Unchanged squad for Sussex test

Chris Adams has named an unchanged 13 man squad for the County Championship game against Sussex, starting at the Kia Oval tomorrow.

That means that batsman Jason Roy has once again been left out of the squad, with Zander de Bruyn being favoured ahead of the 22 year old.

Here is the squad in full:

G. Smith (C)

R. Burns

A. Harinath

V. Solanki

Z. de Bruyn

S. Davies

G. Wilson

G. Batty

S. Meaker

J. Dernbach

G. Keedy

T. Linley

C. Tremlett

Even though the squad is the same, I do expect at least one change in the final X1. Last week’s draw against Somerset showed that we were a seamer light, with Keedy not proving effective on an unhelpful pitch for his left arm spin. Therefore, Tremlett is likely to come into the team in place of the former Lancashire bowler. You can’t rely on Tremlett in a 2 man seam attack, because he is liable to pull up with an injury, and he hasn’t played for 9 months, so he must play alongside Meaker and Dernbach.

Tim Linley is the other player in the squad who didn’t play last week. I do feel sorry for him after his unlucky season last year, but at the moment, the other bowlers are better than him, and have started the season well. However, Chris Adams has said that a thigh strain to Stuart Meaker will probably keep him out of tomorrows game, which is a blow, but Linley I'm sure will be desperate to show what he's got.

 

Smith and Burns will be continuing with their opening partnership, which didn’t last two overs last week, as the skipper looks to get his first meaningful contribution with the bat. Burns looked in great nick in his 115, and hopefully the pair can forge a partnership that Surrey fans have been wanting for years.

Arun Harinath will also continue at number 3, but after scoring just 5 last week, he will have to get a score in this game, as Jason Roy will be desperate to win his place back in the side, in whatever position. Vikram Solanki looked solid for his 30 last week, but he will also want to get a monkey off his back by getting a sizable score, with some fans doubting whether he should be in the side ahead of Roy. I still can’t get over the shot Zander played when he got out last week, but I hope he can find form in this game, because after last season, it doesn’t look like Adams likes to drop him. I also hope that Gary Wilson can get a score, because there is no doubt that he deserves a place in the team, but now that he is there, he must justify his selection.

Like us, Sussex have only played once so far this season, but they managed a heavy win over newly promoted Yorkshire. They have a strong line-up, with a Monty Panesar and a certain Matt Prior likely to play his first game of the season, and we also have to come up against two former players in RHB and Jordan, who certainly have something to prove.

Hopefully we can start the game well, unlike against Somerset, where only a fantastic partnership from Burns and Davies prevented a likely defeat. Smith will be desperate for a first win as captain, and with Middlesex winning two out of two so far, there is some catching up to be done!