Middlesex head to the East Midlands for our fourth Rothesay County Championship encounter of the season, where we'll take on Derbyshire at the County Ground over the next four days.
We have named a squad of 13 for the trip, which is unchanged from the 13 that were named to face Glamorgan last week at Lord's.
Sam Robson, misses out once again, on paternity duty, following the arrival of his first child.
Last week against Glamorgan, Middlesex's plans with both bat and ball came together perfectly at the Home of Cricket, as the side produced a dominant display that proved too good for Glamorgan and saw us secure our first win of the season and leap to fourth place in the Division Two table, thanks to a nine wicket victory and 21 points taken from the game.
It was an outstanding performance and a thoroughly deserved win, and we'll head to Derby with confidence high, looking to back up that display with another strong showing this week as we target back to back wins..
Dane Paterson had a debut to remember at Lord's and made an immediate impact, bowling with pace and menace throughout, picking up four Glamorgan wickets on his first appearance for the Club. Zafar Gohar matched his efforts, picking up four wickets and continuing his terrific start to life as a Middlesex player, however it was skipper Toby Roland-Jones who stole the show, picking up six wickets and leading his side to victory.
With the bat, there were positives too, as runs were spread around throughout the line-up. Max Holden maintained his brilliant early season form, hitting another century and becoming the leading run-scorer in Division Two in the process. Nathan Fernandes notched his first half-century of the season, hitting 58, with his opening partner Stephen Eskinazi chipping in with a solid 39. Leus du Plooy got into the runs, and found the form we know he's capable of, hitting a fine 89, whilst Ben Geddes notched his third half-century in as many games for Middlesex - hitting 83.
This week's opponents, Derbyshire, currently sit one place above Middlesex, in third, thirteen points ahead of Middlesex, and they head into the clash unbeaten, having won one and drawn two of their opening three fixtures this year.
Their season got off to a flyer with a convincing nine wicket victory over Gloucestershire in Derby, before securing draws with both Leicestershire away and Northamptonshire at home.
Left-armer Luis Reece has been Derbyshire's biggest threat with the ball to date, picking up fifteen wickets in their three matches, whilst both Jack Morley and New Zealander Blair Tickner have seven wickets apiece. With the bat it's the evergreen Wayne Madsen that's led the way, as consistent as ever, with 387 runs at an average of 96.75, whilst Australian left-hander Caleb Jewell isn't too far behind, with 355 runs at 71.00.
With Middlesex looking to secure back to back victories from the trip to Derby this week to maintain their winning ways, and Derbyshire looking to continue their unbeaten start to the season, the next four days promise to be a gripping contest.
Middlesex have named the following squad of 13 for this week’s encounter:
Our hosts this week will be providing a stream of the match, which you'll be able to watch on the Middlesex website.
Here's to another strong performance from Middlesex this week.
Derbyshire
Middlesex
