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Middlesex v Lancashire at Lord’s
The home side desperately need to sort out their dreadful batting, which was painfully exposed during the innings defeat to Warwickshire. They do welcome back Eoin Morgan from international duty with England, but he could replace any one of Neil Dexter, Joe Denly or Adam Rossington with the latter probably the favourite to make way. The bowling attack sees Tim Murtagh return from Ireland duty, with either Toby Roland-Jones or James Harris set to sit out. Left-arm spinner Ravi Patel is also included in the squad for the first time this season.
Middlesex squad: Chris Rogers (captain), Sam Robson, Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan, Neil Dexter, Joe Denly, John Simpson (wicket-keeper), Ollie Rayner, Toby Roland-Jones, Tim Murtagh, Steven Finn, James Harris, Ravi Patel, Adam Rossington.
Lancashire are strengthened by the return of seamer Kyle Hogg from injury, as well as Jos Buttler from international duty as they aim to build on the draw against Sussex. Their batting is also an area of concern, despite them opting to play the extra batsman last week. Kyle Jarvis and Kabir Ali are likely to both miss out from the bowling attack to make way for Hogg unless the balance of the side is changed.
Lancashire squad: Paul Horton, Luis Reece, Karl Brown, Ashwell Prince, Steven Croft, Luke Procter, Jos Buttler (wicket-keeper), Tom Smith, Glen Chapple (captain), Kyle Hogg, Simon Kerrigan, Kyle Jarvis, Kabir Ali.
Nottinghamshire v Northamptonshire at Trent Bridge
Nottinghamshire will be eyeing a good haul of points as they entertain bottom-side Northamptonshire. They are without Harry Gurney on the instructions of the England management, with Jake Ball also ruled out after breaking his foot. Andre Adams, though, does return from injury, while Luke Fletcher, Ajmal Shahzad and Andy Carter are all in the 12-man squad.
Nottinghamshire squad: Steven Mullaney, Phil Jaques, Michael Lumb, James Taylor, Samit Patel, Riki Wessels, Chris Read (captain, wicket-keeper), Peter Siddle, Ajmal Shahzad, Andre Adams, Andy Carter, Luke Fletcher.
Newly-promoted Northants have been beset by injuries so far this season, but the players are slowly starting to regain fitness. David Sales should start after a successful outing against Durham MCCU, with batsman James Kettleborough also available, although not selected in the 12-man squad. Olly Stone is, however, added to the injury list after picking up a finger problem in the defeat to Lancashire.
Northamptonshire squad: Stephen Peters (captain), James Middlebrook, Kyle Coetzer, David Sales, Matthew Spriegel, Rob Newton, Andrew Hall, Steven Crook, David Murphy (wicket-keeper), Maurice Chambers, Mohammad Azharullah, Ben Duckett.
Sussex v Durham at Hove
Title contenders Sussex are still without Chris Jordan (rested), Matthew Hobden and Matt Prior (Achilles) as they host Durham, but do welcome back Ed Joyce from international duty with Ireland to lead the side. Where he will bat is far from certain given the return of Chris Nash from a ruptured appendix last time out as is the identity of who he will replace, with Rory Hamilton-Brown the favourite.
Sussex squad: Chris Nash, Luke Wells, Michael Yardy, Ed Joyce (captain), Matt Machan, Luke Wright, Ben Brown (wicket-keeper), Ashar Zaidi, James Anyon, Steve Magoffin, Jon Lewis, Lewis Hatchett, Rory Hamilton-Brown.
Durham are likely to field an unchanged eleven from the one that drew in front of the Sky Sports cameras earlier in the week. Usman Arshad is therefore again likely to be 12th man, although Gareth Breese has been left out of the squad in favour of Ryan Pringle. 19 year-old Scottish fast-bowler Gavin Main has also been included in a 14-man squad. Ben Stokes, meanwhile, is due to have a scan on his injured wrist in the coming days.
Durham squad: Mark Stoneman, Keaton Jennings, Scott Borthwick, Kumar Sangakkara, Michael Richardson, Paul Collingwood (captain), Phil Mustard (wicket-keeper), Mark Wood, Jamie Harrison, Graham Onions, Chris Rushworth, Usman Arshad, Ryan Pringle, Gavin Main.
Andrew Gale
Yorkshire v Warwickshire at Headingley
Yorkshire have had an odd season to date, typified by their record-breaking defeat at the hands of Middlesex. They do, however, have an embarrassment of riches in the batting line-up now that Joe Root and Gary Ballance are back from England duty. Jonny Bairstow could take the gloves from Andrew Hodd to free up one place, although it seems unlikely that Andrew Gale will drop himself again following his century last time out, leaving Alex Lees vulnerable. In the bowling attack, the out-of-sorts Jack Brooks could make way for Steve Patterson.
Yorkshire squad: Adam Lyth, Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Andrew Gale (captain), Gary Ballance, Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid, Tim Bresnan, Liam Plunkett, Ryan Sidebottom, Steve Patterson, Jack Brooks, Alex Lees, Andrew Hodd.
Warwickshire welcome back England pair Chris Woakes and Ian Bell, as well as Ireland’s William Porterfield to also lead for a fierce battle for places in their starting eleven. Sam Hain has been left out despite impressing against Middlesex, while Ateeq Javid’s place is vulnerable. Boyd Rankin is again named in the squad but is far from certain to start as he continues his recovery from injury, while Oliver Hannon-Dalby has been left out to make way for Woakes.
