Surrey head over to the north of the River Thames for the London Derby at Lord’s tomorrow afternoon, after their convincing victory at home over Lancashire Lightning on Friday.
Sam Curran’s team will be aiming to make it two wins from two matches and secure their seventh consecutive win over their cross-city rivals Middlesex at Lord’s – a winning streak that started in 2020.
The match kicks off at 12pm in St John’s Wood.
Middlesex, who fell short in their season opener against Kent Spitfires, will be trying to get their first win of the campaign.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP WITH THE MATCH?
The match against Middlesex will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Cricket. The Club’s social media channels will provide regular updates, with a written report and highlights available at the end of play.
SURREY SQUAD
Surrey have named an unchanged squad for the London Derby across the north of the river.
Same as the opening games of the season, Chris Jordan continues his rehabilitation following an ankle injury. Ollie Sykes remains sidelined with a knee injury. Tom Lawes is unavailable due to his involvement with the England Lions, with Jamie Smith, Matt Fisher and Gus Atkinson rested ahead of the upcoming Test series with New Zealand.
Middlesex
Previewed by Jon Batham, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Captain: Leus du Plooy
Overseas players: Eathan Bosch (all)
Finals Day appearances: one (2008)
Titles: One (2008)
2025 finish: 8th in South Group
2025 leading run-scorer: Stephen Eskinazi (420)
2025 leading wicket-taker: Tom Helm (20)
Key winter moves: Peter Fulton has arrived from New Zealand as head coach, but stellar batter Kane Williamson won’t be returning for a second stint and leading run-scorer from 2025, former skipper Stephen Eskinazi has left for Leicestershire. England U19 World Cup final century maker Caleb Falconer has been added to the squad and seems sure to make his Blast debut, while Adam Rossington returns to the club for the first six group-stage games.
The big question: Can Fulton succeed where others have fallen short and revive the white-ball fortunes of a Middlesex team who have reached only two T20 quarter-finals since Toby Radford led them to the trophy in 2008? Two-metre Pete has form, leading previous team Canterbury to glory twice in New-Zealand’s premier white-ball competition, the Ford Trophy, though that is a 50-over format.
Wildcard watch: Caleb Falconer. The 19-year-old right-hander has already secured a Hundred contract after announcing himself to the cricketing world with that century at the U19 World Cup final in Zimbabwe. He recently made his first-class debut and looks sure to play a part for a team which needs a creative spark in the shorter format.
Final thought: Middlesex have an exciting crop of youngsters like Falconer, Sebastian Morgan, Naavya Sharma and others, some of whom took their first steps in the Blast last season. The challenge will be, with no sign of a marquee batter on the horizon, last year’s leading scorer Eskinazi having left, and wicket-keeper/batter Joe Cracknell set to miss the start of the competition with a broken finger, whether Middlesex set and chase down targets in a format where the power hitters are king.
