Durham Men are looking for back-to-back wins in the Vitality Blast as they round off their home T20 campaign against Derbyshire Falcons tomorrow from 6:30pm.
Ryan Campbell has named a 14-player squad with David Bedingham and Ben Raine returning to the fold.
The duo return to the 14 after being rested for Durham’s trip to Leicester whilst Will Rhodes drops out.
Durham are looking to keep their chances of knockout qualification alive, with the two best third-placed sides proceeding to the quarter-final stage.
Campbell’s side sit fourth in the North group with 16 points, trailing third-placed Lancashire Lightning by two points with both sides meeting in the final round of the group stage.
Essex are placed third in the South group on 20 points, whilst Worcestershire Rapids occupy third spot in the Central and West group with 24 points.
Derbyshire Falcons lie bottom of the North group having collected 12 points from six games, with two wins, two ties and six losses.
Words from Alex Lees
First half of the game against Leicestershire, we thought we bowled amazing. To restrict them to just under 160 on a very good batting wicket we thought was pretty special. And then to go and chase it with five overs to go there, we’re obviously thrilled. Eight wickets, a real dominant performance.
Our spinners were incredible and it’s nice to see Brydon (Carse) back playing some cricket. He’s had a frustrating couple of months when he came back from the IPL. For him to come back and bowl with real good pace and skill, swinging the ball up top for us, to perform like that first game back was impressive.
It keeps our qualification alive, although hanging on by a thread. It’s also frustrating because it shows what we can do when we play well. I think we probably should have won another four games, in all honesty, but we’ve not quite managed to do so.
It is a little bit bittersweet, but we’re still holding on to that little bit of hope for qualifying, and hopefully we can win our remaining games. If we don’t, unfortunately, it’s been on us. The quality of the team we’ve been putting out has been really strong, but our consistency in this tournament has not been good enough.
Squad v Derbyshire Falcons (10 July)
Kasey Aldridge, Colin Ackermann, David Bedingham, Brydon Carse, Graham Clark, Shafiqullah Ghafari, Alex Lees, Ben McKinney, Callum Parkinson, Matthew Potts, Ben Raine, Luke Robinson, Ollie Robinson+, Nathan Sowter.
Opposition Corner
Captain: Aneurin Donald
Overseas players: Caleb Jewell (Australia, all), Akif Javed (Pakistan, all), Mohammad Ghazanfar (Afghanistan, second half)
Finals Day appearances: One (2019)
Titles: None
2025 finish: 9th in North Group
2025 leading run-scorer: Anuerin Donald (449 runs)
2025 leading wicket-taker: Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar (16 wickets)
Key winter moves: Javed was a late replacement for leg spinner Sufiyan Muqeem, who was signed for the first half of the tournament but withdrew after his call up by Pakistan. Matt Montgomery’s move from neighbours Nottinghamshire will strengthen the batting and provide another spin option while Shoaib Bashir could play a part, England commitments permitting.
The big question: Do the Falcons have the bowling firepower to challenge for the knock-outs? Injuries to Harry Moore and Pat Brown have reduced the seam bowling options although Javed will bring pace and left-arm variety to the attack. Ghazanfar was one of the stars of last year’s Blast and his arrival for the second half of the tournament could be crucial.
Wildcard watch: Amrit Basra delivered some eye-catching innings in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup last season and has the potential to be a destructive force in the middle order. The 23-year-old all-rounder could also play an important role with his lively medium pace.
Final thought: The Falcons have proven T20 match-winners in Donald, Ghazanfar and Wayne Madsen but need to put together consistent performances as a team to compete. After last summer’s disappointing campaign, the only way is up and the Falcons will hope the arrival of Javed and Montgomery will give them momentum.
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 the Durham Cricket YouTube channel. Durham Cricket will have full coverage on social media, with a full match report at the close.