Middlesex First Team Coach, Richard Johnson, has named a squad of fourteen to take on Sussex this week at Lord's, in round ten of the LV= Insurance County Championship.
The squad is finally boosted by the arrival of South African batter Pieter Malan, who after an infuriating wait for visa clearance to enter the UK, finally arrived in London last week and trained with the squad yesterday and this morning.
The top order batter will add quality and experience to the Middlesex order, with youngster Jack Davies taking a break from first team duties this week to make way for the overseas international signing, who slots straight into the squad.
Stephen Eskinazi also returns to Middlesex duty and is named in the fourteen strong Middlesex squad, fresh from his heroics in an England shirt last week, when he hit back to back half centuries for the Lions against South Africa in Taunton and Worcester.
Also named in the squad again is Indian International paceman, Umesh Yadav, who settled into the side well last week when making his debut against Worcestershire in Northwood and picking up two wickets on his maiden appearance for the Club.
Middlesex must pick themselves up after the disappointment of a second defeat of their Championship campaign in that game at Merchant Taylors' School, as despite getting themselves into a position to push for victory, they were undone by a brilliant knock from the visitors' opener Ed Pollock, who smashed a century off 67 balls to take his side to the winning post, leaving Middlesex shell-shocked and ruing an off day for their normally reliable seam unit.
Despite the loss, a draw between Nottinghamshire and Glamorgan, and Derbyshire's failure to beat Durham, saw Middlesex remain in second place in the table, and it's all to play for in the final five matches of the Championship season, with any one of five sides still in the hunt for promotion to the top flight of the structure.
Just 35 points now separates Nottinghamshire in top spot to Derbyshire in fifth, with Middlesex trailing the league leaders by 21 points. Last week's loss certainly puts some pressure on Middlesex to chase a victory in this week's clash and get back to winning ways, and they'll be going up against a Sussex side who have just one win to their name this term and sit second bottom of the Division Two table.
Steven Finn is named in the visitors' squad, and he'll be keen to make a start on his return to Lord's and will be looking to add to the seven Championship wickets he has picked up in the four appearances he has made for the Martlets since joining them this season.
With Derbyshire hosting Nottinghamshire this week, the table could see significant movement at the top if results go in Middlesex's favour, and a victory this week would see Johnson's side put themselves in a great position going into next week's trip to Durham, to stamp some authority at the top of the table, before the four-day competition takes a break to make way for the Royal London Cup and Hundred throughout August.
With just three games remaining after the white-ball break, the next two four-day games could well prove pivotal in how the Division Two table ends up.
Middlesex have named the following fourteen-man squad for the clash against Sussex this week:
Middlesex
Sussex
