Welcome to the new Middlesex Forum

[LOVERBOY]

A big season coming up for The Middle as they seek once more to gain promotion to the top division,and land some one-day silverware as well.
The side has been considerably strenghtened in the close season,and hopes are high for the return to the glory days.
What do you think?have your say on how you see the prospects for 2011.

[Guest]

Welcome to the board Loverboy
All the best for the new season, cant wait for it to start

[watford56]

Loverthelegend!!! Long time no speak!!!

[LOVERBOY]

Happy to let my boys do the talking watford,as they did today with an exemplary display of disciplined bowling,catching and fielding on a pitch not half as bas as it's been painted.
Hugely impressive dispaly which augurs well for the future.
Well done chaps!

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Impressive performance! Look forward to Middlesex & Surrey competing for promotion instead of the wooden spoon.....

[LOVERBOY]

Middlesex name an unchanged squad for tomorrow's championship match at Derby.

[Liam_Main]

Middlesex have got a very good squad I like look the look of David Malan you's have got a good chance of some of one-day or twenty-20 silverware.

[LOVERBOY]

And promotion too I hope!

[Liam_Main]

And for Durham too win Division 1 it will be a god season for both of us

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Well on top against Derby after day 1. The impressive start to season continues...

[watford56]

Oooh wickets starting to tumble now...

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Middlesex held their nerve well after the Derby 2nd innings fight back.

[Mad for Chelsea]

very good chase from middlesex

Berg and Rayner in particular did a terrific job. Great start to the season

[watford56]

Great performance boys!!!

Sitting pretty at the top...

[LOVERBOY]

Having sat throughf our days of a flucuating game in brilliant sunshine,I'd not go so far as to call it a'great'performance,but certainly a brave and battling effort to fight back and achieve victory.
A very good start to the season obviously ,but let's remain cautious as still much room for improvement

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Another good comeback from Middlesex against Worcs. Surrey will need to be on top form in the upcoming match to win that one.

[LOVERBOY]

Surrey will have to be on top form to avoid a three day hammering,let alone coming any where winning it.
This new Middlesex side is simply awesome!

[LOVERBOY]

Steven Crook replaces Gareth Berg in the twelve named for tomorrow's match.
Gareth sustained a side strain at Worcester on sunday.

[LOVERBOY]

Surrey squad:::::
Rory Hamilton-Brown (captain), Michael Brown, Gary Wilson, Zander de Bruyn, Steven Davies, Tom Maynard, Chris Schofield, Gareth Batty, Chris Jordan, Yasir Arafat, Stuart Meaker, Jade Dernbach, Tim Linley

[Liam_Main]

Hamilton-Brown a star in the future maybe?Dernbach aswell.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Lover - maybe Berg's was a tactical withdrawal when he found out that Guildfordbat would be attending the match to assess Berg's credentials as a possible England all rounder. Pressure of expectation was too much....

Liam - Surrey supporters have high hopes for the pace pairing of Dernbach and Meaker. RHB (Hyphen) may be an outside bet for England 20/20 in a couple of years. Looks as tho' he's trying to bat more responsibly in the CC this year. Worked in the first match but not the second....

[LOVERBOY]

The thing is Colonel,that we have so many playes vying for places that the loss of one or two hardly effects us.
Bergie has a slight strain but with Crooky in reserve no problem,and Murts is being rotated so another England prospect Roly-Jones can get a game.
From what I saw today,there certainly won't be any Surrey bowlers on The England short list.woeful the lot of them.
Wicket flattened out after early movement and Dex and Simmo were a joy to watch destroying the Surrey 'atttack'.
Simmo will go far ,but for a future England wicketkeeper/batsman look out for Adam Rossington,tipped for the top by many fine judges,only 18 but an awesome prospect.

[guildfordbat]

Lover - thank you for being more restrained than I expected. My own comments will follow on the Surrey board once I've calmed down further.

By the way, make sure you don't get the Corporal's rank wrong again or you'll be on a charge for sure ....

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Lover - I won't object to the odd promotion - Field marshall, for instance - if it helps install a bit more respect in the platoon!

[LOVERBOY]

Well what can I say,contrary to the opinions of some I'm not here to gloat.
We've has enough days like this in the past few years to know how it feels.
Surrey to me never looked up for the fight,too many bad dismissals as well as Middlesex bowled,and the captain set a poor example having got in,and then given it away.
Tom is a talented player,who'll get you plenty of runs and he fought hard today,but just like his dad he's the type of batter who always gives the bowlers a chance and he'll need to tighten up and rely less on his bottom hand on wickets not as good as this one.Steve Davies too is one who'll go far.
The rest inspire little confidence for the future,Ball of the day-- Finny's viscious lifter first up to De Bruyn who had no chance.
I hope to see a bit more fight tomorrow and at least a full day's play,but that three day demolition must still be favourite.
Begging your pardon Corporal for my error!!
:

[guildfordbat]

A dreadful team performance from Surrey but well done nonetheless to Middlesex. Enjoy your celebrations, Lover. Some fine performances from your guys. With the Ice Man and Murts to come back, you have a team set for promotion.

