Durham return to Banks Homes Riverside to take on Derbyshire Falcons looking to bounce back in the Vitality Blast.
Ryan Campbell has named a squad of 14 to face the Falcons- remaining unchanged from Friday’s high-scoring thriller in Leicester.
James Minto, Bas de Leede and George Drissell remain in contention to come into the side as Alex Lees’ side search for a second victory of their Blast campaign.
Durham come into the Derbyshire clash on the back of narrow losses to Leicestershire Foxes and Lancashire Lightning after starting the Blast campaign with victory over The Bears at Edgbaston.
Derbyshire head to Chester le Street sitting ninth in the North Group with four losses from their opening four games, most recently falling to defeat by 58 runs against The Bears.
Words from Will Rhodes
(On Foxes defeat) Myself and Kasey just set out to bat and see how close we could get. Neither of us has had a particularly strong innings in this competition so far so we just set out to try to enjoy ourselves, knowing that with a good wicket and a quick outfield there was plenty of value all round the ground.
At the halfway stage we felt that to have dragged them back to 190-odd was a really good effort and we felt we had a really good chance of chasing it.
We executed our plans really well in those last few overs with the ball, and Ben Raine was excellent. He is a fine operator with red or white ball and to come away with five wickets but be on the losing side against Leicestershire was unlucky.
We were up against it with the bat but you can’t give up in those situations and we’ll take confidence from that. I have no doubt that the guys at the top of the order are going to come good in the next few games and hopefully we can be a strong side going forward.
Squad v Derbyshire Falcons (11 June)
Colin Ackermann, Kasey Aldridge, Graham Clark, Bas de Leede, George Drissell, Zak Foulkes, Alex Lees*, James Minto, Jimmy Neesham, Callum Parkinson, Ben Raine, Will Rhodes, Ollie Robinson+, Nathan Sowter
Opposition Corner
Captain: Samit Patel
Overseas players: Caleb Jewell (Australia, all group stage), Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar (Afghanistan, all group stage), Blair Tickner (New Zealand, all group stage)
Finals Day appearances: One
Titles: None
2024 finish: Sixth (North Group)
2024 leading runscorer: Wayne Madsen (336)
2024 leading wicket taker: Pat Brown (22)
Key winter moves: Jewell provides both quality at the top of the order and a winning mentality after he helped Hobart Hurricanes lift the Big Bash trophy for the first time last winter. Martin Andersson was top scorer for Middlesex in last year’s Blast and the all-rounder is set to play a key role for the Falcons this summer.
The big question: Can the Falcons get over the line in 2025? They fell at the final hurdle in the past two seasons when victory would have secured a place in the knock-out stages. The current squad looks impressive and will expect to be among the front runners in what is traditionally a competitive North Group.
Wildcard watch: For a 19-year-old, Ghazanfar has already made a big impression in white-ball cricket. The right arm off-spinner can turn the ball both ways and was named in the ICC Men’s ODI team of the year in 2024. For a player who is said to have “the world at his feet,” he could be one of the stars of the tournament.
Final thought: If experience counts, the Falcons could go deep into the competition with five of the squad tasting T20 success at home and abroad while Wayne Madsen and Zak Chappell were part of the Rangpur Riders team coached by Derbyshire’s head of cricket Mickey Arthur that won the Global Super League in December. Patel, Brown and Ross Whiteley are past Blast winners while Jewell and Ghazanfar could help the Falcons soar.
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. Durham Cricket will have full coverage on social media, with a full match report at the close.