Lead High Performance Coach James Franklin has named a 14 man squad for Durham’s final home T20 Blast fixture against Derbyshire Falcons, tonight at 6:30pm.
Durham have added Netherlands right arm fast bowler Paul Van Meekeren to their squad, who has joined for the next three Vitality Blast T20 fixtures. The 28-year old who has played international cricket since 2013 has 47 T20I wickets with a best of 4/11 against Ireland in the 2016 T20 World Cup.
Van Meekeren has previously played county cricket in England where he played for Somerset from 2016 until 2019 making 7 appearances in the Vitality Blast. He has claimed 52 T20 wickets throughout his career.
He is also a familiar face in the North East where he spent the 2016 season with North East Premier League side Benwell Hill.
England Under 19s and Durham Academy cricketer Luke Doneathy is also added to the squad for tonight’s game, the 19 year-old is a regular with Durham 2nd team where he has featured throughout their 2XI T20 competition. He most recently scored an unbeaten 113* in the North East Premier League for Benwell Hill against Eppleton on Saturday.
Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse aren’t available for tonight’s fixture due to England duty, both in England’s squad for the Pakistan ODI series.
Durham currently sit in fourth place in the North group on 11 points with 3 games to go and will be looking for at least two more victories to progress into the knockout stage. Derbyshire are in bottom spot with 3 wins from 11 games, sitting on 7 points.
Squad vs Derbyshire Falcons (9 July)
Cameron Bancroft*, David Bedingham, Scott Borthwick, Jack Burnham, Harry Crawshaw, Jack Campbell, Graham Clark, Luke Doneathy, Sean Dickson, Ned Eckersley, Matthew Potts, Stuart Poynter, Ben Raine, Paul Van Meekeren
The Opposition
Coach: Dominic Cork
Last Year’s Performance: Sixth (North Group)
2020 Leading Runscorer: Wayne Madsen (192 @ 24.00)
2020 Leading Wicket Takers: Dustin Melton (4 @ 31.00), Alex Hughes (4 @ 41.00), Matt Critchley (4 @ 58.75)
Overseas players: Logan van Beek (Netherlands – whole tournament).
Key man: Wayne Madsen – Madsen may be 37 but his game continues to evolve with his ability to engineer strokes to all parts of the ground making him a batsmen opposition bowlers continue to fear.
Flies under the radar: Alex Hughes – Rarely grabs the headlines but the all-rounder is Derbyshire’s leading T20 wicket-taker with 53 victims.
Best Player Under 24: Sam Conners – The 22-year-old fast bowler only made his T20 bow last year but his ability to swing the ball at pace could see him emerge in 2021.
Blast expectations: After reaching Finals Day in 2019, the Falcons failed to get off the ground last summer, winning only one game and losing seven although all their matches were played away as Derby was used by the ECB as a bio-secure ground. The falcons have been dealt a blow with Australia batsman Ben McDermott called away on international duty but Madsen and Critchley will be central to Derbyshire’s hopes of challenging in a tough group. The loss of Australian fast bowler Billy Stanlake is a further blow but his replacement, the 30-year-old van Beek, played his part in the Falcons’ run to Edgbaston two years ago, claiming nine wickets and returning figures of four for 17 against Yorkshire.
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 the club’s match centre and YouTube channel.
Tickets
Tickets can be bought from Gate 2 on match day priced at £20 for adults and £5 for a child. Tickets can be bought from the box office until 3pm on match day, by calling 0191 387 1717 or by visiting Emirates Riverside.