Middlesex are back in first-class action tomorrow as Somerset visit Lord’s in the LV= Insurance County Championship.
The Seaxes are looking to bounce back from their nine-wicket defeat at the hands of London rivals, Surrey, last weekend at the Kia Oval.
In the wake of the Surrey defeat there was some concern over the fitness of both Pieter Malan and Ryan Higgins, after the former had to bat with a runner in Middlesex second innings with a sore knee, and the latter suffered a blow to the forearm when batting on the final day. Both have recovered well and are named in the squad to face Somerset this week, and a late call will be made by the medical team, who will assess their fitness levels ahead of the toss tomorrow morning.
With the Vitality Blast returning next week, Middlesex will be looking to end this block of four-day fixtures on a high and register their third win of the campaign to go into the change of formats nicely positioned in the top half of the Division One table.
Ethan Bamber will be looking to continue his form with the ball and Sam Robson will be hoping that he can build on the half-century he scored last week - his first of the summer.
As for the visitors, well, they drew their last encounter with Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford after they batted out the final day instead of trying to force a result.
Somerset are still searching for their first victory of the 2023 campaign, having drawn four and lost one of their opening five encounters. They sit in eighth position in the league , on 44 points, trailing Middlesex by just 4 points.
The in-form batter for Somerset and one to watch this is week is young James Rew. The 19-year-old notched 105 and 118 not out in Manchester. His other century came in the reverse fixture at the Cooper Associates County Ground at the end of April.
The visitors' bowling attack boasts international-quality seamers in Matt Henry, Peter Siddle and Lewis Gregory. Scottish international, Josh Davey, and Jack Brooks have bean loaned to Leicestershire and Worcestershire respectively so will not feature for Somerset this week.
Men’s First Team Coach, Richard Johnson, has named an unchanged squad of 14 for this match.
Middlesex squad to face Somerset:
Toby Roland-Jones (C)
Martin Andersson
Ethan Bamber
Stephen Eskinazi
Tom Helm
Ryan Higgins
Max Holden
Luke Hollman
Pieter Malan
Tim Murtagh
Sam Robson
John Simpson
Mark Stoneman
Robbie White
Middlesex
Somerset
