Seaton Carew batsman Paul Braithwaite to face Durham Jets T20 team in Hartlepool

Braithwaite is the only local player to be selected in the North Yorkshire South Durham (NYSD) League XI to face Durham Jets for the T20 game at Park Drive on Monday (start 5.30pm).

And the Seaton star can’t wait to take on what should be a full-strength Jets team in an attractive fixture for town cricket fans.

Braithwaite said: I was really pleased to get the call from the league chairman Chris West.

“I was pretty surprised to get the call because I know I haven’t performed as well as I would have liked with the bat so far this season.

“But it’s an amazing opportunity to play against Durham that doesn’t come around often.”

The Park Drive game is one of two warm-ups for The Jets for this year’s Vitality Blast with them taking on a North East Premier League side at Chester-le-Street the day after.

Both games are free of charge and a chance to see the Jets close up before the first Vitality Blast match against Yorkshire Vikings at Headingley on Thursday.

Durham’s head coach Jon Lewis is looking forward to the game.

Lewis said: “We’ll be taking the games very seriously, we’re expecting to come up against two very good sides.”

NYSD team: Andrew Weighell (Stokesley Cptn), Paul Braithwaite (Seaton Carew), Liam Coates (Darlington), Lewis Harper (Thornaby), Pitigala Jeewantha (Great Ayton), Mike Layfield (Richmondshire), James Middleton (Middlesbrough, Keeper), Aamir Sajjad (Marton), Steve Reeves (Middlesbrough), Shrikant Wagh (Stokesley), Jonny Weighell (Stokesley). 12th Man: Daniel Chillingworth (Stokesley).