Ponting and Azhar arrive for Derby

Ricky Ponting and Azhar Mahmood have both arrived in the UK and are named in a 14 man squad to take on Derbyshire in the YB40 tomorrow evening.

They are fresh off the back of the 6^th edition of the IPL, with Ponting’s Mumbai Indians winning the competition despite him barely playing a game and Azhar excelling with bat and ball for the Kings X1 Punjab.

Here is the squad in full:

Gareth Batty (C)

Steve Davies

Jason Roy

Ricky Ponting

Vikram Solanki

Zander de Bruyn

Gary Wilson

Tom Jewell

Azhar Mahmood

Jon Lewis

Stuart Meaker

Chris Tremlett

Jade Dernbach

Gary Keedy

It is a vital game in the context of the competition, because it is very difficult to qualify out of the group if you don’t win 8 or 9 of your 12 games. So it is great to be able to call upon two class performers in Ponting and Azhar. Ponting didn’t have a very productive IPL campaign and comes into the side having not played for over a month, which means that he may be short of some runs towards the beginning of his two-month stint. However, there is no doubting his ability as one of the game’s greats, and after being named Sheffield Shield player of the year in February, he still seems to have what it takes.

Azhar was originally only signed for the Twenty 20 campaign starting at the end of June, but he lives in England and is a British Citizen so isn’t classed as an overseas player, and with the form he has shown over the last month or so, he may prove a valuable asset to our Limited overs side. Azhar’s inclusion may mean though that Tom Jewell misses out on selection, which will be a blow to him. He has played two games so far, the abandoned Durham game and the Scotland win on Monday, and as yet has not had the opportunities to show what he can do, which means that it could be harsh on him if not picked.

Steve Davies and Vikram Solanki will be looking to continue their good form from the competition so far, and Jason Roy will be looking to rediscover the form he showed in his century against Durham at the beginning of the month, as his place in the Championship side is now up for debate with Ponting turning up. I really like Roy, and want him to do well so badly, but his consistency (or rather lack of it) is worrying and is something that he will be trying desperately to rectify.

The bowling has been superb so far in the competition, with Lewis and Tremlett looking particularly effective early in the innings. Batty and Keedy seem to work well together but we are, I think, desperate for Ansari to return, as his all-round abilities are crucial to how many runs we get and what we restrict the opposition to. Jade hasn’t had the greatest starts to the competition, with 3 wickets at 45’s, but I’m sure he will want to impress the England selectors after being snubbed for the Champions trophy.

So it is a big game for our prospects of doing well in the competition we won back in 2011, and we certainly have enough experienced players with 7 of the 14 being the wrong side of 35, so hopefully they can produce a winning performance before an even bigger game against the same opposition in the Championship starting Thursday.