Yorkshire braced for decisive weekend

Yorkshire's assertions that they intended to make Twenty20 cricket a greater priority this season has not brought any upturn in results. They have lost three matches in a row and are eighth in the North Group, level on points with the bottom club Derbyshire. This crucial match sees two of the most star-studded teams in the country face-off with both teams in need of a victory.

Scheduled to play at high-flying Birmingham on Sunday, a side they have not beaten in four attempts, Yorkshire could conceivably end the weekend having lost five matches in a row. Although such a position would not be unrecoverable it would be very close to being so.

Yorkshire's head coach Jason Gillespie believes that rain scuppered their chances against Northamptonshire last week, but that bowling is to blame for the two previous losses. "Against Lancashire and Durham we didn't get our skills right with the ball. By and large, we batted well in those games. We scored decent runs and we were aggressive with our shot selection. I felt in the Lancashire game we should have defended our score. We didn't do what we needed to do with the ball up front and at the death."

Yorkshire have named two changes to last week's 12-man squad, adding teenagers Matthew Fisher and Ryan Gibson and resting Jack Brooks.

Nottinghamshire, meanwhile, are fifth and have named Michael Lumb and Harry Gurney, both returning from injury, in their squad, while new signing Dan Christian slots straight in as a replacement for Darren Sammy and James Taylor has been released by England. Brett Hutton is left out.

This match sees top play bottom in the North Group with Worcestershire's Thursday night victory elevating them to four wins from eight matches while Derbyshire's win against local-rivals Leicestershire--their second of the season--was not enough to drag them off the foot of the table.

Derbyshire play strong teams Nottinghamshire and Birmingham next but will surely have to take at least two points from their next three matches if they are to maintain hopes of qualifying for the quarter finals.

Had Lancashire won against Worcestershire on Thursday rather than lost off the penultimate ball they would be joint top of the North Group. As it is, the defeat consigns them to sixth place and makes this match against seventh-placed Northamptonshire a mid-table scrap

Lancashire have named the same 14-man squad from Thursday, while Northamptonshire, who beat Yorkshire in their most recent fixture, are without Shahid Afridi who has left for the Caribbean Premier League, and have included wicket-keeper Adam Rossington, who is returning from injury, in their 12-man squad. They are without David Willey who is on international duty but Alex Wakeley could return following the birth of his daughter.

Northamptonshire coach David Ripley has confirmed that he may seek to re-sign Shahid Afridi for the knock-out rounds of the T20 Blast if they make it that far. They have a long way to go to achieve that.

Birmingham have built an enviable Twenty20 record without ever quite gaining the credit they deserve. After losing their opening night match against Nottinghamshire they have since won four consecutive matches, extending a run of 10 wins in 11 dating back to the middle of last season's ultimately victorious campaign.

With Birmingham, currently third but level on points with first with one match in hand, playing again on Sunday against struggling Yorkshire, this weekend poses them an excellent opportunity to pull away at the top of the North Group. Their 13-man squad includes Ian Bell.

Leicestershire's bright start has not been maintained. Coach Andrew McDonald has pointed out the importance of this challenging match for Leicestershire's season and they will be desperate to rectify a poor run of form that is fast rendering their strong start to the season wasted.

The County Ground in Bristol is sold-out for this West Country clash. Gloucestershire are well-placed in third, while Somerset, despite the presence of Chris Gayle, have not managed to string two consecutive wins together so far this season and sit in sixth. Hamish Marshall is absent for the second week running with injury, and Gloucestershire have named an unchanged squad.

Somerset could drop Marcus Trescothick who has struggled for form this season, scoring 45 runs at an average of 9 while keeping wicket. "We think it might be time for Marcus to take a break. There have been a couple of technical issues with his batting that mean he has not been striking the ball as cleanly as usual," explained Somerset's director of cricket Matthew Maynard. Specialist wicket-keeper Michael Bates is in line to take over the gloves.

Rain and the nasty collision between Moises Henriques and Rory Burns resulted in two abandoned matches for Surrey last week at a time when they desperately needed a victory having played four and won just once. They enter this fixture against second-placed Kent at the bottom of the table but will hope that their next four matches being at home can inspire them to find form.

Surrey have made four changes to the squad they took to Arundel last week, Burns and Henriques are out with injury, while Kevin Pietersen is at the Caribbean Premier League. Freddie van den Bergh, Dominic Sibley and Tim Linley are in the squad for the first time this season, and Vikram Solanki is recalled having been dropped after Surrey's opening weekend fixtures.

Kent meanwhile have named the same squad that they used for their victory over Essex on Thursday that got their season back on track following two consecutive defeats.

Essex's defeat on Thursday against Kent ended their streak of three consecutive victories but they are now well-placed in fifth to fight hard for a quarter-final place. Glamorgan are one place above Essex in fourth and with a match scheduled on Sunday against Sussex will be eyeing a tilt towards the top of the table this weekend.

Essex, who have won their last six encounters with Glamorgan, have named the same squad that travelled to Canterbury on Thursday. Glamorgan meanwhile have named an unchanged squad from last week's narrow win against Somerset.

Sussex's abandonment against Surrey last Sunday followed two defeats and has left them seventh. They are without four fast bowlers, Jimmy Anyon, Lewis Hatchett, Chris Jordan and Ajmal Shahzad, who are all absent with injury, so Steve Magoffin is recalled having been dropped after Sussex's second match of the season. Chris Nash is ill and has not been selected but may well be added to the 13-man squad. This will be Mahela Jayawardene's last match before departing for the Caribbean Premier League. Jayawardene's replacement, George Bailey, is expected to be available for Sussex's match against Glamorgan on Sunday. Hampshire's superb victory against Middlesex on Thursday was their fourth win in five matches and fifth in seven and has propelled them to the top of the South Group. They have named an unchanged squad.