Squad announcement and preview for Kent One-Day Cup clash at Radlett
Middlesex Cricket return to Radlett Cricket Club tomorrow looking to make amends for an under-par performance there on Thursday against Essex, where they went down by six wickets to the Eagles.
Head Coach Richard Scott has added spinner Nathan Sowter to the squad that faced Essex, naming fourteen for the visit of Kent on Sunday. The squad includes paceman Tom Helm, who has suffered no ill effects from a painful blow he took to the knee when Essex’s Dan Lawrence smashed a drive back at him on Thursday.
Under the new captaincy regime of Steven Finn and John Simpson the Seaxes did themselves no favours in the field against Essex, dropping key chances in the visitors’ innings, which were duly punished by man of the match Tom Westley, who rode his luck to post his first century of the season.
Batting first Middlesex got off to a flying start with Gubbins and Eskinazi at the crease, although after a promising start, which saw the openers put on 79 for the first wicket at almost seven an over, they lost wickets in clusters and struggled to put together a meaningful partnership - restricting any momentum in the innings. A total upwards of 280 plus looked to be par, although the hosts could only muster 250 as a target – with a half century for Gubbins and a useful 45 from Eoin Morgan the high points of the hosts’ innings.
Despite an early wicket for Tom Helm, who saw off Adam Wheater in just the second over, Middlesex were unable to make the most of the opportunities which presented themselves in the field, as Westley cashed in with Chopra, putting on 153 for the second wicket. When Westley finally fell to Ravi Patel for 134 the damage had long been done and despite Patel picking up two more late wickets, the visitors cruised to victory with over seven overs spare.
Middlesex’s opponents on Sunday come in the form of Kent, who themselves also suffered a heavy defeat in their opening encounter, going down by seven wickets to Sussex in Hove.
Kent had a fine 90 from Daniel Bell-Drummond to thank for helping them post some sort of a target for Sussex to chase, although his innings was the only high note for the Spitfires, with only one other batsman, Alex Blake, making double figures in their total of 188.
Half centuries in the Sussex chase for Luke Wells and Ben Brown saw the Sharks coast to their victory target with over ten overs spare to open their Royal London One-Day Cup account with a victory.
With both Middlesex and Kent looking to reverse their results from their opening day clashes, tomorrow’s clash at Radlett looks set to be an exciting encounter.
Middlesex will be hoping for a repeat of their victory over Kent at Radlett three years ago, when half centuries from James Franklin and Nick Gubbins saw Middlesex run out winners by an 87-run margin. A repeat of that tomorrow will be just the tonic the side needs ahead of three consecutive away clashes next week at Glamorgan, Sussex and Somerset, before they return home to face Hampshire at Merchant Taylors’ School a week on Wednesday.
The game gets underway at 11am tomorrow at Cobden Hill, and with the weather set to be in the early twenties, with bright sunshine forecast all day, a large crowd is expected.
Middlesex name the following fourteen-man squad for the clash against Kent…
Steven Finn (captain)
Tom Barber
Hilton Cartwright
Stephen Eskinazi
James Franklin
Nick Gubbins
James Harris
Tom Helm
Max Holden
Eoin Morgan
Ravi Patel
John Simpson (wicket-keeper)
Nathan Sowter
Paul Stirling
Middlesex
Kent
