Middlesex Head Coach Stuart Law has named a thirteen-man squad for tomorrow's Vitality Blast South Group clash against Sussex at Lord's, where his side must back up their victory over Glamorgan on Sunday with another win to keep their hopes of qualification for the knockout stages alive.
Middlesex's seven wicket win at Radlett last Sunday saw them climb ahead of Hampshire in the South Group table, and they would have had high hopes of backing up that win with another two points the day after when they travelled to the Ageas Bowl to face the side they'd just overtaken, only for heavy rain and a waterlogged outfield to put paid to any hopes they had of fulfilling that plan and building some momentum in the competition.
Tomorrow they come up against a Sussex Sharks side that will be depleted. with seven of the South Coast side's first eleven self-isolating, having been in close contact with one of Sussex's Academy players who has tested positive for Covid-19. Sussex were forced to remove three of their T20 squad to face Kent last night, and once again Ollie Robinson, Delray Rawlins and Henry Crocombe, will all miss out on the Sharks' trip to Lord's.
This presents Stuart Law's side with a terrific opportunity to secure another crucial win in the competition, which would take them to seven points with four games remaining, and if they can put on a performance similar to Sunday's against Glamorgan, they'll have every chance of doing so.
Realistically Middlesex will need to win tomorrow against Sussex and then again in all four of those remaining matches to give themselves any hope of qualification, and even then, with a total of fifteen points, they may ultimately still miss out in a South Group that's looking particularly tight. All Middlesex can do however is focus on securing a win tomorrow first and foremost and then build from there, hoping that the rest of it falls into place.
Stuart Law makes just one change to the squad that was scheduled to play down in Southampton on Monday, and that's the addition of all-rounder Martin Andersson, who comes into the squad and is in contention for his first Blast start of the summer.
Middlesex's thirteen man squad to face Sussex Sharks is as follows:
Steven Finn (c)
Martin Andersson
Joe Cracknell
Blake Cullen
Stephen Eskinazi
Nick Gubbins
Tom Helm
Max Holden
Luke Hollman
Daryl Mitchell
John Simpson (wk)
Nathan Sowter
Mujeeb ur Rahman
Middlesex
Sussex Sharks
