An unchanged squad of fourteen will return home from two away matches in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, as Richard Johnson names the same squad of players to face Northamptonshire tomorrow at Radlett Cricket Club.
We went down to our second consecutive loss in the competition yesterday, when we were undone by Derbyshire at the County Ground in Derby, who inflicted a nine wicket defeat on us.
Much like at New Road last week, the problems lay mainly in the bowling department, as both seamers and spinners alike struggled to make the breakthrough, as for the second game running our opponents piled on more than 200 runs for the opening wicket.
It's a problem that Middlesex will need to put right quickly if we are to get our campaign up and running, as both Worcestershire last Wednesday and Derbyshire yesterday broke their own county records for the opening wicket partnerships in List-A cricket against Middlesex.
Yesterday's, Derbyshire skipper Samit Patel won the toss and elected to bowl first, on a wicket that had a hint of green to it when play got underway. It looked to be the right call, with the home skipper hoping his bowling unit could extract as much help as possible from the surface early on - and they duly delivered, as pace and bounce were evident from ball one.
It was a torrid time for the Middlesex batters early on, as both Zac Chappell and Sam Conners got the ball moving and lifting early, making life difficult for the Middlesex top order, with both Harry Moore and Daryn Dupavillon continuing the barrage with good pace and bounce.
A patient and hard fought half-century for opener Joe Cracknell was Middlesex's highest score in an innings of 266, with Martin Andersson (46), Luke Hollman (38), and Sam Robson (32) also weighing in with important runs.
Derbyshire had clearly got the best out of the wicket early on, as four hours of sunshine negated the lively conditions that the Derbyshire bowlers had enjoyed, and both batting and bowling looked a very different proposition in the second half of the game. Middlesex had a pace attack of Noah Cornwell, Blake Cullen, Ethan Bamber, and Martin Andersson to call upon, however none of them were able to emulate the hosts' attack and break the Derbyshire opening stand of 216, with Luis Reece the only wicket to fall, for 88, on what was a disappointing afternoon in Derby
Against Northamptonshire Middlesex will need to shake off the disappointment of their opening two games and try to figure out a way to get the first win of our campaign on the board and get the campaign on the right track.
Tomorrow's opponents have started their fifty-over campaign in the same manner as Middlesex, going down to back to back defeats, to Derbyshire and Hampshire in the opening two rounds, so tomorrow at Radlett something has to give, with both sides looking to get their campaigns up and running.
Against Derbyshire, Northants threw away a golden opportunity to open their account, reducing Derbyshire to 79 for 7 when chasing Northants' total of 235. A remarkable recovery from the Derbyshire tail end saw them recover to take the points, which will have left the Northamptonshire side wondering what more they could have done.
Again Hampshire in their second encounter, Hampshire were by far the dominant force, hitting 285 when batting first, before bowling out Northants for just 214 inside 44 overs to secure a 71 run victory.
There is plenty of scope for improvement by both sides ahead of tomorrow's clash, and it promises to be a closely fought and finely balanced game.
The last time the two sides met in List-A cricket was all the way back in 2010, some fourteen years ago in the Clydesdale Bank 40, when honours were shared, with Middlesex winning by seven wickets in Northampton and Northants winning by 49 runs at Lord's.
Both sides will be desperate to get their first win of the campaign under their belts tomorrow, to take some momentum into their next clash and build a run, and Middlesex will be hoping that tomorrow, on home soil, with knowledge of the small Radlett ground and its conditions, gives them an advantage over a side who've yet to play at Radlett in competitive cricket.
Middlesex have named the following fourteen-man squad for tomorrow's match, which gets underway at 11am.
You'll be able to watch a live stream of the game, broadcast by Middlesex, and available to view on our website in the match centre or direct on the Club's YouTube channel.
Remember, you can purchase admission at the gate tomorrow, with tickets costs £20 for adults, £10 for over 65s and £5 for under 16s.
We hope to see you at Radlett tomorrow.
Middlesex
Northamptonshire Steelbacks
