Middlesex First Team Coach, Richard Johnson, has named a fourteen-man squad for tomorrow's finale to their Royal London Cup Group A campaign, as the side head into a tie with Sussex in Hove knowing that victory will seal Middlesex a home-semi final place, whereas defeat could see them dumped out of the competition altogether.
Mathematically, the calculations aren't that simple, as whilst a win for Middlesex would take their tally to 12 points and technically secure them top spot and a home semi-final place, Leicestershire could also reach 12 points with a win, however with Middlesex's net run rate so far superior to the Foxes, the chances of Leicestershire overturning that run rate even with a win on the final day of the group stage is close to impossible.
It is all set for an incredible climax to Group A, with an many of six sides still capable of qualifying for the knockout stages of the competition, so literally anything could happen on what will be a gripping day of fifty-over cricket tomorrow.
After the completion of the penultimate round of matches in Group A yesterday, which saw Warwickshire secure a win against Durham, and Middlesex's five game winning run come to an end at the hands of Gloucestershire, the table has condensed even further, with amazingly just two points now separating the top six sides.
Should Middlesex secure the win they need, the home semi-final would be played at Radlett on Tuesday 30th August, however things get extremely complicated should they lose.
With Sussex, Middlesex, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire all still in the chase, and the latter three of those sides, currently sitting in fourth, fifth and sixth places in Group A, and all playing the three sides at the bottom of the table, defeat for Middlesex would leave them relying on the bottom three doing them a favour on the final day to assist their passage into the knockout stage of the competition.
Gloucestershire are played out, with 10 points from their 8 matches, and the four remaining games tomorrow are:
Here is the Group A table as it stands ahead of tomorrow's fixtures...
| Position | County | Played | Won | Lost | Tied | Abandoned | Net Run Rate | Points |
| 1 | Sussex | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.734 | 10 |
| 2 | Middlesex | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.825 | 10 |
| 3 | Gloucestershire | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.027 | 10 |
| 4 | Leicestershire | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -0.025 | 10 |
| 5 | Warwickshire | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -0.379 | 9 |
| 6 | Nottinghamshire | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.978 | 8 |
| 7 | Surrey | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | -0.765 | 5 |
| 8 | Durham | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.700 | 0 |
| 9 | Somerset | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.982 | 0 |
A Middlesex defeat could yet still see them qualifying, should results elsewhere go their way, although a Middlesex loss and a win for any two of Leicestershire, Warwickshire or Nottinghamshire would see the Seaxes' campaign come to a disappointing end.
All Middlesex can do is head to Sussex and set their sights on securing the win that they need, although they'll be heading to Hove with one enforced change to the squad that was named to face Gloucestershire yesterday, as Indian International Umesh Yadav, who left the field of play to rest a niggle in his thigh yesterday and didn't complete his overs, will not travel with the squad as he continues to recover from his thigh complaint and will miss the crucial clash tomorrow.
Young left-arm seamer Ishaan Kaushal comes into the squad to replace Yadav, and either he of veteran Tim Murtagh could be in line to make their first appearance this year in the competition.
Against Gloucestershire at Radlett yesterday Middlesex were undone by a solid all-round performance from visitors Gloucestershire, who were deserving of the victory that took them to third place in the table. Having now finished their group matches, they can merely sit back and hope that all three of Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire lose tomorrow, or they will be out of the competition.
Sussex, as league leaders, of course pose plenty of threat to Middlesex, and the form they've been in of late has been equal to Middlesex's, winning five of their last six Royal London Cup encounters, so tomorrow's top of the table clash is perhaps a fitting end to the campaign with the group's two form sides going head-to head.
It's easy to see why both counties top the Group A table, with both Sussex and Middlesex having players highly ranked in the competition's leading performers charts to this point of the campaign. Sussex have Cheteshwar Pujara (482 runs at 96.40) and Ali Orr (435 runs at 62.14) to thank largely for their runs this term, with both batters currently sitting inside the top five run scorers in the competition to date, in second and fifth place respectively, whilst Middlesex have skipper Stephen Eskinazi (645 runs at 107.50) currently the competition's leading run scorer, and Sam Robson (448 runs at 74.66) currently lying in third place, with the latter in stunning from, with two centuries and two half centuries in his last four knocks.
With the ball Ari Karvelas leads the way for Sussex with 18 wickets at 15.22 - currently the competition's leading wicket-taker, whilst Middlesex's Umesh Yadav, with 16 at 20.25 is currently in joint second place.
Yadav being side-lined tomorrow, will be a big miss for Middlesex as their Indian paceman has been in blistering form this summer, however his absence will open the door for others to step up to make their mark, with Kaushal joining a seam attack of Toby Greatwood, Max Harris, Martin Andersson and Murtagh, with a spin attack spearheaded by Luke Hollman and Thilan Walallawita with support coming from Robson.
It promises to be a nervy day down in Hove tomorrow, as whilst the focus will be firmly set on getting the job done ourselves, there'll no doubt be some nervous looks elsewhere to keep abreast of developments across the other Group A fixtures around the country.
Middlesex's fourteen-man squad for tomorrow is as follows:
Sussex Sharks
Middlesex
