Middlesex First Team Coach, Richard Johnson, has named a fifteen-man squad to face Durham in the last round of LV= Insurance County Championship matches before we take a break from red-ball cricket to focus on the Royal London Cup throughout August.
Middlesex head into the clash off the back of a gruelling four days at Lord's, where they dominated the last two day's of their latest clash against Sussex at Lord's in a push for victory that fell just short as time ran out on them in the game.
The side can take plenty of positives from a battling performance against Sussex however, where the visitors were left clinging on for a draw on the final day. It was a spirited performance from Middlesex, who shook off some early dominance from Sussex in the first half of the game to take control and boss proceedings in the latter stages, narrowly missing out on securing what would have been a magnificent and well deserved victory.
It was the application and positivity shown from the Middlesex side that impressed the most, coming back from conceding over 500 runs in the Sussex first innings, to almost reach parity with the bat and then have the belief and determination to try and go through the Sussex line up again in an attempt to push for the win! It was not to be, but that was most certainly not for the lack of trying.
Tom Helm looked back to his very best, bowling with pace, bounce and movement, picking up nine wickets in the match, whilst with the bat a sixth career first-class century for John Simpson was the standout knock for Middlesex, with the keeper-batsman continuing the fine form he's shown all year, now averaging over 55. A century opening stand from the reliable and experienced pairing of Mark Stoneman and Sam Robson, a half-century on debut for Pieter Malan, who looks to have settled in nicely, and a swashbuckling 85 from Toby Roland-Jones, all added to a solid first innings from a Middlesex batting line-up, which looks more robust and settled as a line-up already with Malan in it.
Whilst the draw with Sussex initially kept Middlesex in second place in the table at the end of proceedings on Friday, with top of the table Nottinghamshire and fifth placed Derbyshire matching their result this week, Glamorgan pulled off a stunning victory of their own, rolling Leicestershire on the final day of their clash, which finished yesterday, to see the Welshmen jump ahead of Middlesex into second place in the table, relegating Middlesex to third spot.
It's the first time all season that Middlesex have been outside of the top two, which makes this week's trip to the Seat Unique Riverside ground even more crucial, as Johnson's side will be hoping to bounce back to winning ways and return to the top two spots ahead of the long break for the fifty-over competition, played alongside the Hundred.
Durham currently sit in sixth place in the table and have one win to their name this season, secured against Glamorgan back in mid May. They have lost just twice, to Nottinghamshire and in this week's reverse fixture at Lord's, where Middlesex secured a six wicket win. Recent form shows them having drawn their last two encounters since Middlesex beat them at the end of May.
With Glamorgan not playing in this week's round of fixtures, Middlesex have the perfect opportunity to apply some pressure and re-establish themselves inside the promotion places by securing a win, and with just three fixtures remaining for Johnson's side in September, after the white-ball break, now is the time to start to build momentum and push themselves into contention.
MIDDLESEX SQUAD OF FIFTEEN FOR CLASH WITH DURHAM:
DIVISION TWO FIXTURES STARTING THIS WEEK:
LV= INSURANCE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION TWO TABLE:
For those not travelling to Durham this week, there will be a live stream of the game available to watch on Durham's YouTube channel, broadcast by the home side, which will also be available to watch in the match centre on the Middlesex website.
Durham Cricket
Middlesex
