White confident Steelbacks can make the most of Blast home run

After a humiliating opening night defeat at Birmingham Bears, the Steelbacks have bounced back superbly to win three of their next five matches, only losing one of them off the last ball at Lancashire Lightning.

The other match at Notts Outlaws was ruined by rain.

The Steelbacks claimed their first away win of the tournament on Sunday when they saw off Durham by five wickets at the Riverside, and they are now aiming to maintain their 100 per cent home record when Derbyshire Falcons come to the County Ground on Tuesday (start 6.30pm).

The match is the first of three successive home matches for John Sadler's side, who also entertain Worcestershire Royals on Thursday before the Lightning make the trip south on Friday, June 17 following a week's break for a round of Championship matches - although Northants are not involved.

White and his team-mates will certainly go into Tuesday's encounter in confident mood, having comfortably won their two Wantage Road matches to date, scoring 450 runs for the loss of just five wickets in the process.

The batting on home soil has been spectacular so far, with overseas stars Chris Lynn and Jimmy Neesham at the forefront of that, but there has also been a noticeable improvement in the sharpness and dynamism of the Steelbacks fielding compared to recent seasons.

As the first team fielding coach, White has had plenty to do with that, and he knows this little cluster of home games is a great opportunity for the Steelbacks to cement their place near the top of the table.

The Steelbacks are currently third, two points off the top, and White said: "I think we have put ourselves in a good position.

"These two home games coming up are important for us, and if we keep playing the brand of cricket we are then we have got a very good chance of picking up more points.

"Then we have a little mini break to reboot ourselves and go again.

"So it is just a case of keeping that momentum, keep putting ourselves in positions to win games and hopefully the form of the lads that are doing well can continue and we keep getting the wins."

A key component in the Steelbacks' three wins to date has been the runs of Aussie opener Lynn, who has hit two quickfire 50s and a century in his four innings to date.

The former Brisbane Heat and Australia star missed last Friday night's narrow loss at Old Trafford due to a tooth infection, but he was back in action in the north east on Sunday, and his 61 from 47 balls on a difficult surface was key to the victory.

White has been impressed the impact Lynn has had on the Steelbacks both on and off the pitch, and is understandably keen for that to carry on for a few weeks yet.

"Chris is in a good vein of form, and I hope that continues," said White, who was in great form against Durham, taking three for 14 from four overs of left-arm spin.

"He is a really good character to have in the changing room, he has a lot of experience and he speaks really well.

"I think his calm nature and his communication to the rest of the batters is really important, and it was just great to see him out there.

"He had a tough couple of days with his tooth and didn't get much sleep, so it was great to have him back in the team.

"Let's just hope his form continues."