Tomorrow, Middlesex are back in Rothesay County Championship Division Two action again, when we head to Cheltenham College to take on Gloucestershire as part of the famous old Cheltenham Festival of Cricket, with the side having secured our first back-to-back victory in the competition last week, when we backed up an innings victory over Leicestershire with another against Northamptonshire at Merchant Taylors' School.
We have named a squad of 13 for this week's encounter with Gloucestershire, with the side being captained by Leus du Plooy again, who has skippered the side in the last two victories and will lead the side for the remainder of the campaign.
Last time out against Northamptonshire, the squad received a blow when frontline spinner Zafar Gohar left the field for medical treatment early on day three of the match after falling awkwardly in the field, and with him being subsequently diagnosed with a sprained AC joint in his bowling arm he is unavailable for selection for this week's clash.
Against Northamptonshire Middlesex were ruthless in all departments. From the very first ball, when Middlesex's openers Sam Robson and Max Holden got through some testing times to see off the new ball, to the innings that followed, with three centurions and two half-centurions - it was a thoroughly dominant performance with the bat. Holden looked back to his very best, with a quite magnificent knock off 151 balls, Kane Williamson, on his Middlesex first-class debut notched a magnificent century, hitting 114, and skipper Leus du Plooy found some good form and timing to finish unbeaten on 105*. Sam Robson's assured and calm knock of 57 up top and Joe Cracknell's quickfire 73 down the order were just what were needed at the time, which all led to Middlesex posting a commanding total of 625 for 8 declared, with their sights set on only batting once in the game and picking up the 20 wickets they'd need for victory.
With the ball, they were equally as impressive, with the ever dependable Ryan Higgins leading the way and finishing the game with figures of 7 for 105, with Noah Cornwell offering terrific pace and firepower in support, returning match figures of 5 for 111. Three wickets apiece for Toby Roland-Jones (3 for 80) and Tom Helm (3 for 111), plus one apiece for Gohar and Ben Geddes, who took his first ever wicket in red-ball cricket, got the job done for Middlesex.
This win, by an innings and 107 runs, following the win over Leicestershire in our previous clash, by an innings and 127 runs, has seen Middlesex climb up to fifth in the Division Two table, trailing Lancashire in fourth spot by just a point, Derbyshire in third by only 5 points, and Glamorgan in second by 22.
Middlesex will be targeting another victory this week against Gloucestershire, one of the sides they jumped above last week, to further cement their claims for promotion.
Gloucestershire now sit just below us in the table, in sixth place, trailing Middlesex by seven points, and they'll realistically need to get a win themselves this week if they are to mount any late challenge for promotion themselves.
They come into the game having not won in any of their last four games however, after draws with Northamptonshire, Derbyshire and Glamorgan were followed by a nine-wicket defeat last time out to Lancashire.
Both sides will have to contend with the final round of trials with the Kookaburra ball, which traditionally has made victories hard to come by, although on recent evidence, if Middlesex can be anything like the side they were against Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, they'll be confident with ball in hand that they can do what's required.
This week's hosts batting has been led by James Bracey, who has amassed 840 runs at an average of 56.00 to this point of the competition, and he is followed by Cameron Bancroft (738 runs at 46.12), Miles Hammond (700 runs at 38.33), Oliver Price (684 runs at 40.23) and Ben Charlesworth (642 runs at 40.12).
With the ball, their attack has been led by Ajeet Singh Dale, with 25 wickets to his name, and he is followed by Zaman Akhter with 20, Tom Price and Graeme van Buuren with 19 apiece, and Ben Charlesworth with 12.
Middlesex will be looking to replicate their performance from their last two games and target a third win on the bounce, as they look to push towards promotion in the final stages of the campaign.
Middlesex's 13-man squad for this week's game is as follows:
You'll be able to watch a live stream of the game from Cheltenham provided by our hosts this week, which you can view in the Match Centre on the Middlesex website, or direct on the Club's YouTube channel.
Gloucestershire Men
Middlesex Men
