Middlesex CCC

We have a Met Office forecast specifically for the County ground.

[www.metoffice.gov.uk]

Could easily change between now and the start, but at the moment all looks set fair.

I guess Eskinazi comes in for White, and if Finn is fit I guess Helm will be the unlucky one.

Aas we saw v Northants, if it is a seamers paradise, four is all you need, so there is no point going in with five of them, even in favourable conditions, so I guess Rayner keeps his place (unless you want White for Rayner).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 25/04/2018 10:58 by BarmierKev.

Chunky

Also, Cartwright looked a more capable bowler than his career figures suggested and took one of the key wickets.

Tom Barber appears to be pretty highly rated so ought to get a go some time. Tom Helm wasted a lot of deliveries when he got on yesterday, though bowled some good ones once he got his radar going. The pitch didn't really suit him or TRJ (and perhaps not Barber if he had played?), I thought, which had me a bit worried that Northants might put a partnership together and tire Murtagh and Harris out. Netwon and Wakely (the well known brewers) looked as if they might be doing so at one stage but Newton rather gave it away.


Adelaide

Indeed he did Adelaide. Slashed outside the off stump.

If it's a seamer's pitch is there any point in playing Rayner? Perhaps an opportunity to play 6 batsmen, Simpson at 7 and 4 bowlers, which should be sufficient with a few overs from Cartwright?

On some seamer's pitches the slip cordon would see far more action than they did during this match. Ollie's slip catching is worth a few runs. Plus (though Ollie probably hates seeing this said) there are occasions when the over rate simply has to be increased.

With the over rate apparently -2 at lunch (or shortly before) I did wonder whether bowling them out as quickly as we did might leave the over rate in trouble. Just imagine a crucial last match where the bowling team needs all the points to overtake the batting team. Six wickets down, over rate -2, next four batsman make sure they get out quickly and bingo! Batting side loses more heavily but stays in front. You can get messed up without an arrow in sight. Of course the answer is not to let the rate slip in the first place but the slippage from OK to -2 seemed to happen very quickly on Sunday.


Adelaide

Oh, and do Derbyshire do live streaming?


Adelaide

I don't know for certain, Adelaide, but it is rather encouraging that the Derbyshire ccc layout is now identical to ours, so maybe that is an indication there could be.

[cricket.derbyshireccc.com]

According to this page [cricket.derbyshireccc.com] they have a live stream of "selected home fixtures" this season. Fingers crossed, I suppose.

I wonder if all the live streaming is another cunning plot, as it may encourage more people to watch online rather than physically go to the game?

On the other hand, it could be seen as a 'positive' as in 'only 1.500 people went to the days play, but another 8.000 were watching online, so the interest is there'.

Hoping to do the first two days of this game...I'd expect largely the same side but Eski for White and perhaps Finn coming in for Helm. Any news on when Gubbins is back?

They were saying 'late April' so maybe 27 April against Glamorgan, but he might have a warm up game for seconds first, so maybe May 4th v Sussex.

I think there is some merit in the idea of leaving out Ollie Rayner if it is expected that there may be little requirement to bowl some overs of spin, especially as Middlesex’s side is likely to include Max Holden and Paul Stirling, who can both turn their arm in the event of the pitch taking spin after all or if when our over rate goes into the red. I doubt we will go down this road, but if do, then it would be interesting to see whether we would select an extra batsman or a fifth fast bowler.

Eoin Morgan has spoken to our official website about various things.

Cheers Chunky!

Middlesex have decided to field.

Robson* Holden White Cartwright Stirling Simpson+ Harris Roland-Jones Rayner Helm Murtagh



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 20/04/2018 11:15 by Patsy_Hendren.

Derbyshire have confirmed that this will be their first home match which they will stream live, although they are not in a position to synchronise their streams with BBC commentary until later in the season.

Richard Johnson has spoken to Middlesex’s official website about the 10-45 he took in this fixture in 1994.

Predictably, after one warm day,where we went directly from winter to summer, April is now going to be a scorcher with plenty of sun cream required.

This is qualified by forecasts of smog arriving from the direction of the EU.

Overall good news for those going to Derby, with only at the mo, murk being shown for Sunday. The other three days look clear.

Squad announced- Franklin is back in the frame-

Robson, Cartwright, Franklin, Harris, Helm, Holden, Murtagh, Rayner, Roland-Jones, Scott, Simpson, Stirling, White.

Bit concerned Eski isn't back. I assumed 'unwell' probably meant a 48 hour stomach bug. Hope it is nothing serious.

[www.middlesexccc.com]

I see it is just described as a 'virus' so hopefully back soon.

One interesting piece from Derbyshire site is we didn't play them in the championship until 1929. Until that point, counties arranged fixtures between themselves, and we obviously couldn't see the point!

Interesting, perhaps Franklin will replace Rayner?

Derbyshire squad here

Derbyshire squad