NEW Zealand duo Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner are poised to make their NatWest T20 Blast debuts for Worcestershire Rapids against Durham Jets at New Road tomorrow (5.30pm).

The influential pair will come into a Rapids side who reached the quarter-final stage last season after winning six successive away games.

All-rounder Santner was one of the stars of the recent ICC World T20 in India and Henry has been in good form with the ball for Worcestershire in the Specsavers County Championship.

England Lions player Joe Clarke is expected to be named in Worcestershire’s squad for the North Group clash and could have his first bat in the competition.

The County will be without all-rounder Moeen Ali, who is on England duty against Sri Lanka at Headingley, and Tom Kohler-Cadmore could open the innings.

Last season, Rapids lost a weather-affected last-eight tie to Hampshire in front of a 5,000 capacity crowd at New Road.

Worcestershire slipped to a 17-run defeat under the Duckworth-Lewis Method after bad light halted their innings on 58-2 in reply to 196-4.

But director of cricket Steve Rhodes says the Rapids recent good run in the T20 Blast - three quarter-finals in the past four years - will count for little when they line up against Mark Stoneman’s Durham.

Rhodes said: "Our last T20 game against Hampshire is a long time ago and we won't be going out there thinking we are the bees knees.

"We will be determined to get off to a winning start but certainly respectful of the opposition and the competition.

"It really doesn't mean too much what has gone on before. What it does mean is we've had the ability to get through to quarter-finals.

"We know what we've got to do to get there.

“We've got to get plenty of points on the board in this group stage and hopefully getting off to a good start against Durham is just what we want."

Rapids and Derbyshire remain the only clubs not to have reached finals day since the T20 began in 2003.

But skipper Daryl Mitchell's side have made it to the quarter-finals for the past two seasons and play an exciting brand of cricket.

They warmed up for the opener with Jets with a 24-run win against Shropshire at Shifnal last week.

Durham finished sixth in the North Group last term but will be without Australian paceman John Hastings, who requires shoulder surgery.

They will also be missing England all-rounder Ben Stokes, while Mark Wood has undergone ankle surgery.

But Jets have bags of experience.

Former England all-rounder Paul Collingwood, a World T20 winner with England, is their linchpin and they can count Graham Onions, Phil Mustard and Mark Stoneman among their ranks.

Rhodes added: "Usman Arshad is a terrific T20 bowler and possibly him and Hastings were the two who could do some good damage and bowled well at the start of the innings.

"It will be interesting to see if the likes of Onions can step up and do the same job as Hastings."

Worcestershire Rapids probable squad: Mitchell (captain), Kohler-Cadmore, Clarke, Santner, Whiteley, D’Oliveira, Cox, Leach, Barnard, Henry, Shantry, Morris, Kervezee.