Durham Men get their Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign underway tomorrow at the OurCoop County Ground against Derbyshire Falcons at 11am.
Ben Stokes is in line to make his first List A appearance for Durham in almost 12 years as he is among a 14-player squad named by Ryan Campbell to travel to Derby.
Stokes last appeared in a Durham 50-over game in the Final of the victorious 2014 Royal London One Day Cup campaign while his latest List A appearance came for England against Pakistan in the 2023 ICC World Cup held in India.
Kasey Aldridge will lead the side, having been appointed Durham Men’s List A captain.
With the Hundred competition commencing this week a number of Durham players won’t be available as Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts (SunRisers Leeds); Nathan Sowter, Callum Parkinson (Oval Invincibles); Ben McKinney (Southern Brave) and Ben Raine (Trent Rockets) are on franchise duty.
This will provide a number of younger Durham players with an opportunity with the likes of Haydon Mustard, James Minto and Luke Robinson being on show throughout August.
Duanne Olivier is registered as an overseas for the One Day Cup while David Bedingham has returned to South Africa and is not contracted to feature but may return for the latter stages of the competition.
Durham are without Sam Conners (back) and Emilio Gay (wrist) with both being monitored by the Durham Medical team.
Derbyshire are missing just two players due to The Hundred with Anuerin Donald and Matthew Montgomery being picked up.
Words from Ryan Campbell
I’m looking forward to the One Day Cup immensely to be honest. I love the 50-over format. I’m excited to see what we can muster because I reckon we were a bit disappointing in the 50-over comp last year. This year we will have a different outlook on it and I know the players are really excited to get going.
Of course we can win the competition. When you look at the names that we are going to assemble for this squad at the minute. It is an exciting squad. It is a team full of experience but also full of young punks who really want to show their wares. That’s the bit I’m really excited about.
(On Kasey Aldridge becoming List A captain) He came for his first season in first-class cricket with Durham and in one pre-season he was unanimously voted into that leadership group. That takes some doing. It just shows that he has immediately shown qualities that our players just thought ‘wow’.
To have Ben Stokes around is brilliant for everyone. He is still a determined cricketer; he goes down as one of England’s greatest ever Test all-rounders. He’s now reported into duty as a Durham cricketer and he will do everything that Durham cricketers do. Train hard, work hard, play hard. I can’t wait for him get started. I want to see a smile on his face but most importantly I want to see the best of Ben Stokes.
We have a pretty good feeling amongst ourselves but I know Derbyshire will have a really good team. It will be a competitive game of cricket first up and we’ll see exactly where we stand in this competition.
Squad v Derbyshire Falcons (21 July)
Colin Ackermann, Kasey Aldridge*, Scott Borthwick, Graham Clark, George Drissell, Shafiqullah Ghafari, Alex Lees, James Minto, Haydon Mustard, Duanne Olivier, Will Rhodes, Luke Robinson, Ollie Robinson+, Ben Stokes.
Opposition Corner
Captain: Harry Came
2025 position: 8th (Group A)
2025 most runs: Caleb Jewell (438)
2025 most wickets: Ben Aitchison (13)
Why they can win the competition: Although they have lost white ball whirlwind Aneurin Donald and Matthew Montgomery to The Hundred, Derbyshire still have an experienced squad to choose from with Wayne Madsen’s one-day skills and nous bolstering a strong batting line-up.
Player to watch: England’s Shoaib Bashir. The 22-year-old off-spinner is keen to play white-ball cricket and will bring international pedigree to the bowling unit. On dry pitches, his ability to get bounce from a high action makes him a potential match-winner.
Young gun: Rory Haydon made his mark in last year’s competition and the right-arm pace bowler has made impressive progress this season in red-ball cricket. He challenges the batters with his ability to combine a consistent line with late movement.
Final thought: After an underwhelming Vitality T20 Blast campaign, Derbyshire will be out to show they can be contenders in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup format. But to turn promise into prosperity, they have to perform better in pressure moments to get over the line.
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 Derbyshire’s YouTube channel.