After a week of County Championship cricket, Durham are straight back in action tomorrow night when they take on Derbyshire Falcons at Seat Unique Riverside (6:30pm)
Brydon Carse and Paul Coughlin return to a 15-player squad named by Head Coach Ryan Campbell as Durham look for their fifth win over the T20 Blast.
Carse and Coughlin are named in Durham’s T20 squad for the first time this summer with both being out injured due to trunk injuries sustained in the County Championship games last month. Both have recovered and now return to white ball cricket.
Durham face a Derbyshire side who sit two points below them in a tightly contested North group with the Falcons in 7th place.
Words from Ryan Campbell
It has been a bit of an up and down tournament for us in the T20 Blast so far this season, there has been some really good signs, but we just haven’t bowled well enough throughout and that is the honest truth.
At the end of the day, this time of the year is really exciting, we love playing T20 cricket, someone like Nathan Sowter who has played very well throughout this competition he will need to stand up again tomorrow night against Derbyshire.
We have named Brydon Carse in our squad, so he may play as a batter in this game, he is very close to a comeback, but if he plays, he won’t bowl. We will be very careful on him and his recovery. Paul Coughlin is another one which is pretty close and is named in the squad. Ollie Gibson is back bowling so will be back in contention shortly, so we are getting there and getting the numbers back. We know in a long season we need strength in our squad and hopefully when these guys are back up and running we are close to having our full attack.
Squad v Derbyshire Falcons [16th June]
Jonathan Bushnell, Brydon Carse, Graham Clark, Paul Coughlin, Bas de Leede, Luke Doneathy, Brandon Glover, Michael Jones, Alex Lees, Wayne Parnell, Ben Raine, Ollie Robinson +, Nathan Sowter, Liam Trevaskis, Ashton Turner
Opposition Corner
Overseas players: Suranga Lakmal (Sri Lanka), Haider Ali (Pakistan), Zaman Khan (Pakistan).
Finals Day appearances: 1 (2019)
Titles: 0
2022 finish: Quarter-finals
2022 leading runscorer: Shan Masood (547)
2022 leading wicket taker: George Scrimshaw (23)
Key winter moves: The signings of Matt Lamb and Zak Chappell have bolstered both the batting and bowling while 22-year-old Haider Ali is an exciting prospect with the potential to deliver destructive performances at the top of the innings. Young Pakistan international Zaman Khan adds more pace to the line-up having been clocked at 90mph.
The big question: The Falcons soared until they fell to earth spectacularly in the quarter-final at Taunton so can they use that defeat as a motivating factor to go one better this summer? The batting and bowling looks strong but if there is a weakness, it could be in the field where a lack of athleticism might be a problem.
Wildcard watch: Luis Reece – Played in the first year of The Hundred for London Spirit so a strong Blast tournament could result in another contract. At his best, the all-rounder is capable of taking attacks apart and his ability to keep it tight and swing the ball makes him a dangerous opponent.
Final thought: After failing to make an impact in T20 cricket for years, the Falcons have emerged as a force to be reckoned with, reaching the knock-out stages three times in the past six seasons. If Ali fires and Scrimshaw has another big competition, they have a good chance of qualifying from a strong North Group.
Match Centre
The Club’s match centre will be in operation for the fixture with live scorecards, statistics & video highlights as they happen. You can watch the game live via Durham’s match centre and Durham YouTube channel. Durham Cricket will have full coverage on social media, with a full match report at the close.