Middlesex have named a squad of thirteen for this week's opening encounter of the 2023 season, led by new four-day Captain, Toby Roland-Jones, who will lead the side out against Essex at Lord's in the opening round of this year's County Championship Division One campaign.
First Team Coach Richard Johnson has plenty of options available on the seam front, having named a five-strong pace attack in the squad, with Roland-Jones, Bamber, Helm, Higgins and Murtagh all fully fit and vying for selection in the starting eleven. Pieter Malan is also named, offering a useful pace-off option with the ball, with Luke Hollman getting the nod as the frontline spinner for the opener, with his inclusion also adding strength to the batting unit, with the young left-hander impressively averaging just short of 35 with the bat last season.
The squad is packed full of batting experience at the top of the order, with openers Sam Robson and Mark Stoneman named alongside South African Malan, and the Club will hope that the three of these will prove to be a formidable and high-scoring top order for Middlesex throughout the coming months.
Stephen Eskinazi is joined by Max Holden and Robbie White for those vying for the middle order places, with the experienced John Simpson wearing the gloves for the opening encounter.
It's been some time since Essex and Middlesex went head to head in the County Championship at Lord's, with the last encounter taking place back in 2017, when Middlesex dominated proceedings only for the visitors to hang on for a draw on the final day when eight wickets down!
Hundreds in that encounter for both Robson and Eskinazi and a knock of 90 from Simpson were the standout performances with the bat, as Middlesex piled on 507 for 7 declared, whilst six wickets in the match for Roland-Jones' were the highlight with the ball.
Middlesex will be hoping for much the same over the coming few days to get their 2023 campaign off to a strong start.
Middlesex's thirteen man squad is as follows:
Middlesex
Essex
