COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION TWO: ROUND SIX PREVIEW

Worcestershire looking to make it five from five at Sussex

Durham v Northamptonshire, Riverside, Chester-le-Street

Durham

Form: LDLL

Previous result: Durham 342 and 276 for 7d; Glamorgan 353 and 266 for 7 – Glamorgan won by three wickets, Swansea

One to watch: Durham will have wondered how they lost to Glamorgan at Swansea but they will be encouraged by the performance of George Harding. The 20-year-old, making his first-class debut, took four wickets as Glamorgan chased victory in the fourth innings, including the prized scalp of Colin Ingram.

Squad: Paul Collingwood*, Graham Clark, Stephen Cook, Josh Coughlin, Paul Coughlin, George Harding, Keaton Jennings, Gavin Main, Barry McCarthy, Stuart Poynter†, Ryan Pringle, Michael Richardson, Cameron Steel.

Northamptonshire

Form: WWLL

Previous result: Northamptonshire 238 and 343; Worcestershire 434 and 151 for 2 – Worcestershire won by eight wickets, Northampton

One to watch: Nathan Buck is having an excellent start to life at Wantage Road, having taken 21 Championship wickets at 17.76. His 5 for 90 against Worcestershire will certainly cause people to take notice of the seamer.

Squad: Alex Wakeley, Azharullah, Nathan Buck, Josh Cobb, Richard Gleeson, Max Holden, Chesney Hughes, Rob Keogh, Rory Kleinveldt, Adam Rossington†, Rob Newton, Ben Sanderson.

Did you know? 

• Durham have not lost this fixture since 2003 when Northants’ Mike Hussey and Phil Jacques put together 259 for the second wicket in the first innings to steer their side towards an innings victory.

Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire, Trent Bridge

Nottinghamshire

Form: WWWDW

Previous result: Nottinghamshire 430 for 9d; Gloucestershire 149 and 231 (f/o) – Nottinghamshire won by an innings and 50 runs, Trent Bridge

One to watch: Luke Fletcher has been integral to Nottinghamshire’s near-perfect start to the season. Taking the new ball with Stuart Broad, Fletcher has been rewarded with 23 wickets at 19.47 to ease the pain of losing James Pattinson to international duty.

Squad: Chris Read*†, Luke Fletcher, Harry Gurney, Brett Hutton, Ben Kitt, Jake Libby, Michael Lumb, Matt Milnes, Steven Mullaney, Samit Patel, Cheteshwar Pujara, Brendan Taylor, Riki Wessels, Luke Wood.

Derbyshire

Form: LLLD

Previous result: Leicestershire 619 and 217 for 3d; Derbyshire 533 and 42 for 0 – Match drawn, Derby

One to watch: Billy Godleman played a classical captain’s knock against Leicestershire, his 141 and mammoth partnership with fellow centurion Shiv Thakor ensured his side didn’t follow on and avoided what could have been a huge defeat. 

Squad: Billy Godleman*, Rob Hemmings, Alex Hughes, Charlie Macdonell, Wayne Madsen, Conor McKerr, Jeevan Mendis, Tony Palladino, Luis Reece, Ben Slater, Daryn Smit†, Tom Taylor, Shiv Thakor, Gary Wilson.

Did you know? 

• Derbyshire hold the record for the lowest total scored by a visiting team in a first-class match at Trent Bridge (16 in 1879).

Sussex v Worcestershire, Hove

Sussex

Form: LLWL

Previous result: Kent 369 and 298 for 2d; Sussex 164 and 356 – Kent won by 147 runs, Tunbridge Wells

One to watch: Jofra Archer enjoyed career-best figures of 7 for 67 earlier in the season and will certainly be looking to add to his haul of 19 wickets so far this term.

Squad: Chris Nash*, Jofra Archer, Danny Briggs, Michael Burgess†, Harry Finch, Chris Jordan, Steve Magoffin, Vernon Philander, Stiaan van Zyl, Luke Wells, David Wiese, Luke Wright.

Worcestershire

Form: WWWW

Previous result: Northamptonshire 238 and 343 for 9; Worcestershire 434 and 151 for 2 – Worcestershire won by eight wickets, Northampton

One to watch: Joe Leach has steamed through batting orders this summer taking 26 wickets at 16.03 apiece. This included his maiden 10-wicket haul against Northamptonshire in April.

Squad: Joe Leach*, Ed Barnard, Joe Clarke, Ben Cox†, Brett D’Oliveira, Tom Fell, Nathan Lyon, Daryll Mitchell, George Rhodes, Jack Shantry, Josh Tongue, Ross Whiteley.

Did you know? 

• Sussex club captain Luke Wright averages 96.16 against Worcestershire. In nine first-class innings against the county he has passed 50 five times with a top score of 226 not out.

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Batting	Bowling	Points
Nottinghamshire	5	4	0	1	20	15	104
Kent	5	4	0	1	16	15	100
Worcestershire	4	4	0	0	15	12	91
Northamptonshire	4	2	2	0	7	12	51
Glamorgan	5	1	2	2	10	14	50
Gloucestershire	4	1	2	1	6	9	36
Sussex	4	1	3	0	7	12	35
Leicestershire	5	0	2	3	18	11	28
Derbyshire	4	0	3	1	9	10	24
Durham	4	0	3	1	9	10	-24