The Cricketer Magazine – June 2018

STAR MAN

JEETAN PATEL

PPI RANK: 

STAR MAN

WAHAB RIAZ

PPI RANK: 

STAR MAN

PAUL COLLINGWOOD

PPI RANK: 

ECONOMY 6.87 DOT BALL % 44.9% STRIKE-RATE 128.4

NORTH DIVISION

After reaching their third fi nals day in four years

• winning in 2014 – the Bears will look to go one
  further after falling at the last hurdle in 2017,
  losing to Notts Outlaws in the fi nal. Colin de
  Grandhomme returns for a second season. The big-
  hitting allrounder played all 16 matches in last year’s
  Blast and will be a major piece in Birmingham’s
  campaign if they are to reach the fi nal at Edgbaston.
  Skipper Grant Elliott adds experience alongside
  Jeetan Patel and (possibly) in-form Ian Bell. Patel’s
  wickets will be key again. He led the way in 2017 with
  20 wickets at an economy rate of 6.82. At the other
  end of the spectrum Warwickshire have an exciting
  trio of 22-year-olds in Sam Hain, Ed Pollock and
  Dom Sibley. Hain produced 458 runs last year at a
  strike-rate of 134.70 and has started his white-ball
  summer in fi ne form. The exciting batsman - who
  Ashley Giles has tipped for England honours – hit
  two hundreds and three fi fties at an average of
  106.50 in six One-Day Cup innings. Openers
  Pollock and Sibley - who played 16 matches
  between them - both impressed with the bat last
  year. Olly Stone’s pace must be on England’s radar.
  Owen Riley

Derbyshire’s meagre season in 2017 was

bolstered by the run to the last eight of the T20

Blast, securing a home quarter-fi nal for the

fi rst time, and they will be hoping for more of

the same this year under the tutelage of

short-form specialist coach John Wright,

who won the IPL/Champions League double

with Mumbai Indians in 2013. Dominic Cork,

the county’s former England international,

also returns as bowling coach for the

competition while Scotland coach Grant

Bradburn joins the team on a short-term deal.

He is on rather a high at the moment.

Derbyshire were dealt a blow with the news

that Mitchell Santner, originally signed for the

Blast, needed knee surgery. Wahab Riaz, the

Pakistan bowler, has been recruited as one

overseas option and there are two exciting

inclusions from the Scottish squad in the

shape of batsman Calum MacLeod and bowler

Safyaan Sharif. Cricket advisor Kim Barnett,

meanwhile, has said that fi nals day is the goal for

the team in 2018.

Sam Morshead

It was a season to forget in 2017 for Durham, who

started with a four-point penalty following the

controversy over their fi nancial aid package from

the ECB and fi nished rock bottom of the North

Group with three wins from 14. They have yet

to confi rm their skipper for this year, after last

season’s captain Paul Coughlin left for Notts. Paul

Collingwood and Tom Latham, skippering the

Royal London One-Day Cup side, are options. The

loss of Coughlin will be keenly felt. The allrounder

smashed 333 runs at a strike-rate of nearly 140 and

claimed 13 wickets in 2017. Nathan Rimmington, the

Australian quick who arrived on a two-year deal this

summer thanks to his British passport, will help on

the bowling front. Durham have announced record

ticket sales in advance of the competition, both in

terms of season tickets and individual matchday

entry. Those attendance fi gures are sure to have

been boosted by a 70 per cent discount o ered

to parents of youngsters signed up to the county’s

All Stars scheme. The kids themselves have

received free membership. “This has signifi cantly

increased the number of families attending Blast

fi xtures,” a Durham statement read. SM

Birmingham Bears

Coach Jim Troughton • Captain Grant Elliott
Overseas Colin de Grandhomme (NZ),
Jeetan Patel (NZ)
Last season Runners-up

Derbyshire Falcons

Coach John Wright

Captain Billy Godleman

Overseas Wahab Riaz (P)

Last season: Quarter-fi nals

Durham Jets

Coach: Jon Lewis

Captain: TBC

Overseas players: Tom Latham (NZ)

Last season: Group stage

Ian Bell 261

Ed Pollock 462

Sam Hain 263

Dom Sibley 325

Colin de Grandhomme 41

Grant Elliott 83

Aaron Thomason 422

Chris Woakes 148

Jeetan Patel 164

Oliver Hannon-Dalby 333

Boyd Rankin 415

Wayne Madsen 127

Luis Reece 249

Calum MacLeod 611

Billy Godleman 527

Alex Hughes 348

Matt Critchley 351

Gary Wilson 436

Wahab Riaz 65

Hardus Viljoen 255

Ravi Rampaul 300

Safyaan Sharif 837

Tom Latham 217

Graham Clark 442

Paul Collingwood 150

Ben Stokes 27

Michael Richardson 445

Stuart Poynter 544

Ryan Pringle 383

Barry McCarthy 622

Mark Wood 467

Chris Rushworth 375

James Weighell 587

2017 run-rate 8.76 2017 economy 8.53 2017 run-rate 8.74 2017 economy 8.82 2017 run-rate 8.00 2017 economy 8.96

STRONGEST XI STRONGEST XI STRONGEST XI

Team rating

2,917

Team rating

4,106

Team rating

4,259

Prediction: Quarter-fi nal Prediction: Group stage Prediction: Group stage

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