Middlesex First Team Coach Richard Johnson has named a squad of thirteen to take on London rivals Surrey in the Vitality Blast at the Kia Oval tomorrow night, in a game starting at 6.30pm, which will be played out in front of the live Sky Cricket cameras.
The thirteen named were all included in the fifteen-man squad that faced Essex Eagles last Sunday at Lord's, with both Toby Roland-Jones and Pieter Malan missing out on tomorrow's trip south of the river to face Surrey.
That last clash against Essex ended prematurely, as heavy rain fell at Lord's on Sunday, giving the umpires no option but to take the players off the field early and abandon the game after just 12.3 overs of Middlesex's reply, with the Eagles being declared winners by a margin of 22 runs via the DLS method.
Tomorrow's clash against Surrey is the reverse fixture of Middlesex's opening match of the 2023 campaign when Surrey were triumphant at Lord's, securing victory by the margin of 73 runs. It was the Curran brothers who shone for the visitors that night, with both Sam and Tom hitting half centuries in Surrey's winning total of 199 for 6, before Middlesex were dismissed for 126 after starting well in reply having hit 61 off the six powerplay overs.
Since that opening night victory, Surrey have gone on to win eight of their opening eleven matches in the competition, and sit joint top of the South Group table alongside Somerset on 16 points, with qualification for the knockout places firmly in their sights. Their latest victory came just last night, with a comprehensive win against Glamorgan at the Oval, where they beat the Welshmen by 81 runs to take a step closer to guaranteeing their qualification for the quarter finals in a fortnight's time.
Runs have been spread throughout the Surrey line up, although Laurie Evans, Will Jacks and Sam Curran have led the way with the bat this term, all with over 300 runs to their names, Evans with 396 at 39.60, Jacks with 372 at 37.20, and Curran with 318 at 28.90. Middlesex by comparison have two batters who have surpassed 300 runs to this point, Max Holden with 320 at 40.00 and Stephen Eskinazi with 310 at 34.44. In terms of the total runs scored by the two sides from the games they've played, it's Surrey who have the edge, with 1,979 runs from 11 games, compared to Middlesex's 1,539 from 10 - with Surrey averaging 179 runs per innings compared to Middlesex's 153.
It's with the ball that the differences between the two sides are more telling however, with Surrey having taken 73 wickets in their opening eleven games, compared to Middlesex's 46 from 10. Surrey have had the experience and quality of Sunil Narine to call upon again this term, with the Trinidadian leading the way with 16 wickets at an average of 18.68. He has been well supported by Sam Curran with 13, Gus Atkinson with 11, and Will Jacks with 10. Middlesex have three bowlers leading the way on 8 wickets - Martin Andersson, Blake Cullen and Tom Helm, although at economy rates somewhat higher than those of the Surrey bowling line up.
Middlesex will have to call upon all the positives from their performances which have seen improvements on the batting front, with the side playing with more freedom and an attacking mindset, and they'll need to work hard on delivering a bowling performance that restricts any Surrey batting onslaught, especially with the home side hitting their highest ever T20 total at the Oval last night, with 238 against Glamorgan.
With Sky Cricket covering the game live tomorrow night, Surrey are unable to produce a live stream of the game, which will only be available to watch live on Sky's channels. Middlesex will be uploading highlights of the match on Friday morning however on its website and social media channels.
Middlesex's thirteen-man squad for the London derby clash is as follows:
Surrey
Middlesex
