Matt Thompson - leadership role

By Paul Bolton

DEVON keeper-batsman Matt Thompson will lead the Minor Counties in their annual representative match against MCC at Wormsley in Buckinghamshire on Tuesday, August 28 (11am).

Thompson faces a busy week of cricket at Wormsley as he will be playing for Devon in the rescheduled MCC T20 Finals Day on Monday and against Cheshire in the 50-over MCC Trophy final on Wednesday.

Thompson skippered the MCCA in the same game last season, when they defeated MCC by six wickets on his home-town ground at Torquay.

Berkshire batsman Waqas Hussain and Cheshire batsman Will Evans will also be involved in three days of cricket at Wormsley.

Evans is one of three newcomers to the Minor Counties side with Herefordshire left-arm pace bowler Jamie McIlroy and Bedfordshire slow left-armer George Darlow also making their first appearance.

There is one place to be filled in the side for the 50-overs contest  which is likely to be filled by a player from either Cheshire or Berkshire.

The MCC side contains a mixture of interesting old pros, Minor Counties players, a couple of youngsters and Australian all-rounder Robert Wilkinson, whose claim to fame is he played two non-first class games for Northern New South Wales against England’s Ashes tourists in 1979 and another in 1982.

South African Chad Barrett is ex-Northants and Clint Perren played for Queensland and Australia A.

Stephen Moore – Worcs, Lancs, Derbs, England Lions – is the owner of 18 First Class tons.

Minor Counties: Steve Gale (Hertfordshire), Waqas Hussain (Berkshire), Will Evans (Cheshire), Michael Payne (Buckinghamshire), Matt Thompson (Devon - capt & w/k), Ben Waring (Hertfordshire), Peter Burgoyne (Herefordshire), Adam Syddall (Cumberland), Jamie McIlroy (Herefordshire), George Darlow (Bedfordshire), AN Other.

MCC: C A Barrett, B J Fraser, J Marsden, S C Moore, J M Overy, C T Peploe, C T Perren, R J Pritchard , R S Wijeratne, R M Wilkinson, A D Wilson.