Middlesex CCC have lost their first ten games of the season, reports Mark Caswell

Ryan Higgins, Middlesex CCC in action during Middlesex CCC vs Kent CCC, LV Insurance County Championship Division 1 Cricket at Lord’s Cricket Ground on 27th April 2023

Middlesex CCC t20 Blast Season have seen them lose their first ten games and remain rooted at the bottom of the South Group.

One added boundary in four of those defeats would have seen Middlesex home with a victory, however, in the other six games, the North Londoners were well beaten.

Not too many of the 21 players used in these games came out of these games with too much credit. Max Holden scored an impressive 121* against Kent and also contributed 53 and 43, Steve Eskinazi televised unbeaten 94 against Sussex in a four run defeat. Peter Malan 80 v Hampshire and young wicketkeeper Jack Davies performed well behind the stumps, and managed a couple of forties, contributing the only notable performances.

For the last six games Middlesex have had no overseas players, and have regularly put the opposition into bat a policy that has not worked.

Middlesex play their final four games over the coming fortnight, with a county championship match at Southampton sandwiched in-between. Improvement in both forms of the game is a must, maybe a overseas batsman signing, or someone coming in on loan – or this could be one of the most disappointing seasons for many years.

The disappointing aspect of all this is that does not appear to be any young players from the second XI are good enough to claim a first team spot.

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