White in line to face former colleagues

Graeme White is expected to be fit for the visit of Nottinghamshire Outlaws in the Natwest t20 Blast tonight (Wednesday, 6.30pm).
Graeme White could face his old club at the County Ground tonightGraeme White could face his old club at the County Ground tonight
Graeme White could face his old club at the County Ground tonight

The left-arm spinner, who spent four years at Trent Bridge, missed last week’s defeat to Worcestershire Rapids through injury but if declared fit, will take his place in the starting XI.

That is likely to be at the expense of Rob Newton who made little impression lower down the order, a position where White has excelled in his few opportunities.

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Another change could see Maurice Chambers given his one-day debut for the club.

With the Roayl London Cup getting under way on Sunday, head coach David Ripley is keen to assess all of his options and with Chambers likely to feature in the longer limited overs format, the seamer could be given his head.

Ripley said: “There won’t be a lot of change to the side that played last week.

“Graeme (White) will play and it will be a question of where we can slide him in.

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“Maurice (Chambers) has been in the squad for a while and it could be that he gets an opportunity with the white ball, either tonight or against Durham on Friday.”

The Steelbacks, to all intents and purposes, have been eliminated from the competition.

There is an extremely slim chance that they could make the top four in the North Group but that would require other results to go their way and an inferior run-rate being increased dramatically.

For the visitors, two victories from their remaining two games will see them secure a last eight tie on home soil, a scenario that could come to fruition with just one win if other results fall in their favour.

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Steelbacks (from): Coetzer, Levi, Willey, Rossington, Crook, Duckett, Spriegel, White, Azharullah, Stone, Chambers, Newton, Middlebrook.

Outlaws (from): Hales, Lumb, Wessels, Patel, Taylor, Franklin, Read, Mullaney, Wood, Shahzad, Fletcher, Gurney, Ball.