There’s an interesting side-plot to Sunday’s NCCA Trophy semi-final at Sudbury.
The Trophy competition includes a most valuable player award and Cumbria captain Michael Slack is currently lying second.
Slack’s all-round ability with bat and ball has helped him reach that position behind Stuart Poynter, whose Northumberland side lost in the quarter finals.
In third place is Suffolk’s George Rhodes but he won’t be playing in Sunday’s showdown.
Rhodes (son of England Test player Steve Rhodes) formerly of Leicestershire and Worcestershire is unavailable due to family commitments.
This is Cumbria’s fourth consecutive semi-final and each time they have gone on to make the final, only to lose in them all to Berkshire.
The two county sides have only played each other once before in the competition, when Cumbria narrowly won by five runs in a match which went all the way to the last ball in the 2021 quarter final played at Barrow CC.
Six of each of those two sides from 2021 have been named in the squads announced by Suffolk and Cumbria for this weekend’s encounter.
Suffolk squad
Darren Batch (Sudbury), Jack Beaumont (Copdock and Old Ipswichian), Ben Claydon (Sawston and Babraham), George Hankins (Hornchurch), Alex Oxley (Copdock and Old Ipswichian), Ben Parker (Sudbury), Josh Cantrell (Bury St Edmunds), Adam Mansfield (Sudbury) capt, Jacob Marston (Copdock and Old Ipswichian) wk, Tom Harper (Copdock and Old Ipswichian), Freddie Heldreich (Northamptonshire CCC), Dan Shanks (Hadleigh), Alex Cruickshank (Bury St Edmunds).
Cumbria squad
Michael Slack (Carlisle CC) capt, Freddie Fallows (Kendal CC), Sam Dutton (Furness CC), Ben Walkden (Newton-le-Willows CC), Marcus Stables (Nantwich CC), Matthew Sempill (Cockermouth CC), Chris Wright (Leicestershire CCC and Dorridge CC), Ed Moulton (Chorley CC), Drew Postlethwaite (Haverigg CC) wk, Nico Watt (Carlisle CC). Matthew Siddall (Cockermouth CC), Sam Sharp (Cockermouth CC).
Cumbria will again face a current Northamptonshire County staffer in 21-year-old Freddie Heldreich to date somewhat of a T20 specialist (5 List A, and 30 T20 for his first class county) but who last week-end made his National Counties 3 day debut and Sunday will be his.
Suffolk have named George Hankins, an England Under 19 international in 2016 and previously with Gloucestershire, as Rhodes’ replacement.
In the Trophy this year, Suffolk’s leading run scorers behind Rhodes have been Darren Batch, Jack Beaumont and Jacob Marston each with over 100 runs to their name in the five games played to date.
The experienced Beaumont is also their second highest wicket taker with 11, one behind Ben Claydon – who is third placed nationally – and just ahead of Rhodes.
It is Suffolk’s first Trophy semi-final since losing to Devon in 2018.
The match is scheduled to start at 11am on Sunday with a reserve day in place on Monday.
