Middlesex have named an unchanged thirteen-man squad for the Royal London One-Day Cup clash at Lord’s on Sunday, when Gloucestershire come to the Home of Cricket.
Having performed so admirably with the bat against Sussex at Lord’s on Thursday, posting 341 off their 50 overs, the highest score of the competition to date, and the joint third highest List-A total ever by Middlesex, James Franklin’s side were left frustrated by the weather as persistent rain which fell at the start of Sussex's innings forced the game to be abandoned. Despite this disappointment, Middlesex will head into Sunday’s encounter against Gloucestershire high in confidence, hoping that a repeat performance will see them secure two points and their first win of the competition.
Gloucestershire’s opening encounter, in stark contrast, saw them crucially lose early wickets in their 251-run chase against Glamorgan and left them unable to recover from 32 for 3, ultimately falling 18 runs short of their victory target. Michael Klinger, Gloucestershire’s captain commented: “We couldn’t be too critical of the boys for making errors on Thursday having come straight off a hard four-day game with only one day’s preparation for the first match and everyone was in the same boat. We now have to scrap some wins over the next few games so that we are competitive at the end of the group stages.”
Gloucestershire also name an unchanged squad for Sunday's match at Lord’s, with Kieran Noema-Barnett and Craig Miles again included, although they didn’t feature against Glamorgan, whilst wicket-keeper Phil Mustard is set to reach the notable milestone of playing 200 List A matches in his career – 198 of them for Durham before his move to Gloucestershire last summer.
Last season’s Royal London One-Day Cup meeting between the two sides saw Paul Stirling smash an impressive hundred at the Brightside Ground, hitting 125 off just 102 balls, as Middlesex secured a seven 7 wickets victory. Toby Roland-Jones (3 for 36) and James Fuller (2 for 45) both shone with the ball.
With Stirling (71), Franklin (62) and John Simpson (82*) all hitting half-centuries, Ryan Higgins hitting an impressive unbeaten 48 off just 23 balls, and Adam Voges chipping in with an important 40 against Sussex, there’s no shortage of runs and confidence in the Middlesex batting line-up.
In the bowling ranks Steven Finn, Toby Roland-Jones and Tom Helm led the pace attack against Sussex, and with the support of left-arm seamer Franklin and the spin of Voges, Patel, Stirling and Malan, there’s plenty of penetration and variety within Middlesex’s attack.
Middlesex thirteen-man squad:
James Franklin (capt), Steven Finn, James Fuller, Nick Gubbins, Tom Helm, Ryan Higgins, Dawid Malan, Ravi Patel, Sam Robson, Toby Roland-Jones, John Simpson (wicket-keeper), Paul Stirling & Adam Voges
Gloucestershire thirteen man squad:
Klinger (capt), Cockbain, Dent, Howell, Liddle, Miles, Mustard (wicket-keeper), Noema-Barnett, Norwell, Smith, J. Taylor, M. Taylor & van Buuren
