Durham Jets head coach Jon Lewis has named a 14-man squad to travel for the opening games of Vitality Blast 2018 against Yorkshire Vikings & Leicestershire Foxes.
The Jets first visit Emerald Headingley for the opener before going on to the Fischer County Ground on Friday evening, with the first home match coming a week later against Yorkshire at Emirates Riverside.
Ben Stokes continues his return towards full fitness & will play in the Vikings match with the intention of being available for England’s One-Day series against India.
Tom Latham captains the Jets for the first time after leading Durham for the Royal London One-Day Cup & Imran Tahir is set to make his debut after joining up with the squad at Emirates Riverside today.
Lewis also has another leg spinner at his disposal with Ben Whitehead named in the travelling party.
The 21-year-old, who was formerly part of Durham’s Academy setup, has impressed for the Second XI & North East Premier League side Hetton Lyons this season.
Michael Richardson remains missing with a thigh injury but is nearing a return to the squad. Brydon Carse is also out, though James Weighell is set to make a first appearance since mid-May.
Squad vs Yorkshire Vikings & Leicestershire Foxes (5/6 July)
Tom Latham (c), Graham Clark, Ben Stokes*, Paul Collingwood, Will Smith, Gareth Harte, Stuart Poynter (wk), Ryan Pringle, James Weighell, Nathan Rimmington, Barry McCarthy, Chris Rushworth, Imran Tahir, Ben Whitehead
* – vs Yorkshire Vikings only
Last Time Out
The closest of victories in front of a packed crowd at Emirates Riverside as Durham Jets prevailed by a single run over Yorkshire Vikings.
Usman Arshad’s final over went for just eight, with the Vikings pair of Azeem Rafiq & Adil Rashid managing just a single bye through to the keeper with three needed from the last.
It was a match in which the pendulum swung frequently throughout & ended up landing on Durham’s side.
Fresh from the Club’s maiden T20 century in the previous match at Worcestershire, Paul Collingwood backed it up with another phenomenal effort to haul the Jets up to 157/3.
The veteran racked up an unbeaten 88 off 54 balls, including 7x4s & 2x6s.
Yorkshire’s reply started strongly but wickets for Barry McCarthy & Paul Coughlin during the second half of the innings ensured they fell behind in their chase.
Jack Leaning threatened to take the game away from the Jets before being caught in the deep with an over to go, with Arshad then defending the final over to seal victory.
Match Coverage
Live match highlights are available through the ‘Match Highlights’ section of the website, with live commentary for both games also available via BBC Sport online with BBC Newcastle’s Martin Emmerson.
Updates & video clips will also be available via the Club’s Twitter account.