opening round win over Middlesex and go into the fixture in second, one point behind Warwickshire.
1. Billy Godleman
26. Ben Slater
10. Luis Reece
77. Wayne Madsen
18. Alex Hughes
20. Matt Critchley
9. Gary Wilson
11. Daryn Smit
41. Ravi Rampaul
7. Hardus Viljoen
74. Duanne Olivier
44. Will Davis
4. Mark Footitt
75. Hamidullah Qadri
Warwickshire currently top the Specsavers County Championship Division Two table, one point ahead of Derbyshire after one win and one draw.
Poor weather affected their opening fixture against Sussex, but the Midlands’ club came out strong against Northamptonshire to win by an innings and 48 runs.
28-year-old Ryan Sidebottom led the way with the bowling, claiming 10 wickets in the match. He was backed up by fellow seamer Chris Wright, as well as experienced spinner Jeetan Patel.
The hosts are expected to field a strong lineup throughout, with former England internationals Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott likely to feature in the middle order.
Warwickshire Squad: Jeetan Patel (c), Tim Ambrose, Keith Barker, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Henry Brookes, Sam Hain, Adam Hose, Matthew Lamb, Will Rhodes, Dominic Sibley, Ryan Sidebottom, Olly Stone, Chris Wright.
Derbyshire batsman Wayne Madsen believes the county are well-placed to tackle Warwickshire and have the squad to challenge anyone in the division.
Speaking after the opening two fixtures of the summer, in which Derbyshire beat Middlesex by 101 runs and earned 10 points in a draw with Leicestershire, the top-order batsman says the squad is full of confidence with a depth in both the batting and bowling departments.
He said: “It was good, hard cricket played at Leicester despite missing out on a couple of days.
“Luis [Reece] has worked hard on his bowling over the last couple of seasons, particularly over this winter. He bowled well and it shows a good depth to our bowling attack when he can come on and change it up.
“The guys made use of time in the middle and played really well. It stands us in good stead heading into this Warwickshire game.”
Madsen added: “We’ve played some good cricket over the two games and we’ve debriefed and know what we need to get better at, but we’ve got great confidence.
“It’s important we maintain the performances we’ve put in so far and carry on momentum.
“Warwickshire are a strong county and having come down from Division One they will be aiming to go straight back up. We’ll aim to be consistent and we’ve shown that we have the team to mix it with the best sides this year.”
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