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Match preview | Middlesex v Gloucestershire | T20 Vitality Blast

26 May 2022

Gloucestershire have travelled to Middlesex for their opening match of this year’s T20 Vitality Blast campaign.

Dale Benkenstein’s side will be hoping the trip to Radlett will bring their first win of the season following a tough opening round of six LV= Insurance County Championship fixtures that ended with two draws and four defeats.

Gloucestershire narrowly missed out on the Vitality Blast quarter-finals by a single point last year having finished on 14 points with six wins and six defeats. Captained by Jack Taylor, The Shire will be hoping to go one step further in this year’s competition, starting with the trip to face Richard Johnson’s Middlesex.

The hosts endured a disappointing 2021 Vitality Blast campaign in which they only amassed nine points and four wins from their 14 fixtures. Middlesex have, however, started the season well in Division Two of the County Championship and currently sit at the top of the table having won four and draw two of their opening six games.

Middlesex v Gloucestershire | T20 Vitality Blast matchday one| Watch every ball on the Gloscricket Match Centre HERE | 4.30pm Start Time

Gloucestershire’s squad is boosted for the match against Middlesex not only by a return from injury for bowlers David Payne and Naseem Shah, but also by the additions of Benny Howell and New Zealand big-hitter Glenn Phillips.

Both Howell and Phillips have made the trip to North London for Gloucestershire’s first T20 fixture of the season having linked up with the squad this week, fresh from involvement in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Phillips quickly became a fan-favourite at The Shire in 2021 after scoring 500 runs in just 12 matches in the Vitality Blast, the second highest total of all batters in last year’s competition.

The match also sees a return to first-team action for the first time this season for Ian Cockbain, who has strung together a number of impressive performances in T20 warm-ups in the Second XIs so far this year. During the Winter, Cockbain lit up the Big Bash League in Australia with the Adelaide Strikers, helping the side to reach the semi-finals of the competition.

Gloucestershire will, however, be without batters Chris Dent and Ben Charlesworth, who are still recovering from foot injuries, as well as Club captain Graeme van Buuren, who sustained a shoulder injury in the recent County Championship match v Somerset.

Gloucestershire's 13-man squad to face Middlesex:

Gloucestershire v Middlesex T20 head-to-head record
Total matches: 18 Middlesex wins: 2 Gloucestershire wins: 14 Tied: 1 No result: 1 Abandoned: 2

Middlesex squad to face Gloucestershire:

Stephen Eskinazi (C), Martin Andersson, Joe Cracknell, Blake Cullen, Jack Davies, Toby Greatwood, Chris Green, Max Holden, Luke Hollman, Eoin Morgan, Toby Roland-Jones, John Simpson (W), Thilan Walallawita.

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