National Counties Trophy Week 2 Preview

Noah Thain, the latest player to graduate from National Counties to first-class cricket, will be back on duty with Cambridgeshire on Sunday.

The 18-year-old batter signed a rookie contract with Essex three weeks ago and made his first-class debut for them against Ireland at Chelmsford last weekend.

Thain first played for Cambridgeshire last year and he will make his seasonal debut in the National Counties Trophy Group Three match against Cheshire at Didsbury.

Former Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lancashire all-rounder Wayne White will also make his first appearance of the season for Cambridgeshire against the county he represented in 2017 and 2018.

Cheshire have made two changes to the side that beat Suffolk on Monday with batter Will Perry and Steve Green, who plays his club cricket for Didsbury, both returning.

Norfolk, who beat Cheshire last Sunday, have added slow left-armer Ryan Findlay to their squad for Suffolk’s visit to Horsford.

Alex Oxley and Josh Cantrell return for Suffolk but seamer Paddy Sadler faces around six weeks on the sidelines after he suffered a broken thumb against Shropshire last weekend. Alex Cruickshank of Bury St Edmunds has been called up for his debut as Sadler’s replacement.

Cumbria have called up Leicestershire seamer Chris Wright for their Group One match against Oxfordshire at Kendal.

Wright, who is not required by Leicestershire for Vitality Blast duty, will be making his first appearance in the Trophy since 2001 when he played two games for Hampshire Cricket Board as a 15-year-old.

Oxfordshire have included debutants Farhaan Khan of Oxford and Tom Powell of Cumnor in a much-changed squad which also sees the return of Dinton batter Jamie Perkin for the first time in five years.

Will Sutcliffe and Darrel Williams are in line for their season debuts.

Sunday’s match has been switched to Kendal from Cockermouth where the square is recovering from the application of the wrong type of weedkiller in the spring.

Former Ireland and Durham wicketkeeper/batter Stuart Poynter returns to captain Northumberland against Herefordshire at Jesmond.

Batter Alasdair Appleby also returns with seamer Seb Allison making his first appearance of the season.

Herefordshire have called up contracted Worcestershire batter Olly Cox for the first time this season. Cox replaces the unavailable Matt Pardoe with Ben Chapman-Lilley taking over the captaincy.

Former Kent, Essex and Hampshire all-rounder Matt Coles will make his first appearance in two years for Bedfordshire in their Group Two match against Hertfordshire at the West Herts club in Watford.

Bedfordshire were able to call on the services of Kashif Ali for most of their T20 campaign but he is required by Worcestershire for Vitality Blast duty this weekend.

Coles’ return to National Counties cricket adds further first-class experience to Bedfordshire’s squad alongside Sam Bates, Charlie Thurston, Oli Soames, Alex Wakely and Alex Evans.

Hertfordshire, who began their Trophy campaign with an emphatic victory over defending champions Berkshire on Monday, will give a National Counties debut to Northamptonshire and former Leicestershire batter Hasan Azad.

Sunday’s match will be Hertfordshire’s first competitive fixture at Park Avenue since 2001 although they did play Middlesex there in a Showcase match last summer.

Berkshire, who have lost their last three matches in white ball cricket, head to Exeter to face Devon who also need to bounce back from Monday’s defeat by Cornwall at Truro.

Berkshire are boosted by the availability of Leicestershire all-rounder Tom Scriven who takes the place of Josh Lincoln in the only change to their 12-man squad.

Devon have called Plympton slow left-armer Jonty Walliker and added batters Adam Small and Sam Elstone to the squad as possible replacements for the injured Josh Thomas. Paceman Dan Goodey misses out because of a back injury.

Staffordshire return to Smethwick for the first time since 1982 for their Group Four match against Wiltshire.

Both sides are unchanged as Staffordshire keep faith with the side that beat Wales NC at Port Talbot and Wiltshire with the one that opened their Trophy campaign with a three wickets win over Buckinghamshire.

Buckinghamshire have added seamer Tom Weymes to the squad that was on duty against Wiltshire for their match against Dorset at Gerrards Cross. Weymes comes in for Jon Denning.

Hampshire batter Felix Organ is set for his first appearance of the season for Dorset along with left-arm seamer Simon Woodruff. Bournemouth batter Lewis Freak has also been included in a 12-man squad for a possible debut.

National Counties Trophy

Sunday June 4 (11am)

Group One

Kendal: Cumbria v Oxfordshire, Jesmond: Northumberland v Herefordshire

Group Two

Exeter: Devon v Berkshire, West Herts CC: Hertfordshire v Bedfordshire

Group Three

Didsbury: Cheshire v Cambridgeshire, Horsford: Norfolk v Suffolk

Group Four

Gerrards Cross: Buckinghamshire v Dorset, Smethwick: Staffordshire v Wiltshire