Middlesex return to LV= County Championship Division One action tomorrow, when Sussex make the relatively short journey up the A23 to visit Lord’s in what looks to be a real ‘must-win’ encounter for both sides.
For Middlesex, a win represents the opportunity to further cement their title challenge at the top of the table, whilst for Sussex, it represents the chance to bag some much needed points to haul themselves clear of the bottom and reduce any fears they may have of being pulled into a late-season battle to avoid relegation.
Whilst Middlesex’s title aspirations, and those of fellow challengers Warwickshire and Durham alongside them, are largely still very much in the hands of the current leaders, Yorkshire, who hold all the aces!
All the chasing pack can keep doing is continue to pile points on the board to apply pressure to the others and just hope that the boys from Headingly have a remarkably uncharacteristic implosion in the last third of the season.
Sussex’s form of late must be huge cause for concern for the Hove faithful, as the Martlets’ have failed to win any of their last six LV= County Championship contests, losing four, to Nottinghamshire, Hampshire, Durham and Nottinghamshire, and drawing two, with Warwickshire and Somerset.
They’ll need to turn things around quickly, starting here at Lord’s, if they’re to pull clear of the bottom and look forward to another season in the top flight next year. For Middlesex, recent fortunes have been far more encouraging, coming into the fixture undefeated in their last four matches, although the Seaxes are also without a win in their last two outings, following draws with both Nottinghamshire and Somerset.
They too will be looking to get back to winning ways over the next four days at Lord’s, to re-establish those claims at the top of the table and take advantage of any slip-up by Yorkshire, who go head to head with third placed Durham in a tricky tie starting tomorrow.
With both James Franklin of Middlesex and Sussex’s Ed Joyce looking to skipper their sides to a much needed victory at the Home of Cricket, spectators at Lord’s over the next four days could well get to witness a really intriguing County Championship battle, with every possibility of a result coming one way or the other.
Middlesex name the following thirteen man squad for the Sussex fixture: James Franklin (c), Andy Balbirnie, Nick Compton, Nick Gubbins, James Harris, Dawid Malan, Tim Murtagh, Ravi Patel, Ollie Rayner, Sam Robson, Toby Roland-Jones, Gurjit Sandhu, John Simpson
