Northamptonshire welcome Middlesex to Wantage Road as the Rothesay County Championship briefly replaces the Vitality Blast in the cricketing calendar.
Northamptonshire sit fifth in Division Two, seven points clear of the foot of the table, however victory over Middlesex will lift them towards the top three.
Last time out, Northamptonshire were denied a thrilling shot at victory by the rain against Gloucestershire, reducing the visitors to 214-6 in pursuit of 350 on an absorbing final day, only for a downpour on the afternoon of day four to call time early and force captains to shake hands.
Middlesex finished their four-day block with a heavy defeat at the hands of Glamorgan, losing by ten wickets and sitting third from bottom in sixth.
Tim Robinson will be in contention to make his Northamptonshire debut, with the New Zealand top order batter replacing Matt Breetzke in both the four day and T20 formats for six matches altogether.
Yuzvendra Chahal will be unavailable for this fixture but Australian leg-spinner Lloyd Pope, who has been involved in the Vitality Blast, could make his first-class debut for the County.
We caught up with Head Coach Darren Lehmann on Friday to discuss the return of four day cricket, the Kookaburra ball and switching quickly between formats.
Opponent preview:
Middlesex
Previewed by Ben Kosky – ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Captain: Toby Roland-Jones
Head Coach: Richard Johnson
2024 finish: Third
2024 highest run-scorer: Ryan Higgins (1,133)
2024 highest wicket-taker: Toby Roland-Jones (52)
Key winter moves: With no overseas players in 2024, Middlesex have now secured one of the world’s best in Kane Williamson. New Zealand’s top Test run-scorer will feature in at least five Rothesay County Championship games later this summer, while seasoned South African seamer Dane Paterson joins for the first half of the campaign. Top-order batter Ben Geddes has crossed the Thames after leaving Surrey, with spinner Zafar Gohar also signing from Gloucestershire.