Whilst the change to the fifty over format has been eagerly awaited by the Seaxes, and couldn't have come soon enough, Sunday's opening test will prove to be a tough one, as their opponents Warwickshire, return to Lord's looking to right the wrongs in a competition that they so nearly won last season, having made the final at the Home of Cricket, only to lose to Durham in what was arguably one of their worst performances of an otherwise brilliant campaign in 2014.
The White ball form of Warwickshire or the "Birmingham Bears" as they're now known in the T20 Blast, has been formidable so far this season, as they successfully progressed into the knockout stages of the twenty over competition as the winners of the North Group, securing victories in ten of their fourteen group matches.
Moving into the longer format will suit Middlesex, with their form in the fifty over format in recent years being promising, whilst not outstanding. In each of the last four season's the club have narrowly missed out on qualification to the knockout stages in the One-Day competition and they'll be hoping to surpass that this time round.
The make-up of the current Middlesex squad offers plenty of promise and gives plenty of reason for optimism for progression, especially if Eoin Morgan can lead his Middlesex charges into the Royal London One Day Cup with the same kind of gusto and freedom that he instilled into his England side is the One-Day international series with New Zealand at the start of the summer.
With the Middlesex pace line-up being led by the in-form Steven Finn, who looks to be back to his very best, and the hugely impressive Mitch McClenaghan, who has shone impressively since his arrival at Lord's, there's plenty of zest in the Middlesex attack to trouble the Warwickshire batters. And with Dawid Malan, Nick Compton, James Franklin, the in-form John Simpson and the explosive talent of skipper Eoin Morgan in the batting ranks, there's an abundance of experience and firepower through the line-up to offer plenty of optimism for a successful campaign this term.
With both Warwickshire and Middlesex fancied in the longer format this year by pundits within the game, Sunday's opening clash promises to be one not to miss at the Home of Cricket.
Middlesex are pleased to announce the following 14 man squad:
Eoin Morgan (c)
Nick Compton
Neil Dexter
Steven Finn
James Franklin
Nick Gubbins
James Harris
Dawid Malan
Mitch McClenaghan
Ravi Patel
Sam Robson
Ollie Rayner
Toby Roland-Jones
John Simpson
Gates open at 9.30am tomorrow and the match is due to start at 10.30am. Tickets available on the gate; Adults £20, O65's £10 and Under 16's £5.
