For Middlesex's final home Vitality Blast clash of the 2021 season, Head Coach Stuart Law, has named a fourteen man squad to face Kent Spitfires at Lord's tomorrow.
His squad includes new signing Varun Chopra, who the Club announced yesterday as a loan signing from Essex. Chopra is likely to feature in tomorrow's clash against Kent, and is available for seven of the Club's Royal London Cup group stage matches, missing just the one encounter, against his parent Club, Essex.
Middlesex head into the clash on the back of an encouraging performance this week against Leicestershire in Northwood, where they secured a confidence boosting 121 run win in the County Championship, although tomorrow sees a return to the short format of the game, with Middlesex looking to finish the group stages with two strong performances in their last two games.
First up are Kent, who come to Lord's tomorrow having already qualified for the knockout stages of the competition, before Law's side then head to Chelmsford on Sunday, to close the competition out with an away trip against an Essex Eagles side who currently sit in sixth place and could grab one of the top four knockout places themselves if results go their way.
In contrast, Middlesex sit bottom of the South Group, and will be hoping to restore some pride before the group stages complete, after a disappointing T20 campaign over the past five weeks.
Middlesex will be missing top scoring Stephen Eskinazi for tomorrow's clash, as the batsman suffered a torn groin muscle this week when batting against Leicestershire. He will be a big miss for Middlesex, although with the experienced Chopra coming in as a replacement, Middlesex will be hopeful the new man continues where Eskinazi left off.
Steven Finn again captains the side, and he has a good blend of youth and experience to call upon, with a well balanced side providing him with plenty of options in the bowling ranks.
Finn Himself leads a five man seam attack, which also includes youngster Blake Cullen, Daryl Mitchell, Martin Andersson and Tom Helm - the latter who returns from a stint away with England, having been named in the England ODI squad that faced Pakistan, whilst Nathan Sowter, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Luke Hollman offer Finn a quality three pronged spin attack.
With the bat Middlesex are strengthened by the return to the side of John Simpson, who comes back to Middlesex having played with distinction in all three of England ODI's against Pakistan and he is expected to slot straight back in.
Middlesex have named the following fourteen man squad to face Kent Spitfires:
Steven Finn (captain)
Martin Andersson
Joe Cracknell
Varun Chopra
Blake Cullen
Josh De Caires
Tom Helm
Max Holden
Luke Hollman
Daryl Mitchell
Sam Robson
John Simpson (wk)
Nathan Sowter
Mujeeb ur Rahman
Middlesex
Kent Spitfires
