County Championship 2021: Middlesex preview

Captain

Peter Handscomb

Last year

3/6 South Group

Player movements

IN: Peter Handscomb (Aus), Mitchell Marsh (Aus, T20), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afg, T20)

OUT: Dan Lincoln (released), Miguel Cummins (Kent)

Key player

Peter Handscomb – now able to take up the contract which was initially due to start last summer, the Australian has been charged with filling the shoes of Dawid Malan as club skipper and the team’s primary source of runs. It’s a big task for Handscomb, who’s averaged a modest 36 across his three previous stints in county cricket and takes over an underperforming side.

Bolter

Thilan Walallawita – the Sri Lanka-born left-arm spinner arrived in the UK aged 12 after narrowly surviving the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 and Middlesex are excited by his progress. He was ever-present in last summer’s BWT campaign and has impressive control of line and length for a young spinner. At the time of writing Middlesex are waiting for clearance to field the 22-year-old as a local player.

County Championship 2021: Middlesex Fixtures

Middlesex v Somerset, Thursday April 8, Lord’s

Hampshire v Middlesex, Thursday April 15, Ageas Bowl

Middlesex v Surrey, Thursday April 22, Lord’s

Somerset vs Middlesex, Thursday April 29, The Cooper Associates County Ground

Middlesex v Gloucestershire, Thursday May 6, Lord’s

Middlesex v Hampshire, Thursday May 13, Lord’s

Surrey v Middlesex, Thursday May 20, Kia Oval

Leicestershire v Middlesex, Thursday May 27, Uptonsteel County Ground

Gloucestershire v Middlesex, Monday July 5, Cheltenham

Middlesex v Leicestershire, Sunday July 11, Merchant Taylors’ School

You can check the full list of County Championship fixtures here.

Wisden says

Middlesex’s seam attack, led by the evergreen Tim Murtagh (25 wickets at 13 last season), is among the best in the country but runs continue to be a problem for a batting line-up which looks sound on paper but consistently fails to deliver. The return to form of Nick Gubbins last season was therefore particularly welcome, but Stevie Eskinazi and Sam Robson struggled, while Max Holden, 23, is yet to stitch together a season to justify his billing as a future England batsman.

Prediction

5th in Division 2