It's been a big week for Middlesex Women this week, as the Club unveiled the new squad of 20 players who will compete in this year's newly restructured Women's domestic schedule as a Tier Two side. This season the Women's competitions will mirror the men's - with the women playing in the Women's Vitality Blast and Women's Metro Bank One-Day Cup competitions.
In addition, Middlesex Women will also compete in a newly created knockout competition, the Women's Vitality T20 knockout Cup, when they'll face Kent Women in round one of the competition on Monday 05 May at Radlett.
Before then, the side will play one warm-up friendly clash, a 50-over encounter against Essex Women at Chelmsford tomorrow, in a game that will see Middlesex going up against a side largely derived from the Sunrisers squad that Middlesex used to manage as the lead county for the London and East region in the previous Women's regional domestic structure.
Middlesex's Women's Head Coach Marc Broom, has named a squad of fifteen for the clash, and he will be more than familiar with the vast majority of the opposition tomorrow, as he worked with them alongside Essex Women's Head Coach Andy Tennant as his Assistant Coach with Sunrisers for two years leading up to Essex's takeover of the squad ahead of this season.
Essex Women, now competing as a fully professional Tier One outfit, will provide stiff opposition for Middlesex's Tier Two side, however Broom is keen to give his newly formed squad time out on the park in a competitive environment ahead of the season's opening domestic clash against Kent Women on Sunday 20 April in the Women's Metro Bank One-Day Cup at Radlett.
As announced earlier this week, the Middlesex side will be led by the experienced Saskia Horley, who was named as Captain of the group on Tuesday.
She will Captain a squad of fifteen named by Broom for tomorrow's clash, which has been added to with a talented young off-spinner, Anaya Patel, who currently competes at Under 14 level in Middlesex Girls' Pathway.
If Patel plays any part in the game, and she is likely to, having impressed both the players and the coaches at Middlesex Women, she will become the youngest ever player to represent the Middlesex Women's senior side. Broom will look to ensure all players are actively involved at some point in the friendly warm-up clash, so Patel is likely to set a new Club record for Middlesex tomorrow.
Middlesex's squad of fifteen for tomorrow's game is as follows (with Patel also named as an additional 16th member of the squad):
Tomorrow's game is being played behind closed doors, however you can catch Middlesex Women's first competitive match of the season in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup at Radlett next weekend. Entry is free for all spectators and the game gets underway at 10.30am. It would be amazing to see as many members and supporters at the game as possible to cheer the girls on against Kent.
Check out the launch video we distributed yesterday to announce Middlesex Women in a new era of domestic Women's cricket...
Essex Women
Middlesex Women
