Suffolk will need to be at their best

July 2, 2026

SUFFOLK will need to be at their best if they are to progress to the Super 12s in this season’s NCCA Dojo T20 competition, according to head coach Adam Mansfield.

The county host Hertfordshire on Sunday at Mellis CC, who are staging a Men’s 1st XI fixture for the first time, start 11am.

Mansfield said: “We are really excited to be going to Mellis. I know Chris (Farrant) has been working really hard on the ground and the club will put on a fantastic show there.

“We are hoping we will have a lot of support and that it will be a great day.

“We know if we play well, we can beat anyone on the day, but Hertfordshire are a really good side and we will have to be at our best to go through.”

Suffolk know two wins will guarantee they go through in third place, but Mansfield is not fazed by the challenge.

“Every game you play you go out to win, so it doesn’t really change anything. You can only control what you can control.

“If we win both we go through, but if we win one there is still a chance that we might progress as well,” he said.

Should Suffolk finish third it will be the second season running they have qualified for the Super 12s, after never having previously got out of the group.

Mansfield said: “Over the last couple of years we have made a decision to go down a slightly different route and pick players that we feel are more suited to T20 cricket.

“We had to take that gamble at some point as what we were doing wasn’t really working, and to look at what could we do differently to start improving our T20 cricket.

“We went down the route of younger, exciting players and they have really stepped up and are becoming a nice little team.

“Selection has been quite consistent and they are starting to understand their roles and what is required of them and they want to win for each other, which is always a huge part of cricket.”

Freddie Heldreich returns after being unavailable so far in the competition, which means all-rounder Henry Bevan (pictured above) misses out as Suffolk go for an extra spin bowling option.

Suffolk squad: Alex Maynard, Feroze Khushi, Darren Ironside, Alex Oxley, Jacob Marston (capt & wkt), Kieran Pell, Josh Cantrell, Ollie Burle, Tom Harper, Freddie Heldreich, Dan Shanks, Freddie Cloud.

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