Essex welcome County Champions, Middlesex to The Cloudfm County Ground in the Specsavers County Championship, starting on Monday.
The match will be the final round of Championship matches before the NatWest T20 Blast competition begins on July 7. Essex remain the only unbeaten side in Division One after the emphatic win over Warwickshire last week.
Head Coach, Chris Silverwood is expecting another tough challenge in Divison One, “The win against Warwickshire was very satisfying. We executed our game plan really well and were delighted with the win to keep us at the top of Division One.
“Tomorrow is a new game though and our minds have to be on the challenge ahead. The pink ball is something different, but something we are looking forward to.”, he said.
Essex will have Dan Lawrence and Jamie Porter available for selection again after the pair missed out last week due to England Lions duty, along with the welcomed arrival of Mohammad Amir. The Pakistan bowler will be available for the second half of the 2017 season, replacing the outgoing Neil Wagner as the overseas player and goes straight into the squad fresh from his Champions Trophy winning exploits.
Silverwood said, “Losing Jamie and Dan to England Lions duty was always going to be a blow but I thought the younger lads who stepped up really played their part.
It’s great to have a new face amongst the squad with Amir coming in, and he’s another option with undoubted class in our front-line bowling attack.”
Tom Westley has been named in the squad and if selected, he will only feature for the first two days before joining up with the England Lions on Wednesday for their fixture against South Africa A. Should this situation arise, then a substitute player will take his place in the side for the remainder of the match.
Essex squad to face Middlesex:
Mohammad Amir (5)
Aaron Beard (14) (Chelmsford)
Ravi Bopara (25) (Hainault & Clayhall)
Nick Browne (10) (South Woodford)
Varun Chopra (6) (Ilford)
Alastair Cook (26) (Maldon)
James Foster (7) (WK) (Wanstead)
Simon Harmer (11)
Dan Lawrence (28) (Chingford)
Jamie Porter (44) (Chingford)
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) (C) (Harwich)
Paul Walter (22) (Billericay)
Tom Westley (21) (Mildenhall)
Middlesex squad | James Franklin (C), Nick Compton, Stephen Eskinazi, Steven Finn, Nick Gubbins, James Harris, Ryan Higgins, Dawid Malan, Tim Murtagh, Ollie Rayner, Toby Roland-Jones, John Simpson (WK), Paul Stirling
- Match Information
Tickets for this match are available on the gates from 1pm, priced £15 Adults, £10 Students/Young Adults (18-24) and £5 Juniors (U18s). Reduced price tickets are available after the lunch break at £10 Adults, £10 Students/Young Adults and £3 Juniors. Tickets for all 4 days are priced £28.
Scheduled Hours of Play:
Start of Play: 2pm
Lunch Break: 4pm – 4:40pm
Tea Break: 6:40pm – 7pm
Stumps: 9pm
Parking:
Meteor Way Car Park is available for this match and will be open from 11am on each morning of the game. High Chelmer Multi-storey is also operating late opening hour for this match and will close at 11pm in the evening.
Q&A with the Chairman (Day Three):
The next Members’ Q&A with Chairman, John Faragher will take place in the Pavilion during the Lunch break on Day Three (Wednesday 28 June).
