Middlesex are back in Vitality County Championship action once again this week as we travel to Headingley for a crucial clash against Yorkshire that will go a long way towards defining both counties' promotion aspirations this season.
Both sides picked up a vital win in the last round of County Championship matches, and the promotion race is heating up, with the top three sides now separated by just nine points. Sussex lead the way on 153 points, with Middlesex in second place on 147 points, and Yorkshire hot on their heels in third on 144 points.
Captain Toby Roland-Jones led by example and marshalled the side brilliantly at Merchant Taylors’ School in Middlesex's win in the last round, with a true captain's performance, as he took 11 wickets in the match against Northamptonshire to see the visitors defeated by eight wickets on a dramatic final day in Northwood. This was the sixth 10-wicket haul of Roland-Jones’ first-class career and capped a brilliant performance from him and the side.
It was a real team effort as all four seamers took wickets and bowled well as a unit, whilst Sam Robson struck crucial half-centuries in each innings of the match, with Leus du Plooy also notching his seventh half-century of the season in a low-scoring affair in Northwood.
This week sees the return of the Kookaburra ball once again, which will be trialled over the next two games! It will used at Headingley this week and in the next round of matches, when we take on Gloucestershire at Lord’s. This forms part of a trial this season by the England and Wales Cricket Board, who have introduced the Kookaburra ball trial in two phases this year, once earlier in the season, when we witnessed high scoring draws across the country, and again now in the height of the summer, when the hope is that the harder wickets will provide more assistance to the bowlers. Whilst the quicks struggled with the less prominent seam the Kookaburra ball has earlier this season, the batters cashed in, as we hit a record 655 against Glamorgan at Lord's and followed it up with 553 for 2 against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.
In what is such a crucial period of the County Championship season, with three sides vying for promotion and Leicestershire below waiting to pounce should any of the top three falter, we'll know in two weeks' time whether this latest trial proves any more successful that what we witnessed in the early season trial. In such a tightly congested table, with so little separating the sides, every point will be crucial, and Middlesex will be hoping that another strong performance from our seam unit could prove to be the difference.
The Vitality County Championship Division Two table ahead of this week's round of matches looks as follows:
| TEAM | P | W | D | T | L | A | BAT | BOWL | ADJ | PTS |
| SUSSEX | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 28 | -3 | 153 |
| MIDDLESEX | 10 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 24 | 0 | 147 |
| YORKSHIRE | 10 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 30 | 0 | 144 |
| LEICESTERSHIRE | 10 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 22 | 0 | 128 |
| GLOUCESTERSHIRE | 10 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 22 | 0 | 119 |
| GLAMORGAN | 10 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 23 | 0 | 111 |
| DERBYSHIRE | 10 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 20 | -1 | 101 |
| NORTHAMPTONSHIRE | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 25 | 0 | 100 |
In the last round, our hosts this week, Yorkshire, defeated Division Two leaders Sussex, by four wickets at North Marine Road in Scarborough, tightening up the top of the table and making our win against Northamptonshire at Northwood all the more vital.
Much like in our game, Yorkshire’s seamers impressed, dismissing Sussex for 189 in the first innings and then 239 in the second – with Ben Coad being the best of them, taking 5 for 69 in the second innings. With the bat, Will Luxton (59) and Jonny Bairstow (57) both hit half-centuries.
Men’s First Team Coach, Richard Johnson, has kept his options open for this one, selecting sixteen players to travel up the M1.
The seam attack is boosted by the return of Ryan Higgins, who comes back into the squad having missed out on the last match due to a knee injury. He is named alongside Roland-Jones, Martin Andersson, Ethan Bamber, Henry Brookes, Noah Cornwell and Tom Helm, giving Johnson plenty of options on the pace front. Spin options come from Josh De Caires, du Plooy, Nathan Fernandes, Luke Hollman, and Sam Robson if needed, which again gives Johnson plenty of flexibility in selection, dependant on what surface our hosts prepare this week.
A number of the sixteen named will leave Middlesex's Second Eleven Championship clash against Worcestershire at Radlett to join up with the rest of the travelling group.
MIDDLESEX HAVE NAMED THE FOLLOWING SQUAD TO FACE YORKSHIRE:
If you are not travelling up north this week, a live stream produced by our hosts will be available via the Middlesex website.
Yorkshire
Middlesex
