Warwickshire will face a Middlesex side battling for Division One survival when the two sides meet at Lord’s in the penultimate LV= Insurance County Championship game of the season (19-22 Sept).
And First Team Coach Mark Robinson has demanded his players match the league strugglers for passion and desire as he sets his sights on a third, or even runners-up spot, in the table.
“They’ll be fighting for their lives so it's important we match them in all departments,” said Robinson.
“We need to guard against being subconsciously asleep as there is a risk, if a team’s not challenging for the title or in a relegation scrap, that players don’t have the intensity as they would at the start of the season when everything is to play for.
“We’re still in it for third, maybe second, that’s our goal. Middlesex will be playing with a desperation similar to Northants who pushed us hard in the last game.
“There are times in a season when coaches have to drive teams more than others, to inspire and motivate. I want us to rise to the challenge and finish the season with three straight wins.”
Middlesex – who’ve claimed only two batting bonus points this season – lie eighth in the Division One table just two points ahead of relegation rivals Kent.
One of their three wins came at Edgbaston at the end of July when the Bears were all out for just 60 in their first innings.
“I don’t think that result is significant or that we need revenge in any way,” added Robinson. “We rolled the dice a little bit with what we asked for of that wicket; the weather forecast wasn't great for the four days and we had no interest in coming midtable, we wanted to win.
“We were bold, took a risk, but lost the toss and were five wickets down very quickly. We wanted to create an opportunity to win the game but sometimes decisions like that backfire and you have to take it on the chin.
“The weather doesn’t look great for Lord’s either so it will be fascinating to see how it pans out, how brave Middlesex want to be because they will have one eye on Kent’s progress and may feel they need to try and force a positive result.”
Sam Hain is away with the England ODI squad for a three-match series that starts against Ireland on Wednesday at Headingley.
Al Davies, who has been suffering back spasms, could make a return to the starting XI but a decision on his fitness will be left until the morning of the game.
Squad
Ed BarnardChris BenjaminKraigg BrathwaiteDanny BriggsMichael BurgessAlex DaviesHenry BrookesOlly Hannon-DalbyCraig MilesDan MousleyWill Rhodes (C)Chris RushworthRob Yates
How to Follow
Members and supporters can follow the match live in our Match Centre at edgbaston.com, which will include a free to watch Live Stream, with BBC commentary, and a live text commentary. Supporters can get involved by sending their match day comments and thoughts on Twitter via @WarwickshireCCC and we’ll publish the best ones on our live text commentary in the Match Centre. Supporters can also watch the Live Stream and get instant push notifications of all wickets, innings and match results via the Edgbaston app, which is free to download on iOS and Android. Match updates will also be available across the Club’s social media accounts, simply search for @WarwickshireCCC.
.png?clxf=t_general_medium)
