Match Preview: Hampshire v Middlesex, LV= Insurance County Championship

Hampshire will be looking to build on last week’s impressive opening LV= Insurance County Championship success when they face Middlesex in the first home fixture of this year’s competition at The Ageas Bowl, starting on Thursday.

James Vince’s side secured an innings victory against Leicestershire in last week’s curtain-raiser, taking the maximum 24 points from the contest, and they will be hoping to add to their tally against the London-based side this week.

Hampshire Squad:

An unchanged 13-man squad has been named for this week’s opening fixture, with James Vince, fresh from his incredible double-century last week, leading the side.

Fellow Grace Road centurions Liam Dawson and Tom Alsop will also be hoping to build on their strong start to this year’s competition against Middlesex; Dawson who starred in his first game back from a season-ending achilles injury suffered last summer, has now returned to full fitness.

Overseas seamer Mohammad Abbas is in line to make his home debut for Hampshire after featuring in his first competitive appearance in last week’s win against his former side.

Aneurin Donald, Keith Barker and James Fuller remain unavailable as they recover from injury.

Full Hampshire Squad:

Behind-Closed-Doors:

Hampshire’s LV= Insurance County Championship match against Middlesex at The Ageas Bowl will be played behind-closed-doors, with no fans in attendance. 

Timings:

As a mark of respect, Hampshire's LV= Insurance County Championship fixture against Middlesex will pause between 2:50-4:10 on Saturday 17th April, to coincide with the funeral of HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh.

All nine LV= County Championship matches will be paused during this period.

Whilst play is paused, the two sides will take 20 mins for the tea interval, with one hour of playing time to be made up. 30 minutes will be made up on Saturday 17th April (Day Three) with the remaining 30 minutes split evenly on Thursday 15th April (Day One) and Friday 16th April (Day Two).

The amended hours of play will be as follows:

Day One & Two 

Morning Session: 11:00-13:00

Afternoon Session: 13:40-15:40

Evening Session: 16:00-18:15

Day Three

Morning Session: 11:00-13:00

Afternoon Session: 13:40-14:50

Evening Session: 16:10-18:30

Coverage

A live stream will be available for the match and a link to this stream will be available at both www.ageasbowl.com/cricket and on the free Hampshire Cricket App.

Both www.ageasbowl.com/cricket and the Hampshire Cricket App will also host a live match centre with scorecard, statistics and insight available throughout the match.

Weather Forecast:

Please follow the link for the latest weather forecast for The Ageas Bowl: https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/6620360