MEdia day at the Lord’s and the kindergarten pavilion is buzzing with activity as players are filmed in a variety of kits with a variety of props for a variety of broadcasters. Middlesex are back in the top flight after a five-year absence, although over the course of this scene that fact has probably affected the number of journalists in attendance rather than the players themselves.
There is excitement before the start of each season and to ask a professional cricketer if he is more motivated by the prospect of a top campaign than he was in Division Two is less of a question than an insult. That doesn’t stop Spin from trying.
“There’s that extra excitement of knowing you’re not playing to finish the 11th best team in the country,” says Mark Stoneman. “You don’t want to be the 11th best team in the country, you want to be the best team in the country. So I’m very excited to see where we stand when we compete with the best.”
Few predict a fight. Middlesex appear to have a handy combination of youth and experience, as well as punching power and Sean bowling prowess – although the loss of spinner Keshav Maharaj, who tore his Achilles tendon while celebrating a wicket in a game for South Africa last month, will be felt badly becomes. They had two of the nine players to hit 1,000 runs in Division Two last year in Stoneman and John Simpson, and the division’s most prolific bowler in Toby Roland-Jones with 67 wickets at an 18.80 average. Tom Helm’s form in all formats earned him a place in England’s white ball squad.
“I said at the start of last season that I felt we had a roster that was good enough not to be in Division Two,” said Sear Tim Murtagh, 22 years after his debut in the Division County Championship and 985 wickets for the club. who enters the season in a new player-coach role. “It felt like our time and it felt like the lads had played enough cricket and experienced enough to get us out of that division, which we did.
“I am very optimistic and excited to see what we can achieve. You don’t want to make big statements about whether you’ll come straight up and win, but that’s happened before. If we play well and things go our way, who knows? It’s hard to predict what’s going to happen, but we’ll give everyone a match.”
Middlesex’s elevated status is not the only significant change in English first-class cricket. There was much talk last summer about Andrew Strauss’ performance record, sparked by the performances of the England Test team over the past 12 months. The national team is provoking discussions of a very different nature, and given Strauss’s proposals, which include reducing the number of County Championship games and making teams more likely to be promoted, it’s not surprising that these newly-promoted players are relieved that some of these results are possible have been discontinued.
Veteran Tim Murtagh will take on a new role as player-manager at Middlesex. Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
“We need to put a little more effort into the England international game and appreciate what we have,” says Stoneman, whose opening 48.8 average last year was his best since 2017. “It helps produce some very successful cricketers.
“It’s always being tapped in response to what’s happening on the international stage, so England are losing the Ashes away – far from the first time – and suddenly the county game is being called into question. Then on the back we have the Revolution with Stokesy and Brendon McCullum and then all the praise goes elsewhere.
“The relegation and stuff like that is nonsense. In a promotion race when a point swing over a couple of wickets or a partnership can be that important, that’s a big learning curve for a young player.
“When you’re a young guy coming through, hitting with an older player and working to get 400 or save a game for a tie – and the tie has been demonized a lot lately – that’s really important for a youngster player development.”
Those demonic draws are rewarded with five points this year, compared with eight points last year, one of a few small changes designed to encourage attacking cricket – although the example of the England Test side may have done so all by itself .
“Whether that works for everyone or not, and whether it’s as easy at some wickets in county cricket as it is in Test cricket, I think there will certainly be some players – maybe not teams – that will use it as a tactic,” says Murtagh. “Perhaps for people who thought they were miles away from playing Test cricket, and I am thinking particularly good white ball players, it will give them real incentive to know they are not that far off . If we have a dry summer like last year, that might be a bit more encouraging.
“As a bowling unit we have to be particularly aware of that – there will be more guys running down the wicket and trying to hit it over the head than maybe in previous years. We just have to be prepared for that.”
Their season begins with the visit to Essex on Thursday. It’s time for Middlesex to show how ready they are.
Unknown heroes wanted
The MCC has launched a campaign to find the top unsung grassroots cricket heroes in the country. The campaign invites the public and the cricket community to nominate individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to grassroots sport and its community, with 11 winners being selected by Stephen Fry, Mike Gatting and Claire Taylor. These 11 are invited to Lord’s to watch the England-Ireland Test in June from the President’s Box as guests of Fry. To nominate your MCC Community Cricket Hero, visit www.lords.org/heroes. The nomination period ends on April 27 at midnight.
quote of the week
“Life can get you in trouble, laugh like it’s a tickle. Whether you get a hundred or a duck, life goes on, don’t get stuck. There is no map, ride the tide, you are your own guide” – A motivational poem, written and then read aloud, by Virat Kohli.
Virat Kohli in his job at Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. Photo: Aijaz Rahi/`
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… by writing to Simon.
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