- Northamptonshire and Middlesex have byes
- Three games this round
- Fourth v First, but will we see Sir Jimmy?
This week sees three games in the County Championship Division Two, as both Northamptonshire and Middlesex, who played out a high scoring draw last week, have byes this round.
Durham v Lancashire
Durham currently sit in fourth after their bye last week. Their last game against Gloucestershire ended a day early as well, as they won by an innings and 225 runs. They will be well rested going into this game against the top side Lancashire.
Durham Squad: Lees (c), Ackermann, Aldridge, Bedingham, Clark, Gay, McKinney, Parkinson, Potts, Raine, Roach, Robinson.
Lancashire won their last game, which ended on Monday. They beat Gloucestershire in a tight match by four wickets, thanks to an unbeaten 78 from Keaton Jennings, who also scored 70 in the first innings.
However, there is a possible injury concern regarding James Anderson. The leading wicket taker has bowled nearly 100 overs in 12 days of cricket over the past three weeks, and Lancashire will have to keep an eye on him, despite having a bye after this game.
Lancashire Squad: Anderson (c), Bailey, Balderson, Bell, Bohannon, Coughlin, Harris, Singh, Hartley, Hurst, Jennings, Jones, Shetty, Stanley, Sutton
Derbyshire v Gloucestershire
Derbyshire, who currently sit in sixth, had a bye week last week. However their last match ended in a narrow loss to Lancashire, who won by 29 runs.
Derbyshire were all out for 108, chasing 137 to win, and were done by a super James Anderson spell of 4-18 in 9.5 overs. They will be looking to pick up their first win against the bottom side.
Derbyshire Squad: Came (c), Aitchison, Andersson, Chappell, Dal, Guest, Jewell, Abbas, Montgomery, Reece, Bashir
Gloucestershire probably wished they had their bye last week, as they were beaten by Lancashire. They currently sit bottom of the table without a win, so will want to kick start their season.
Gloucestershire Squad: Bancroft (c), Bell, Boorman, Bracey, Brookes, Charlesworth, Hammond, Miles, Phillips, Price, Taylor, van Buuren, Williams
Worcestershire v Kent
Both of these sides had byes last week, so both should be well rested. Worcestershire’s last game ended inside three days as they beat Middlesex by 57 runs.
They will be looking for that same bowling spark again as they take on a Kent side still searching for their first win. Hannon Dalby has also extended his loan to provide some extra firepower.
Worcestershire Squad: D’Oliveira (c), Brookes, Finch, Hannon-Dalby, Hose, Ali, Lategan, Libby, Roderick, Taylor, Waite.
Kent have drawn one and lost one so far this season, and currently sit second bottom in the table. Their last game was the draw with Northamptonshire, where a century from Ben Compton (114*) and a 69 from Sam Northeast helped that result, after Northamptonshire amassed a massive 684-2. Kent will want both bat and ball to find form this week, if they are get anything from this game.
Kent Squad: Bell-Drummond (c), Benjamin, Compton, Crawley, Denly, Dudgeon, Evison, Singh, Milnes, Muyeye, Northeast, Stewart, Stuurman.
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