MIDDLESEX NAME FOURTEEN MAN SQUAD FOR OPENING BOB WILLIS TROPHY CLASH
Head Coach Stuart Law has named a fourteen-man squad ahead of the delayed opening day of the first-class season tomorrow, as Middlesex head south of the river to take on London rivals Surrey.
In what is an extremely testing South group, with Middlesex pitched against four Division One sides, in Surrey, Essex, Kent and Hampshire, and also a strong Sussex outfit, Middlesex will be looking to make a strong start against Surrey, ahead of four other tough four-day encounters to come.
They head into the encounter at the Kia Oval having come through three warm-up clashes as part of an intensive pre-season training schedule, which involved an intra-club game last week at Radlett, and back to back two days warm-up matches this week against Surrey and Northants away.
Stuart Law will be heartened by the positives he can take from those warm-up matches, with several of his batsmen spending good time at the crease, with hundreds for both Holden and Gubbins, and with his bowlers benefitting from an increase in workloads ahead of what will be a gruelling few weeks for the pacemen in the height of the summer.
Law names a balanced side for this encounter, with five seamers included, two frontline spinners and a number of in-form batsmen to select from.
Senior paceman Steven Finn and youngster Ethan Bamber miss out on the trip to the Oval, with Cummins, Roland-Jones, Helm, Harris and Murtagh selected as the pace battery for the opener, with support from Martin Andersson, whilst Sowter and left-armer Walallawita provide the spin options.
Before the match begins, both sets of players will take a knee in solidarity with anti-racism movements in the UK and around the world and not for any political organisation. There is no room for racism in cricket, sport or the wider community.
Surrey will be live streaming the encounter, which will be available to view via the Middlesex website home page from 10.55am tomorrow.
Stuart Law has named the following fourteen-man squad for the Oval encounter…
Stephen Eskinazi (c)
Martin Andersson
Miguel Cummins
Nick Gubbins
James Harris
Tom Helm
Max Holden
Tom Lace
Tim Murtagh
Sam Robson
Toby Roland-Jones
John Simpson (+)
Nathan Sowter
Thilan Walallawita
Surrey
Middlesex