Warwickshire squad: Varun Chopra, Ian Westwood, William Porterfield, Ian Bell (captain), Laurie Evans, Chris Woakes, Tim Ambrose (wicket-keeper), Keith Barker, Jeetan Patel, Richard Jones, Chris Wright, Ateeq Javid, Boyd Rankin.
Derbyshire v Kent at Derby
Bottom-side Derbyshire have made five changes following their poor start to the season. They will field their third wicket-keeper of 2014 in Gareth Cross - the former Lancashire man having signed from Cheshire until the end of the season - with Tom Poynton ruled out until the end of the season due to injuries sustained in the car accident that tragically killed his father Keith just prior to the start of the new season. Richard Johnson, meanwhile, has been diagnosed with “sports performance anxiety issues” and joins all-rounder Peter Burgoyne on the sidelines due to a mental health issue as the rigours of professional sport continue to take their toll. Dan Hodgson has returned to Yorkshire after his loan-spell, while Chesney Hughes, Billy Godleman and Wes Durston have all been dropped. All of which means that Paul Borrington, Sam Elstone and Alex Hughes are set to benefit, while young seam-bowler Tom Taylor has been preferred to Mark Turner in the 12-man squad.
Derbyshire squad: Stephen Moore, Paul Borington, Wayne Madsen (captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Scott Elstone, Alex Hughes, Gareth Cross (wicket-keeper), David Wainwright, Tony Palladino, Tim Groenewald, Mark Footitt, Tom Taylor.
Kent, by contrast, are set to name an unchanged eleven following their win over Surrey. Matt Hunn is set to take on 12th man duties from Robbie Joseph after recovering from injury, while Mark Davies and David Griffiths were left out despite recently completing their recoveries from their respective injuries.
Kent squad: Rob Key (captain), Sam Northeast, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Brendan Nash, Ben Harmison, Darren Stevens, Sam Billings (wicket-keeper), Adam Ball, Adam Riley, Mitchell Claydon, Doug Bollinger, Matt Hunn.
Hampshire v Glamorgan at Southampton
Hampshire have named an unchanged 13-man squad, with Adam Wheater still sidelined due to a hand injury. Left-arm spinner Danny Briggs will again face his perennial problem of trying to force his way into the starting eleven at the expense of one of the seamers.
Hampshire squad: Michael Carberry, Jimmy Adams (captain), Liam Dawson, James Vince, Will Smith, Joe Gatting, Sean Ervine, Michael Bates (wicket-keeper), Matt Coles, Kyle Abbott, James Tomlinson, Danny Briggs, David Balcombe.
Glamorgan won their opening game of the season but, since then, have only been able to draw. They have named an unchanged 12-man squad as Michael Hogan is still on paternity leave. Will Owen, Ruaidhri Smith and loan-signing Tom Helm will contest two places in the final eleven.
Glamorgan squad: Jacques Rudolph, Gareth Rees, Will Bragg, Murray Goodwin, Stewart Walters, Jim Allenby, Mark Wallace (captain, wicket-keeper), Graham Wagg, Dean Cosker, Will Owen, Tom Helm, Ruaidhri Smith.
Surrey v Gloucestershire at The Oval
Graeme Smith’s time at Surrey has not begun quite as would have hoped. Nonetheless, he will hope to get off the mark at home to eighth-placed Gloucestershire. The home side welcome back Chris Tremlett (back injury), Tom Curran (exam leave) and Gary Wilson (Ireland) into a 12-man squad and have left out Stuart Meaker and Jade Dernbach “so they can prepare for the start of the Natwest T20 Blast”.
Surrey squad: Graeme Smith (captain), Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Zafar Ansari, Steven Davies (wicket-keeper), Gary Wilson, Jason Roy, Tom Curran, Chris Tremlett, Tim Linley, Matt Dunn, Aneesh Kapil.
Gloucestershire are without all-rounder Will Gidman due to a knee injury for their trip to London, with Benny Howell his replacement. Craig Miles and David Payne are still not fully fit, meaning that Jack Taylor has been named in a 13-man squad alongside fellow spinner Tom Smith.
Gloucestershire squad: Michael Klinger (captain), Chris Dent, Will Tavare, Alex Gidman, Hamish Marshall, Benny Howell, Cameron Herring (wicket-keeper), Tom Smith, Ian Saxelby, James Fuller, Matt Taylor, Graeme McCarter, Jack Taylor.
Weather Forecast:
Showers are forecast for all of the first three days, with temperatures relatively cool under the cloud cover. Wednesday should be drier and brighter and slightly warmer with highs of between 15 and 19 degrees Celsius.
Daniel Grummitt
He worked for CricketWorld.com for almost three years, leading their county and domestic cricket coverage and contributing to a book about the 2012 ICC World Twenty20, before joining the hugely ambitious World Cricket Badger early in 2014.
The first Test that he remembers watching was on Channel 4 - back before the ECB marginalised potential future fans by selling the TV rights to Sky Sports - when England beat Pakistan by an innings and nine runs at Lord’s.
Besides a passion for domestic cricket, he also has an unexplainable interest in all things Zimbabwe cricket!
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