Gloucestershire v Derbyshire Falcons (One Day Cup) – Preview

The Metro Bank One Day Cup gets underway tomorrow with Derbyshire Falcons taking on Gloucestershire in Group A.
Mickey Arthur’s side will travel down to Cheltenham for their opening game of the tournament, with new 50-over captain Brooke Guest set to lead the side with the aim of reaching the knockout rounds of the competition, after narrowly missing out on net run rate last year.
Despite being without key players Aneurin Donald, Wayne Madsen and Pat Brown due to their selections for The Hundred, the Falcons have a strong squad and will fancy their chances at winning Tuesday’s opening match.
Last match
Derbyshire come into the tournament off the back of last week’s draw against Northamptonshire in Division Two of the County Championship.
The result maintained their third-place position and featured game-saving performances from Martin Andersson, Luis Reece and Guest, as well as a promising debut for young spinner Joe Hawkins.
Andersson’s 105 runs in the first innings helped the side recover from 89/5 to post 377, aided by handy contributions from lower-order batters Hawkins and Ben Aitchison.
The hosts then replied with a mammoth 550/9 declared, despite being 154/5 at one stage, with hundreds for Justin Broad and Rob Keogh. All-rounder Reece led the way with the ball, taking 3/114, whilst Blair Tickner and Hawkins each took two wickets.
With a deficit of 173, Wayne Madsen’s side looked to be sliding to defeat at 54/5 in their second innings, but Reece and Guest combined for a 131-run sixth-wicket partnership that saw them bat out a rain-shortened final day of the match.
Derbyshire came away from the game with 13 points, which takes them to 141 overall, 24 behind second-place Glamorgan, whilst their opponents took home the same amount.
The Falcons’ last 50-over match in 2024 saw them defeat Durham by four wickets, chasing down 254 with seven balls remaining, with three wickets from teenager Harry Moore and a fifty for David Lloyd.
In a recent 50-over friendly against minor county Bedfordshire on 27 July, the Falcons came away with a 95-run victory as captain Guest led from the front with a hundred.
His 90-ball century was aided by 87 from new signing Amrit Basra and 79 from opener Harry Came as they ended their innings on 338/8.
Three wickets from Nick Potts helped to restrict the hosts to 243/8 and secure victory for Derbyshire.
Derbyshire team news
The Falcons will be without Donald, Madsen and Brown as they join up with their respective teams for The Hundred (Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit, Northern Superchargers).
Head coach Mickey Arthur was also appointed Director of Cricket at the Superchargers in January but will remain with the Falcons for the One Day Cup.
Guest will have overseas players Caleb Jewell and Tickner available for the competition and will welcome new signing Matthew Montgomery, who has joined on loan from Nottinghamshire for the duration of the tournament before signing a three-year deal at the Central Co-op County Ground.
The 25-year-old South African-born Germany international averages 41.81 with the bat in List-A cricket, with one hundred, and can also bowl off-spin.
It remains to be seen whether fast bowler Zak Chappell will take part in Tuesday’s game, having left last week’s match early for personal reasons.
Youngsters Hawkins, Yousaf Bin Naeem, Mitch Wagstaff and Rory Haydon may not make the eleven against Gloucestershire but are likely to feature at some point in the group stage.
Opposition news
The Falcons’ opponents Gloucestershire are amidst a departure spree from the Seat Unique Stadium, with a high number of players out of contract at the end of the season and several having already secured moves away from the club.
Fast bowlers Ajeet Singh Dale (Lancashire), Zaman Akhter (Essex), Tom Price and Dom Goodman (both Sussex) have all officially signed for new counties from the end of this season, whilst Archie Bailey and Josh Shaw will all see their current deals expire in a few months.
Looking at Tuesday’s game, captain Jack Taylor will be without Marchant de Lange (Trent Rockets), Miles Hammond (Oval Invincibles) and Singh Dale (Welsh Fire), with the trio taking part in The Hundred, as well as Goodman, who has been ruled out of the rest of the season with a back injury, and potentially Price, who is yet to return since also injuring his back in May.
However, they did recently announce the return of fast bowler Craig Miles, who has rejoined the club on loan from Warwickshire, having been part of the county’s victorious 50-over campaign in 2015.
Hammond and Jack Taylor both averaged over 40 with the bat in last year’s competition, whilst Matt Taylor and Zaman Akhter were the county’s best bowlers despite playing just a few games each.
They won just four of their eight games last season, therefore not progressing from the group stage, but, with Australian international Cameron Bancroft available, they will hope for better results this time.
Previous encounter
The last 50-over meeting between the two sides came just over two years ago, on 1 August 2023, with Gloucestershire chasing down 299 with six wickets left.
Fifties from Luis Reece and Pakistan international Haider Ali guided Derbyshire to 298/9, as fast bowler Paul van Meekeren took four wickets for the hosts, before an unbeaten century from Ollie Price led the chase.
Irish batter Harry Tector and Jack Taylor also scored half-centuries, with the latter helping Price to finish off the game with 6.4 overs remaining.
Gloucestershire (299/4) v Derbyshire (298/9), 1 August 2023:
Derbyshire team: Harry Came, Luis Reece, David Lloyd, Haider Ali, Brooke Guest (C, WK), Anuj Dal, Tom Wood, Alex Thomson, Mark Watt, Sam Conners, Nick Potts
Match details
Gloucestershire v Derbyshire Falcons
Metro Bank One Day Cup – Group A
Tuesday 5 August
11:00 am start time
College Ground, Cheltenham