By David Slater
April 17 2004

Now starting his fourth year as Middlesex coach, John Embury has take the club for the lowest parts of the County Championship to being potentially one of the best sides around. On Wednesday 14th he took time out of his schedule to speak to MTWD about the coming season. MTWD: “What are your hopes and ambitions for the coming year?”

JE: “Obviously we want to be very competitive in all competitions. We feel we’re still one or two pieces away of the jigsaw puzzle away from being a championship winning side but that’s not to say we wont be competitive in the Championship or that we couldn’t finish in the top three or even win it. Its just that it will be a little bit tougher for us because we don’t have that top quality spinner. But hopefully we can build on the foundations that have been set the last couple of years in the side evolving and try and strengthen the side in areas and over the next year or so or next winter that we fit those remaining couple of pieces of the jigsaw together and become more of a championship winning side for next year but at the same time trying to win the three other competitions that are of offer as well.”

MTWD: “How do you think we will cope without Andy Strauss?”

JE: “It’s going to be a struggle. Already in our pre-season games we have already felt his absence, in the dressing room, his decision making on the field. That’s not to criticise Owais but I think we miss his strength of character as well. Although he hasn’t been doing the job long, he is getting better at it and getting better very quickly, so yes, his influence will be missed.”

MTWD: “How did you feel about Owais Shah’s captaincy in the early matches?”

JE: “It’s not been too early to say. We’ve played a bit indifferently in the friendlies we’ve played. We played well and won two matches but have been disappointing. One of the pitches was a very poor pitch at Northampton but you have to cope with that and work out where your going to score your runs so that’s something they have to store up and there were certain areas where on Monday, not just with Owais but with the bowlers themselves, where they have to start thinking and not just Owais about their field placing and where they want to bowl the ball and once they become more aware of their own responsibilities, it’s not just releasing the ball it’s setting the fields and bowling to that field so the players have a responsibility to themselves.”

MTWD: “Finally, if Middlesex were to win the County Championship, who’d finish second?”

JE: *Thinks for a few seconds* “Hopefully Surrey” *laughs* “that would be very nice. It will be very tough this year, Lancashire look a very strong side. Sussex have recruited well. They have an EU player in Mohammed Akram and Surrey will obviously be competitive as well so I imagine those three sides will be around those positions again and it’s going to be a bit of a bum fight for fourth, fifth and sixth to avoid relegation. Worcestershire look strong. Kent and Warwickshire look reasonable strong as well. We’re relativity strong, so that only leaves Gloucestershire and Northants to go down. Having said that we all thought Sussex would go down last year and they ended up winning the championship.”

MTWD: “Thank you very much John. Good luck for the season.”

JE: “Thank you”

Curiously, in their first year (2002) in division one, Sussex finished sixth. Will history repeat itself again???