Quintet awarded County Caps

Sam Conners, Anuj Dal, Leus du Plooy, Brooke Guest and Shan Masood have all been awarded their Derbyshire County Caps at the Club’s Player of the Year Gala Dinner. 

Cricket Derbyshire Academy, in Partnership with the University of Derby, graduate, Conners, is the Club’s leading wicket-taker this season, with 70 dismissals across all formats.

The 23-year-old made his debut in 2019 and has since taken over 100 wickets for Derbyshire including a one day best of 5-28 against Yorkshire at Chesterfield and a first-class best of 5-51 in the current game here at Derby. His emergence as a promising bowler was recognised earlier this season when he was called up to play for the England Lions.

Dal has been one of the standout players in the LV= County Championship, scoring 957 runs, including three centuries, and taking 34 dismissals, with best figures of 5-40. Having made his Derbyshire debut in 2018, Dal has established himself as the club’s premier all-rounder in the first class game. He is the first Derbyshire player to score four first class hundreds batting at number seven while his record with bat and ball this summer compares favourably with the best all-rounders in the country.

Making his 100th appearance for Derbyshire in the current game, du Plooy has established himself as a virtual ever-present in the side since he made his debut in 2019. He has already scored almost 4,000 runs with six hundreds and 22 half centuries.

Arguably his most memorable moment to date came earlier this season, when he smashed 18 of the required 19 runs needed to beat Yorkshire Vikings in the Vitality Blast at Queen’s Park.

Guest played his first game for Derbyshire in 2020 and has quickly become the club’s first choice wicketkeeper across all forms of the game. In 2022 he has played in every Derbyshire match, completing over 70 dismissals, and scoring four centuries in the championship

Shan Masood made an immediate impact for Derbyshire this season, scoring 671 runs in his first five innings for the club, including two double centuries. He was the first player in the country to score 1,000 first class runs this season and broke the club record for most runs in a season in Twenty20 cricket, making 555 runs with five half centuries.

The players were presented with their County Caps by Club President, John Wright, former Derbyshire fast bowler, Kevin Dean, Wayne Madsen and captain Billy Godleman at The Incora County Ground.

Capped Player Numbers:

Sam Conners – 116
Anuj Dal – 117
Leus du Plooy – 118
Brooke Guest – 119
Shan Masood – 120