Middlesex CCC Match Preview - 11/7/21

The Running Foxes head to Merchant Taylor’s School in their final 2021 LV= County Championship Group Two fixture, to take on Middlesex CCC who occupy the bottom spot.

There are plenty of permutations that can unfold following the conclusion of the final Group stage game week which will all factor in which division County will be placed in. These can be found HERE.

Leicestershire head into the fixture on the back of a Club record eighth wicket partnership of 203* against Somerset, where first-class bests for Harry Swindells (171*) and Ed Barnes (83*) saw Leicestershire through to a hard-fought draw in Taunton.

The hosts, in comparison, head into the clash on the back of a 164-run defeat at the hands of high-flying Gloucestershire CCC, with Steve Eskinazi coming in off a 300-ball 102 in the second innings.

The Season So Far

The Running Foxes (107 points) have a 44 point lead over their hosts, Middlesex CCC (63 points), in advance of the upcoming match with our future status in the group still to be decided.

We are now five unbeaten in the LV= Insurance County Championship following our strong batting display against Somerset in Taunton, where career-bests from Harry Swindells (171*) and Ed Barnes (83*) saw us reach 475-7 in our first innings when the rain ended the match in reply to Somerset’s 461-9 declared. 

The Foxes have now won two, drawn four and lost three from their nine matches, with one of our victories coming against Middlesex in our previous fixture. Our hosts have won one, drawn one and lost seven from their nine matches.

Last Time We Met

The Running Foxes met Middlesex at the end of May at the Uptonsteel County Ground and in a superb chase, picked up a five-wicket victory.

Winning the toss and choosing to bat, our visitors posted 295 all out which needed a recovery from 132-6. John Simpson (95*) led that recovery, although the Middlesex man will be on England duty for the upcoming fixture. Callum Parkinson (3-76) impressed for Leicestershire with the ball in that innings.

Our batting in the first innings was quickly in big trouble, slipping to 42-6 in reply before some lower order resistance from Parkinson (41) and Lewis Hill (39) helped us to 136 - Martin Andersson (4-27) and Ethan Bamber (3-36) doing the damage for Middlesex.

Opposition captain Peter Handscomb declined the option of the follow-on, and in their second innings Middlesex made 218 all out with no player passing fifty. Chris Wright, in a fantastic effort bowling the lion’s share of pace overs, took a magnificent 6-48 to set up a required chase of 378.

A fourth innings chase of 378 is virtually unheard of, but Marcus Harris didn’t get the memo. The Australian hit a stunning 185 to get us close to the winning line, while the Running Foxes skipper Colin Ackermann played a captain’s innings (126*) to get us over the winning line in a chase which will live long in the memory.

The Running Foxes

Harry Swindells has had a real breakthrough season in red ball cricket, with a number of career-bests including two centuries and that stunning 171* last week in Taunton. He’s among six Leicestershire batters to hit tons in red ball cricket this season, with Sam Evans (three), Marcus Harris (three) and Swindells (two) hitting multiple tons. Averaging 47.90 in the Championship this year, Swindells is becoming a young player who is rapidly enhancing his reputation in the game and he will be keen to continue this in the final fixture of Group Two in this match.

Marcus Harris has been a fantastic signing for Leicestershire, with the Middlesex bowlers likely to view him as a key wicket following his 185 against our opposition in the return fixture. Harris, as mentioned above, has hit three tons this year and averages 57.80 in his seven matches so far this season.

Will Davis bowled superbly against Somerset at Taunton, arguably not getting the results that his performance deserved (2-89). While Davis has taken just five wickets in three matches this year, his underlying performances have been much better than this return, and he’s been particularly strong from an economy perspective, conceding 2.83 runs per over, and leads the Running Foxes bowlers in the dot ball percentage charts (78.70%). A Davis five-fer this week would be a suitable reward for his performances this season.

Opposition Players to Watch

Stephen Eskinazi has been in good form with red and white ball this season and having just signed a new contract for our visitors, will be keen to continue his good season. So far in the red ball season, he’s scored 271 runs at an average of 33.87, with one century and one fifty at the time of writing.

New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell has recently joined our opponents and the 30-year-old has impressed of late in Test cricket, having made his debut in November 2019 against England. So far in Test cricket, Mitchell has averaged 58 with the bat, taken one wicket with the ball and averages 38 with the bat in first-class cricket and 30 with the ball - so his all-round threat must not be underestimated.

Leading the wicket-taking charts for Middlesex this year is Ethan Bamber who has taken 32 wickets at a cost of just 22.53 and at a tight economy rate of 2.73. The young right-arm pacer is rapidly enhancing his reputation as one of the best young bowlers in the country and the Running Foxes batters will need to see off the threat of Bamber in order to post a big total.

Leicestershire CCC Squad 

Head Coach Paul Nixon names a 13-man squad with a number of familiar names back in the frame following completion of their COVID-19 self isolation.

Abi Sakande is in the matchday squad for the first time as a Running Foxes after signing in Leicestershire last month.

Leicestershire CCC from 13: Colin Ackermann (C), Hassan Azad, Ed Barnes, Will Davis, Sam Evans, Gavin Griffiths, Marcus Harris, Lewis Hill, Josh Inglis, Ben Mike, Callum Parkinson, Abi Sakande, Harry Swindells (wk)