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MATCH PREVIEW: Lancashire v Middlesex, Rothesay County Championship<\/p>\n
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Lancashire v Middlesex
Rothesay County Championship, Division Two
Monday September 15 – Thursday September 18, 2025, 10.30am
Emirates Old Trafford<\/p>\n
TEAM NEWS:<\/p>\n
Mitch Stanley has been ruled out with a trunk injury sustained against Kent in the County Championship – which also caused him to miss Finals Day.<\/p>\n
Tom Hartley is unavailable as he joins up with England for their IT20 series in Ireland – alongside Jos Buttler,Phil Salt and Luke Wood.<\/p>\n
Saqib Mahmood will miss the series after undergoing a minor procedure on his knee.<\/p>\n
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We have got into the territory of snookers required if Lancashire are going to win promotion this summer.<\/p>\n
They are not mathematically out of things just yet, but last week\u2019s rain-affected draw against Kent at Canterbury did them absolutely no favours even though Mitch Stanley had a memorable week with 11 wickets.<\/p>\n
With two games remaining, sixth-placed Lancashire (139 points) are 41 behind second-placed Glamorgan (180) with only 48 more points to play for. Of course, there\u2019s a scenario which sees Lancashire promoted. But it would be quite a miraculous one.<\/p>\n
Realistically, the Red Rose county will be preparing for another season in Division Two in 2026.<\/p>\n
Middlesex, likewise. They are fourth (150) and 30 points behind Glamorgan, whose penultimate week opponents are third-placed Derbyshire at Derby.<\/p>\n
Both Lancashire and Middlesex drew weather-affected games last week. Middlesex drew at home to Derbyshire at Lord\u2019s.<\/p>\n
The Red Rose were beaten semi-finals by Somerset at Vitality Blast Finals Day on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Opposition<\/p>\n
Like Lancashire with Steven Croft, Middlesex are being led by an interim head coach for the remainder of the season, and he\u2019s a familiar face to all of a Red Rose persuasion.<\/p>\n
Former Lancashire captain Dane Vilas, who was London-based during his playing days at Emirates Old Trafford, took on his first head coaching assignment in mid-June when Middlesex parted ways with Richard Johnson after a poor start to the season.<\/p>\n
Vilas led Middlesex to the quarter-finals of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup last month.<\/p>\n
Middlesex have won four Championship matches from 12 this season, also drawing four and losing four. It\u2019s the latter which has hurt them the most in their bid for promotion.<\/p>\n
Captained by South African batter Leus du Plooy, they have signed England fringe fast bowler Olly Stone on loan from Nottinghamshire for the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n
Top-order batter Max Holden is their leading Championship run-scorer this season with 898 from 11 matches, though he didn\u2019t face Derbyshire last week.<\/p>\n
Like New Zealand overseas star Kane Williamson, he was injured last week.<\/p>\n
Skilful seamer Ryan Higgins is the joint leading wicket-taker in Division Two with 39 alongside Derbyshire\u2019s ex-Lancs all-rounder Luis Reece.<\/p>\n
Veteran Middlesex new-ball seamer Toby Roland-Jones is not far behind with 38.<\/p>\n
Opposition player to watch<\/p>\n
All-rounder Ryan Higgins, aged 30, is enjoying an excellent Championship campaign having taken 39 wickets and scored 468 runs in the middle order.<\/p>\n
Higgins has formed a potent new-ball partnership with Toby Roland-Jones.<\/p>\n
Far from the quickest seamer in county cricket, he is certainly one of the most skilful.<\/p>\n
He is more Darren Stevens in his style of bowling than a Jofra Archer, for example.<\/p>\n
Higgins can win a game with ball or bat. His record of 12 first-class hundreds and eight first-class hauls of five wickets or more tells you that.<\/p>\n
Previous meeting<\/p>\n
The reverse fixture – the opening game of the 2025 season – finished drawn at Lord\u2019s at the start of April.<\/p>\n
This was a high-scoring affair which Lancashire had the better of early on before Middlesex came back into things having conceded a first-innings lead of 99.<\/p>\n
Seamer Tom Aspinwall claimed four wickets on the opening day to help bowl the inserted hosts out for 260, the Red Rose closing on 68-0.<\/p>\n
Overseas Australian debutant Marcus Harris then starred with an excellent 138 to underpin the Red Rose\u2019s 359 all out response, though they would have hoped for more from 287-4.<\/p>\n
But their hopes of victory were raised when Middlesex, second time around, slipped to 7-2 thanks to two early Tom Bailey wickets.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, however, Max Holden\u2019s recovery 184 from number three led his side to 407 all out, a lead of 308. Bailey finished with an impressive 5-79.<\/p>\n
Lancashire had two sessions to chase a 309-target, and they started brightly thanks to openers Keaton Jennings (44) and debutant Michael Jones (49), who shared 93 inside 21 overs.<\/p>\n
But, unfortunately, the momentum couldn\u2019t be maintained, and Middlesex took regular wickets to give themselves a victory chance.<\/p>\n
In the end, Lancashire closed on 262-8, with Harris adding 52.<\/p>\n
Middlesex took 11 points, Lancashire 13.<\/p>\n
What they said<\/p>\n
Steven Croft is backing 11-wicket quick Mitch Stanley to build on his impressive display in last week\u2019s draw against Kent at Canterbury.<\/p>\n
Stanley, in his second year at Emirates Old Trafford, has only played two County Championship matches, with his workload carefully managed because of injuries.<\/p>\n
Aged 24, the fast bowler has played both games against Kent this summer – the first at Blackpool.<\/p>\n
In the return fixture, at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, he returned match figures of 11-180 – 5-80 in the first innings and 6-100 in the second.<\/p>\n
He is on the England radar having played for the Lions last winter and a First-Class Counties XI this summer.<\/p>\n
Lancashire interim head coach Croft said: \u201cI think for anyone who puts in a performance like that, and who\u2019s relatively inexperienced, it\u2019s going to be a massive help.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs sportsmen, when you get your first five-for or hundred, it definitely puts you at ease a bit and makes you feel like you belong at that level.\u201d<\/p>\n
How\u2019s Stat!<\/p>\n
Australian overseas batting star Marcus Harris has returned home following a fabulous first season with Lancashire.<\/p>\n
In the draw at Kent, he took his season\u2019s haul of Championship runs to 1,027 from 10 matches, including three hundreds and five fifties.<\/p>\n
The left-hander averaged 60.41 and is third in the list of leading run-scorers in Division Two behind Northamptonshire\u2019s Saif Zaib (1,192) and Kent\u2019s Ben Compton (1,275).<\/p>\n
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