COUNTIES CRICKET showcase team news & fixtures
- Details
- Created on Sunday, 30 July 2023 06:42
- Last Updated on Monday, 31 July 2023 06:54
- Published on Sunday, 30 July 2023 06:42
- Written by PAUL BOLTON National Counties Cricket correspondent
The matches give National Counties players the chance to showcase their talent in front of first-class county coaches and also allow supporters of National Counties cricket to see first-class players at close quarters, possibly for the first time.
There is also a potential for an upset or two along the way in a throwback to the days when National Counties – then Minor Counties – sides competed against first-class opposition on a regular basis in the Gillette Cup/NatWest Trophy, a regular involvement that ended 18 years ago.
In 2021 Wales NC beat Glamorgan – who recovered to win the Royal London One Day Cup – and Cornwall defeated Somerset at Taunton. Last year Berkshire claimed the scalp of Middlesex while Buckinghamshire defeated Surrey by four wickets at High Wycombe and Lincolnshire edged out Durham by five runs at Grantham.
The majority of first-class counties already have strong links with at least one National County, none more so than Oxfordshire and Sussex who meet at Wormsley.
The two counties have established a formal and mutually beneficial pathway system that has already seen two Oxfordshire players, Harrison Ward and James Coles, graduate to the first-class ranks.
Batter Zach Lion-Cachet, who has been trialling with Sussex recently, will play for Oxfordshire along with former Sussex batter/left-arm spinner Tom Hinley.
Oxfordshire have included another product of their successful youth system, opening batter Dylan Driscoll, in their squad for a possible debut.
There will also be familiar faces on both sides at Wimborne where Dorset take on Hampshire.
Dorset are expecting the first-class county to include Tom Prest, Joe Eckland, Ross Whiteley and Felix Organ - who have all played for them this season – plus Dorset-reared Scott Currie.
Left-arm pace bowler Ben Fletcher will make his first appearance of the season for Dorset with rookie off-spinner Finn Gordon given his chance to impress against first-class opposition.
Devon leg-spinner Will Christophers will also enjoy home comforts against Somerset which is being played at his home club, Bovey Tracey.
Devon’s squad includes Sandford all-rounder Matt Jeacock, a product of the county’s youth system, who is set to make his senior debut.
Herefordshire face Glamorgan at Eastnor where Conor Smith, Barney Morgan and Charlie Williams return in the changes to the side that was scheduled to face Cheshire in the abandoned Championship match at Alderley Edge.
Morgan will reach the landmark of 50 senior appearances for Herefordshire which will be marked by a special presentation by county President Nick Nenadich.
Herefordshire had hoped that they might face two players whose talent they helped to nurture but neither Jamie McIlroy nor Zain ul-Hassan have been named in the Welsh county’s 13-man squad.
But 11 of Glamorgan’s 13-man squad have played National Counties crt for Wales NC, seven of them – Tom Bevan, Will Smale, Callum Nicholls, Ben Kellaway, Alex Horton, Ben Morris and Ruaidhri Smith – this season.
Herefordshire will also be using today’s match to help raise funds for the local St Michael’s Hospice.
Wales NC will give a debut to 18-year-old spinner Cian Davies against Warwickshire in the first senior county match to be played at the Sudbrook club in Caldicot.
Wales also include in-form batter Cameron Hemp, the son of former Warwickshire and Glamorgan batter David, and have recalled Morgan Bevans, Henry Hurle, Joe Voke and Sam Pearce.
Warwickshire’s squad includes left-arm wrist spinner Jake Lintott, a regular in Wiltshire’s white ball side this season, plus batter Theo Wylie, who played in three of Shropshire’s National Counties Trophy matches.
Pace bowler Liam Norwell is set to play his first senior match of the season to test out his back injury ahead of the start of the Metro Bank Cup.
Wiltshire will again play their Showcase match against Gloucestershire away as part of the Cheltenham Festival at the College Ground.
Ed Young will lead Wiltshire against the county he played for from 2010 to 2014 with left-arm seamer Josh Croom, who has been trialling with Warwickshire, and former Glamorgan batter Tom Cullen among those keen to impress.
There are 18 Showcase matches today and two more on Tuesday when Cornwall host Somerset at Truro and Buckinghamshire travel to Hove to face Sussex.
Showcase Matches
Sunday July 30 (11am)
Dunstable: Bedfordshire v Essex (12pm)
Falkland CC, Newbury: Berkshire v Middlesex
Peterborough Town: Cambridgeshire v Northamptonshire
Nantwich: Cheshire v Yorkshire
Sedbergh School: Cumbria v Lancashire
Bovey Tracey: Devon v Somerset
Wimborne: Dorset v Hampshire
Cheltenham College: Gloucestershire v Wiltshire
Eastnor: Herefordshire v Glamorgan
West Herts CC, Watford: Hertfordshire v Kent
Lindum CC, Lincoln: Lincolnshire v Derbyshire
Horsford: Norfolk v Nottinghamshire
Jesmond: Northumberland v Durham
Wormsley: Oxfordshire v Sussex
Shrewsbury: Shropshire v Worcestershire
Knypersley: Staffordshire v Leicestershire
Woolpit: Suffolk v Surrey
Sudbroook CC, Caldicot: Wales NC v Warwickshire
Tuesday August 1
Truro: Cornwall v Somerset
Hove: Sussex v Buckinghamshire
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