Keegan Petersen is in line to make his Durham First-class debut tomorrow [14 April, 11am] as Durham host Leicestershire in their opening home fixture of the 2022 season.
The South African top order batter arrived in the North East today, fresh from South Africa’s series against Bangladesh and has trained this afternoon at the Riverside.
Petersen joins the Durham squad following South Africa’s 2-0 series win over the Tigers in which he scored 64 in the first innings.
The 28-year-old is the only addition to James Franklins squad from last week’s clash with Glamorgan with Graham Clark dropping out of the 13 due to his involvement with Durham Seconds at the Ageas Bowl.
Tomorrow’s clash with Leicestershire will be the first time Durham have played the Foxes in red ball cricket since 2020, a match in which Durham drew a match heavily affected by rain. It was 2019 when Leicestershire last played in Chester-Le-Street as Alex Lees scored 181, in a high scoring draw, in which Mark Cosgrove scored an unbeaten 107 to save the game for Leicestershire.
Squad v Leicestershire (14-17 April)
David Bedingham, Scott Borthwick (c), Paul Coughlin, Sean Dickson, Ned Eckersley +, Oliver Gibson, Michael Jones, Alex Lees, Liam Trevaskis, Keegan Petersen, Matthew Potts, Ben Raine, Chris Rushworth
Words from Scott Borthwick
We were in command of the Glamorgan game and played the better cricket out of the two sides and and if things went in our way we could have probably won the game, but the weather stopped that with us losing so many overs. I think we probably started a bit slow on day 1, we probably could have hit our straps a bit better on the first morning but I thought day 2 we were excellent with the ball. Then the way we batted I thought was brilliant lead by Alex Lees 182*, so overall a good opening match and we are happy to take 15 points away from Glamorgan.
Keegan joins us this morning and we are all excited for his arrival, he comes to the Riverside on the back of a series win against Bangladesh and is in good form, so hopefully he is all good to go for the Leicestershire game. It is always nice when you get a test superstar join up with the squad, so hopefully he can get started tomorrow and get some runs under his belt.
Leicestershire got a great draw last week against Worcestershire, it was great the way they hung on and batted for that period of time for the last wicket, so that shows they have a lot of fight in their side. We know we have to be at the top of our game this week, but we know if we bat and bowl well we will have a good chance.
The Opposition
Coach: Paul Nixon
Captain: Colin Ackerman
Last year’s performance: 4th (Division 3)
2021 leading run scorer: Lewis Hill (944, 44.95)
2021 leading wicket taker: Callum Parkinson (50, 29.04)
Overseas players: Wiaan Mulder (South African), Beuran Hendricks
Key player: Experienced seamer Chris Wright will play a key role in the Leicestershire bowling attack this season, having claimed 49 wickets in 2021, one behind Callum Parkinson with 50. An experienced bowler on the county circuit he claimed 3 wickets in the opening round of County Championship games against Worcestershire.
Under the radar: Hassan Azad – With a First-class average of 40, Azad has notched up 7 centuries and 12 fifties in his career so far. Often dealing with his business quietly under the radar, he scored a superb unbeaten century against Worcestershire last week, helping the Foxes edge an unlikely draw against Worcestershire.
Young potential: 24-year-old Ed Barnes move to Leicestershire from Yorkshire is reaping the awards, with the right arm seamer enjoying his move to the Midlands. He claimed 3 wickets in the opening game of the season and struck 18 times last summer during his opening campaign for Leicestershire.
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’s YouTube channel.