Durham are back on the road tomorrow when they take on Middlesex at Radlett Cricket Club, as they look to make it two in two in the Metro Bank One Day Cup.
A 14-player squad has been named for round 5 of the One Day Cup which sees Neil Wagner named in a Durham squad for the first time.
The New Zealand left arm quick has now arrived and is in contention to make his Durham List A debut, while Brandon Glover also returns to the squad and is in line to make his return to action following his shoulder surgery in the Spring.
Daniel Hogg, Stanley McAlindon and Ollie Gibson drop out of the squad which was named to take on Northamptonshire Steelbacks on Friday.
Middlesex sit in 6th place in Group A with 4 points just one place above Durham on net run rate. They were victorious on Sunday beating Kent by 5 wickets at Beckenham as Joe Cracknell score 88 and Rob White 50 chasing 205 inside 32 overs.
The Seaxes have lost five players to the Hundred with Tom Helm, Ryan Higgins, Max Holden, Leus du Plooy and Stephen Eskinazi all in Hundred ball action.
Squad v Middlesex [6 August]
Colin Ackermann, Scott Borthwick, Jonathan Bushnell, Paul Coughlin, Bas de Leede, George Drissell, Brandon Glover, Michael Jones, Mitchell Killeen, Alex Lees, Ben McKinney, James Minto, Haydon Mustard+, Neil Wagner
Words from Colin Ackermann
That was very pleasing win against Northamptonshire Steelbacks. After a tough two games it was nice to put a performance together as a team. They got off to a flyer, but we fought back nicely as a team. Getting Shaw out was vital and then we managed to squeeze things in the middle.
It was a used wicket and I went about my business with the ball and it paid off nicely today. Scott Borthwick batted with great energy and took the pressure of me. I would have liked to be there at the end, but it wasn’t to be today.
I’ve never played at Radlett but it would be great if we can get on a roll and get some momentum going into next week.
Opposition Corner
Captain: Mark Stoneman
Overseas players: None
2023 finish: Seventh (Group A)
2023 leading run scorer: Joe Cracknell (290)
2023 leading wicket taker: Ethan Bamber (12)
Key player: Luke Hollman – the leg-spinner is one of very few to emerge from the T20 campaign with white-ball form after 23 wickets. With three of Middlesex’s four home games on out-grounds, his ability to apply the long handle over short boundaries is another plus.
Keep an eye on: Noah Cornwell – we’ve seen glimpses of the England U19 seamer’s talent in the Vitality Blast and with Tom Helm and Ryan Higgins away on The Hundred duty this represents another good opportunity. The fact he bowls left-arm brings variety and two of Middlesex’s four games will be on his home ground at Radlett.
Final thought: With five first XI call-ups to The Hundred having left explosive batting resources depleted, the Seaxes are likely to need their promising, but largely inexperienced bowling attack to defend smaller totals than they’d like or to keep any chase within bounds.