Middlesex's next outing in Division One of the Specsavers County Championship begins on Sunday at Lord's, when former Middlesex favourite, Chris Rogers, returns to the Home of Cricket as captain of a Somerset side, who like Middlesex, are still looking for their first victory of the 2016 campaign.
Middlesex were again left disappointed in their last Championship encounter, as despite having the best of the first three days against Surrey at the Kia Oval, heavy rain on the final day scuppered Adam Voges' and his side's chances of driving home their advantage against their London rivals, with the hosts battling to save the game having been forced to follow on. A fifth consecutive draw for Middlesex saw them leave South London frustrated and still searching for that elusive first win of the season.
Somerset themselves have suffered many of the same frustrations, and remain the only other side in Division One to have drawn each of the games they've played in.
In similar fashion to Middlesex, Somerset's last encounter saw them also dominate proceedings, yet come out of the game without a victory, as Champions Yorkshire found themselves in the unusual position of clinging on for a draw in the final day having been forced to follow on. Rogers has been marshalling his troops well down at Taunton and will be relishing the opportunity of a return to Lord's to take on Voges and Middlesex in search of his first victory of the campaign.
Statistically the sides are also closely matched, with both teams including four batsmen averaging in the forties in the Championship this season, with Sam Robson (535 runs at 89.16), Adam Voges (210 runs at 52.50), John Simpson (246 runs at 49.20) and Dawid Malan (292 runs at 48.66) all in fine form for Middlesex, and James Hildreth (411 runs at 68.50), Peter Trego (359 runs at 59.83), Marcus Trescothick (399 runs at 57.00) and Chris Rogers (295 runs at 42.14) all impressing for Somerset. On the bowling front, both sides also head into the clash with two bowlers who have taken more then ten wickets so far this term, with Toby Roland-Jones and Tim Murtagh having taken 12 and 11 wickets respectively for Middlesex and Tim Groenewald and Lewis Gregory having taken 15 and 14 for Somerset.
With Middlesex sitting in sixth place on 53 points, and Somerset in seventh, just two points below them, both with five draws each from five games played, the tale of the tape couldn't be any closer, and both Adam Voges and Chris Rogers will be desperate to lead their teams to victory at Lord's, over four days of what promises to be an intriguing and closely fought County Championship encounter.
Middlesex have named a 13 man squad;
Adam Voges (Captain), James Franklin, James Fuller, Nick Gubbins, James Harris, Dawid Malan, Tim Murtagh, Ravi Patel, Ollie Rayner, Sam Robson, Toby Roland-Jones, John Simpson, Paul Stirling.
Gates open at 10am with play due to start at 11am. Tickets can be bought on the gate on the day and cost £18 for adults, £9 for over 65s, £5 for under 16s. Middlesex Members can gain entry into the ground on production of their membership cards.
The President's Box in the Grand Stand will be available to Middlesex members along with the Father Time Bar, situated on Level 3 of the Grand Stand, plus the Upper Allen Stand and Bar.
