Pre-Match Pack: Middlesex

Derbyshire have named a 13-man squad for the LV= County Championship fixture against Middlesex at Lord’s, starting tomorrow (11am). 

Captain Billy Godleman is likely to return to action after recovering from a pulled quad muscle, while fellow top-order batsmen Luis Reece and Leus du Plooy area available after playing in The Hundred. Matt Critchley also returns from his stint with Welsh Fire, with fast bowler Sam Conners back from injury.

Having featured alongside Reece, Critchley and Conners in the Second XI win over Nottinghamshire this week, Brooke Guest is likely to keep the gloves at Lord’s, with Harvey Hosein still out through concussion protocol.

Wayne Madsen is named in the squad and continues to be monitored by the Club’s medical team, as he recovers from the hamstring injury picked up in June. He is likely to feature for the Second XI at Belper Meadows, with the Second XI Championship game against Glamorgan starting on Tuesday.

Derbyshire Squad: 

1. Billy Godleman
10. Luis Reece
24. Tom Wood
76. Leus du Plooy
4. Harry Came
20. Matt Critchley
29. Brooke Guest
65. Anuj Dal
21. Mattie McKiernan
18. Alex Hughes
15. Alex Thomson
59. Sam Conners
11. Ben Aitchison

Bite-sized Stats

However, the forthcoming match will be the 101st scheduled fixture between the two counties, Derbyshire having won 24, Middlesex 35, with 40 draws including the last game of the 2019 season. One match was abandoned without a ball bowled, at Lord’s in 1931.

This will be Derbyshire’s 35th appearance in a first-class match at Lord’s against Middlesex, although they also played there 27 times in games against the MCC.

Derbyshire’s highest innings total against Middlesex came at Derby in 2019 when they amassed 557-6 having been asked to bat first. Luis Reece (96), Billy Godleman (102), Fynn Hudson-Prentice (99), on his Derbyshire debut, Leus du Plooy (118) and Anuj Dal (92) dominated proceedings for a day and a half before Dawid Malan’s 199 ensured a draw was the only likely outcome.

This was only the second instance of Derbyshire players scoring three nineties in the same match, but the first instance of this occurring in the same innings. Needless to say, five scores of 90+ in the same innings is also a Derbyshire record.

Click HERE to read the full stats preview.

Pre-Match Talk

Sam Conners believes Derbyshire will be boosted by the return of senior players ahead of their LV= County Championship fixture against Middlesex at Lord’s, starting on Monday (11am). 

Conners is just one of a long list of recent first team absentees, either through injury or call ups to The Hundred, with captain Billy Godleman, Luis Reece, Leus du Plooy, Matt Critchley, Wayne Madsen and Dustin Melton all expected to return to action before the end of the season.

Godleman is likely to join Conners in the line-up at Lord’s, while Critchley, du Plooy and Reece have all returned from their stints in the new competition fit and available for selection. Madsen and Melton both continue to be assessed by the Club’s medical team, but should be back on the park soon.

Reece and Critchley featured alongside Conners in the Second XI win over Nottinghamshire earlier this week, with all three players making big contributions ahead of their return to first team cricket, and Conner believes the impact of the returns could propel Derbyshire to a positive start in Division Three.

“We’ve spoken all week about how the vibe, with players coming back, is so different in terms of getting everyone up for the game,” he said.

“Obviously, when you’re going through a bit of a rut, the energy in the dressing room can suffer, but with lads coming back from injury and The Hundred, the energy was really high this week.

“The players who are coming back are senior players, you look at Billy and Wayne, the runs they have between them, we’ve needed that this year and unfortunately they’ve had a couple of quite serious injuries. Now they’re back, it’ll hopefully be a good last four games of the season.

“In red ball cricket, you can start over-thinking what you need to do, so having that bit of time away from it is crucial for everyone to have a clean slate and come back fresh. It’s especially important that we go out there and express ourselves.

“We had a really good talk before this game, about how if we win this one we can build some momentum and take that into the last few games.”

How to follow

Derbyshire’s LV= County Championship fixture against Middlesex will be Live Streamed on the club website, using the host venue’s feed, through our improved Match Centre, delivered in partnership with Purpose Media.

Our Match Centre also includes in-play scorecards, ball by ball commentary, clips and statistics, everything you need to stay up-to-date, no matter where you’re following from!

Clips and 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.

Tickets

The host venue have confirmed that no tickets will be available to purchase on the day. All tickets must be purchased in advance from tickets.lords.org.

For all ticketing queries for this fixture, phone: 020 7616 8500 or email [email protected].