MIDDLESEX NAME UNCHANGED SQUAD FOR ESSEX VITALITY BLAST CLASH AT LORD’S
Middlesex Cricket Head Coach Stuart Law has named an unchanged fifteen-man squad for tomorrow evening’s Vitality Blast clash against Essex Eagles at Lord’s.
Law keeps faith in the side that were undone by Sussex at Lord’s last night in a three-wicket defeat largely inspired by the visitors’ South African all-rounder, David Wiese.
Stephen Eskinazi and John Simpson were in the runs last night for Middlesex, with the former hitting 79 off 48 balls, to follow the 84 he hit against Kent three days earlier, and the latter 46 off 31, in the home sides’ total of 165 for 6.
A great start again with the bat saw Middlesex rack up 58 in their opening powerplay, before some tight and tidy spin bowling in the middle overs from Sussex applied the brakes to the Middlesex charge and reduced them to an under-par total.
In reply, Sussex were in desperate trouble at 67 for 5 at one stage, before Wiese took control and steered the Sharks to their victory target with four balls to spare.
It was a special night for young leg-spinner Luke Hollman, who made his Middlesex First Eleven debut, picking up 2 for 33 from four impressive overs.
Despite the result, Middlesex can loo forward to tomorrow’s outing with confidence, knowing that Wiese aside, they had the better of Sussex last night for large parts of the game.
Law’s young side, under the captaincy of Steven Finn, looks well balanced, with the addition of Hollman adding even greater variety and options for Finn to pick from in the bowling department. No doubt they will have learned from last night’s experience and take that with them deeper into the competition.
Tom Helm was again magnificent with the ball, bowling with good pace and with great accuracy, Whilst another two wickets for Finn saw him looks threatening all evening. The addition of Miguel Cummins, who was rested last night, would give Finn a real pace battery to attack Essex with tomorrow.
One no result, one tie and one loss are all that Middlesex have to show for their three outings so far, but there are plenty more positives to take from those three performances than the results alone suggest.
Runs for Holden, Eskinazi, Simpson and Gubbins, with useful contributions also coming from Andersson and Lincoln give optimism that there are plenty of runs in the side and batters in form, whilst a myriad of options in a strong pace attack and two frontline spinners in the ranks gives Finn all the variety he needs.
Essex come to Lord’s tomorrow with exactly the same record as Middlesex, and like the home side, are yet to open their account this season. A well-drilled white-ball Essex side are never an easy prospect to face, although having hit their attack for 184 on the opening day of the Blast campaign, Middlesex will be hopeful of notching up another big total at Lord’s tomorrow.
After a rained off no result against Middlesex in the opener, Essex experienced the same drama as Middlesex had the previous evening, when they tied with Surrey at the Oval. The Eagles’ latest outing saw them go down to Hampshire by five wickets at home last night, leaving both of tomorrow’s competitors looking for their first win of the competition. It promises to be a great game!
In another Behind Closed Doors match, starting at 6.15pm, Middlesex will again be live streaming the match on the website, so make sure you tune in and catch all the action from 6pm.
Middlesex have named the following fifteen-man squad for tomorrow’s clash…
Steven Finn (captain)
Martin Andersson
Joe Cracknell,
Blake Cullen
Miguel Cummins
Jack Davies
Stephen Eskinazi
Steven Finn
Nick Gubbins
James Harris
Tom Helm
Max Holden
Luke Hollman
Dan Lincoln
John Simpson (wicket-keeper)
Nathan Sowter
Middlesex
Essex Eagles
