Sri Lanka batting all-rounder Tillakaratne Dilshan will make his LV= County Championship debut for Derbyshire as they welcome Gloucestershire to The 3aaa County Ground, starting on Sunday.
Dilshan has been named in Graeme Welch’s 12-man squad to face Gloucestershire for the second time this season, after returning victorious from Bristol in April.
The 38-year-old arrives as a replacement for outgoing overseas player Hashim Amla who played his final Derbyshire game, alongside Dilshan, in the NatWest T20 Blast victory against Lancashire at Derby on Friday night.
Stand-in Captain Billy Godleman will once again lead the team, and it will be the first time he has captained Derbyshire at The 3aaa County Ground.
David Wainwright misses out from the team that played against Lancashire at Southport last time out, with the rest of the squad unchanged from that game.
Club Captain Wayne Madsen and all-rounder Alex Hughes remain sidelined with finger injuries, while Jonathan Clare is also absent through injury.
DERBYSHIRE squad in full to play Gloucestershire:
26. Ben Slater
1. Billy Godleman
22. Chesney Hughes
5. Tillakaratne Dilshan
10. Scott Elstone
57. Shiv Thakor
16. Harvey Hosein
20. Matt Critchley
28. Tony Palladino
15. Tom Taylor
36. Ben Cotton
4. Mark Footitt
It has been an intriguing start to Gloucestershire’s LV= County Championship season, under their new management team of former Yorkshire and England bowler Richard Dawson, and ex Australia all-rounder Ian Harvey.
After drawing their opening game against Northamptonshire, they have lost both of their home games. They succumbed to a Martin Guptill inspired Derbyshire in April and lost to Kent by eight wickets last time out, who began the week at the foot of the table.
But on their travels they have been a completely different team, shocking title-favourites and Division Two leaders Lancashire with a 91-run victory, before Liam Norwell took ten wickets in the match to help them defeat Essex the following week.
Gloucestershire remain on the cusp of the promotion places as they sit in fifth place after five matches.
Batsman Chris Dent is one to watch for Gloucestershire after scoring 435 runs at an average of 54.38 including two centuries so far this season, while Norwell has been in imperious form with the ball, taking 26 wickets at an impressive average of 21.31.
Derbyshire claimed their first LV= County Championship win of the 2015 season as they defeated Gloucestershire by seven wickets at Bristol at the end of April.
New Zealand international Martin Guptill put in a superb performance for Derbyshire, as he hit his highest ever first-class score. Guptill hit eleven sixes on his way to a magical 227 in the first innings, before taking four catches in Gloucestershire’s second innings and striking a further three sixes to take his team to victory second time around.
Having bowled their hosts out for 275, Derbyshire achieved a sizable first-innings lead having declared on 545-9 after Harvey Hosein was out for a career-best 61.
Gloucestershire fought back to set Derbyshire a victory target of 142, which they got to with consummate ease after Billy Godleman hit a half-century and Guptill struck three more sixes in a quickfire unbeaten 31.
