Nottinghamshire Outlaws have been dealt a major blow on the eve of their NatWest T20 Blast double-header with the news opener Michael Lumb is set to spend four weeks on the sidelines with an arm injury.
Lumb has avoided the need for an operation but is set to miss the next six NatWest T20 Blast matches and three LV= County Championship games.
"Michael needs a period of rest which is a blow at this stage of the season given his record in all formats," Nottinghamshire director of cricket Mick Newell said.
"It's very important that we allow him time to recover and get him back into the side knowing that Phil Jaques will only be around for three more weeks."
Jaques will take Lumb's place in the Outlaws team to face Leicestershire Foxes at Grace Road this evening and Derbyshire Falcons at Trent Bridge on Friday.
Nottinghamshire are in need of wins after managing just two in their opening five games.
One of those successes was against the winless Falcons when Lumb played a starring role alongside Alex Hales at the top of the order.
Falcons skipper Wayne Madsen admits his side is out for some revenge in the derby contest, after they lost by just eight runs last time out against Worcestershire Rapids.
“We’re excited and pretty high on confidence after the way we played against Worcestershire last time out,” Madsen told the club’s website.
“After the match against Worcestershire it was a weird feeling. We had taken big strides and played a lot better but we weren’t quite able to get over the line.”
He added: “We’re excited, as always, for the local derby.
“They came here and played really well against us last time. The difference was in the first six overs when Hales and Lumb really took us down, but we didn’t get enough runs with the bat first up.
“We know we need to improve in those areas and that what we hope to do.
“The ultimate aim is that we go there and win. We beat them there last year so we can take some confidence from that.”
* Derbyshire won their first four Twenty20 matches against Nottinghamshire but have lost 13 of the 15 completed meetings since.