[LOVERBOY]

Thankyou for that gb.
We remain most optimistic,but no great celebrations yet.
I'm sure Surrey are by no means the worst team in the division,and they were unfortunate to come up against us in such fine form.
I hear Ramps will be back in a week or two,and with Tremlett available,things can only improve.
Best of luck for the rest of the season,we'll be looking down at you with interest!

[LOVERBOY]

What a fantastic game of cricket,and what a tremendous finish.
All credit to The Dutch for such a magnificent effort and huge relief to my boys in scraping through at the very last.
Much more disciplined effort required in the field if we hope to progress further in this competition.
Having said that six wins out of six represents an unbelievable start to the season,however today's match reminds us that we are far from the finished article yet,and lots of hard work ahead if we are to maintain our challenge on all fronts.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Lover - you were right to be a bit cautious about Middlesex's excellent start to season. Took a bit of a pasting against Kent today! But I do think they have the depth of bowling to get promotion....

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Lover - as you say Surrey by no means the worst team in the Div, having beaten Leics comprehensively today. Dernbach has now got his act together, and Meaker is coming on apace. Ramps is back.....

Middlesex could still win against Gloucs, especially if the weather holds. Could be a tight finish.

[LOVERBOY]

Always likely to be a draw at Bristol,given early season caution.
However had our bowlers kept a fuller length on an apitch with unpredictable bounce throughout ,things may have been different.Still full bonus points plus the draw most satisfactory in the circumstances.

[guildfordbat]

You are wobbling at the moment against Sussex, Lover. 30 - 3 off 8 overs. Looks like Dex will need to come up with a captain's innings ....

[guildfordbat]

Lover, What happened to your boys today? 123 all out in less than 37 overs. A stand out fifty from the Ice Man - I'll give you that, though ....

[LOVERBOY]

I do believe the chaps partook of some lobsters for their supper last evening which tended to disagree with them,and left them rather under the weather for today's encounter :run2: :run2: :run2:

[guildfordbat]

Lover - coming from deep, cold waters the Ice Man is presumably more used to sea food which is why his performance was unaffected ....

[Corporalhumblebucket]

On the other hand, Guildford and Lover, you would have thought Finn would also be well used to sea food. And he was out first ball and bowled at 8 an over..

[LOVERBOY]

I hear that the MARLAN soup was not to everyone's taste either!

[LOVERBOY]

After successive defeats in The Pro 40 competition The Middle face a tough task on Thursday when they travel to Holland to take on the resurgent Dutch,
A fortunate one run victory at Lord's against the same opponents earlier in the season hardly gives ground for optimism and we can expect a few changes to the normal line up as The Panthers seek to get their trophy winning challenge back on track.

[LOVERBOY]

This morning's British Airways flight due to take Middlesex CCC players and officials to Holland has been cancelled.
There is talk of going Eurostar instead.
Stand by for updates.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

We're all ears, as Mr Marr might have said.....

[LOVERBOY]

Managed to get on a later flight,but hardly ideal preparation,still seem to be doing OK this morning!

[LOVERBOY]

A comfortable win in the end puts our trophy quest back on track.
Well played chaps!

[guildfordbat]

Lover - looks like a fine team performance as per the scorecard. Well led by Collymore with his three economical wickets up front- do you know why he couldn't complete his eighth over?

[LOVERBOY]

Colly had a tightening of his hamstring,and rather than risk further injury did not complete his final over.
I don't know the strength of his injury,but he's not due to play against The Sri Lankans,so hopefully with a week to recover he'll be fit for the next championship match.
I was not there yesterday,but it occurs to me that The Dutch seem to do better away from home,perhaps something to do with the quality of the pitches.

[LOVERBOY]

Collymore and Roland -Jones are both fit again and return to the squad for today's 40 over clash with Worcestershire at Lord's.
Also included for a compettitive match for the first time since his return is James Dalrymple who replaces Ollie Rayner as his loan period has now ended.
Andrew Strauss will not play today but will play against Glamorgan in The Championship match commencing on Thursday,replacing Danny Housego in The side,Dalrymple is expected to play too,whilst Steven Finn will be absent playing for The England Lions at Derby.

[Mad for Chelsea]

Dawid Malan is such a great timer of the ball, scarcely seems to hit it but it just races off the bat...

[Liam_Main]

He doesn't even need to hit it hard his timing is that perfect.. The shot he played a few overs back was excellent.

[Mad for Chelsea]

two absolutely beautiful cover drives in that over, the ball just caressed past short extra cover to the boundary.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Dismal performance on day 1 against Glam! Did they stay up too late last night?