T20 Blast bite-size preview: Derbyshire Falcons

Cricket365
May 14, 2014

While the ECB website doesn't seem to know that they're still called the Falcons, Derbyshire will hope their fans flock to the matches in droves as they look to better the poor effort they displayed last season.

Brief Overview: While the ECB website doesn't seem to know that they're still called the Falcons, Derbyshire will hope their fans flock to the matches in droves as they look to better the poor effort they displayed last season. They won just four games out of 10 in the north division and were trumped by large margins in each lost game.

Venue: The County Ground in Derby is their home venue, one of the smaller grounds on the circuit with a capacity of around 5000.

Batsman To Watch: We were going to go with Chesney Hughes, because he is the one and only, but his form's been rubbish. So instead, Stephen Moore is the man to watch. The South Africa-born veteran has a century and two half tons to his name this season, including in a T20 for the second side.

Bowler To Watch: another Saffer-born player, paceman Tim Groenewald, already has two five-fers to his name this season, as well as a nifty half ton with the bat against Hampshire. He'll be valuable with the new ball in the early overs.

Overseas Signings: West Indies star Shiv Chanderpaul and Australia's Marcus North are the overseas names. North hasn't played any games in England yet, so will need to find his feet quickly, while Chanders already has four half tons in four games.

Know Your Mascot: Freddie the Falcon is the beast to keep track of here, lest he fly off with the bails.

Cricket365's Prediction: Fifth in North Division.