James Taylor will hope that forecasts of rain clearing from mid-morning at the Emirates Durham prove accurate today to enable him to press forward with England ambitions as well as help Notts Outlaws to reach the final of the Royal London Cup.
If the semi-final against Durham cannot be completed because of bad weather, it will continue into a reserve day. Taylor, the Outlaws’ one-day captain, would thus be denied the opportunity to join England for the one-off Twenty20 against India at Edgbaston tomorrow. The batsman’s recent form in the 50-over format has pushed him to the fringes of the one-day squad and the 20-over contest is another step in that direction.
Having scored 146 not out against Derbyshire in the quarter-finals, another strong innings in a high-profile game today will also give impetus to his claims for the 2015 World Cup.
Although he has not played for the senior side since England beat Ireland in September last year, Taylor has been a regular figure in the Lions squad and that he led the second string in the recent one-day series versus Sri Lanka A and New Zealand A shows how the selectors hold him in high regard.
He suffered a first-ball duck and then fell for only six in the LV= County Championship defeat against Durham last week and Jon Lewis, the Durham coach, believes that the result three days ago will have relevance in boosting the confidence of his own side, who caused a surprise by beating Yorkshire Vikings in the quarter-finals. They will be strengthened by the return of Ben Stokes, who has been omitted from England’s 20-over squad having featured in the one-day series.
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Notts, however, will be without Alex Hales and Harry Gurney, who have both retained their international places for the shorter format.
Durham beat Notts in the group stage, and are expected to make a late decision on Phil Mustard, the wicketkeeper, who missed the four-day meeting because of knee trouble.
“We would love to have him back, but at the same time this is an important game and he has to be properly fit,” Lewis said.
Notts Outlaws (possible): MJ Lumb, SJ Mullaney, JWA Taylor, SR Patel, MH Wessels, JEC Franklin, CMW Read, A Shahzad, LJ Fletcher, JT Ball, SKW Wood.
Durham (possible): MD Stoneman, P Mustard, CAR MacLeod, SG Borthwick, PD Collingwood, B Stokes, GJ Muchall, GR Breese, JW Hastings, P Coughlin, C Rushworth.
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Umpires: PJ Hartley and NGB Cook. Third umpire: ML Saggers.
Television: Sky Sports 2, from 10am.