Northamptonshire return to The County Ground after a week on the road as they welcome Middlesex for the third game of the County Championship season.
After a fantastic effort in Canterbury last week, where only the rain stopped Northamptonshire from securing an innings victory over Kent, Darren Lehmann’s side are back at home with plenty of positives with bat and ball to take.
Northamptonshire sit 4th in Division 2 with 28 points. They’re just 7 points outside of the top 2 after securing maximum batting points with their mammoth 674/2 in the first innings against Kent.
The top four batters made Club history with Luke Procter, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Calvin Harrison and Nathan McSweeney all hitting centuries. Captain Procter stole the show, though, with a remarkable 261 not out.
There are no fresh injury concerns for Darren Lehmann as he names an unchanged squad of thirteen ahead of the Middlesex match with Raphy Weatherall pulling through after making his first appearance for nearly a year last week.
Justin Broad made scores of 62 and 69 for Northamptonshire 2XI against Warwickshire 2XI as he continues his positive recovery from a back problem. The Middlesex game comes just too soon for the all-rounder to make a complete return to action, though.
After a statement opening round victory against Gloucestershire, winning by an innings and 14 runs, Middlesex were unable to register back-to-back victories as they lost to Worcestershire by 57 runs last time out. That defeat puts Friday’s opponents one place behind the Tudor rose going into the weekend in 5th.
Play will get underway at 11am with lunch at 1pm and tea at 3:40pm. There are 96 overs scheduled for each day and all four days of the fixture will be live streamed on the Steelbacks TV YouTube channel.
The Hevey Restaurant will be open from Days 1-3 and has availability on all three days. The Hevey Suite will open from start of play for spectators to watch the match from the decking area.
The Long Room will be open for members. The Mushtaq Bar is open with full bar and snacks available, however the Mushtaq balcony will not be open. Nuts For Your Coffee will be located by the groundsman’s hut, serving hot and cold drinks and ice cream.
Northamptonshire squad to face Middlesex:
Luke Procter (c), George Bartlett, Harry Conway, Liam Guthrie, Calvin Harrison, Louis Kimber, Lewis McManus (wk), Nathan McSweeney, James Sales, Ben Sanderson, Ricardo Vasconcelos, Raphy Weatherall, Saif Zaib
We spoke to Darren Lehmann ahead of the match and discussed building on the opening two performances, the importance of scoring runs at home and his current squad depth.
Opponent preview:
Middlesex
Previewed by Ben Kosky, ECB Reporters Network, supported by Rothesay
Captain: Leus du Plooy
Head coach: Peter Fulton
2025 finish: 4th
2025 highest run-scorer: Leus du Plooy (1,009)
2025 highest wicket-taker: Toby Roland-Jones (45)
Key winter moves: Middlesex made their only significant change off the field, with ex-New Zealand international Peter Fulton appointed as head coach after a successful six-year stint with Canterbury. On the playing side, it’s basically as you were, with no room in the budget for overseas additions. Experienced top-order batter Stephen Eskinazi, who was on loan at Leicestershire at the end of last season, converted that temporary switch into a permanent one.