Durham Men begin their long month on the road when they travel to the capital tomorrow to take on Middlesex at Lords [11am].
Ryan Campbell has named a squad of 14 to take on Middlesex at the Home of Cricket, as his side look for their third win after a commanding win over Lancashire in round three.
Campbell has made one change to the 15 which was named to take on Lancashire, last time out, with Sam Conners dropping out having picked up an abdominal injury while bowling against Lancashire.
Durham sit second in Division Two of the Rothesay County Championship with 57 points from three games, sitting three points behind Lancashire who occupy top spot.
Middlesex are in fifth with one win, one defeat and one draw, beating Gloucestershire by an innings and 14 runs in their opening match of the season. Peter Fulton’s side have 38 points, having sat out of action last week with a bye round.
Durham’s trip to Lord’s tomorrow is the first of three away games with clashes against Worcestershire and Kent coming up in the next month.
Squad v Middlesex (1-4 May)
Colin Ackermann, Kasey Aldridge, David Bedingham, Graham Clark, Emilio Gay, Alex Lees*, Ben McKinney, James Minto, Callum Parkinson, Matthew Potts, Ben Raine, Kemar Roach, Luke Robinson, Ollie Robinson+.
Words from Ryan Campbell
What an amazing game of cricket that win over Lancashire was, that is the beauty of four day cricket, there is so many story lines throughout the game but to come out on top was fantastic to see and huge credit to the guys.
The tale of the game was always about the new ball, and we used it really well and you knew if you got one partnership going it was going to be tough to break it. We saw that with Emilio and Bedders [David Bedingham] and the way they batted on the final day was a credit to see. I am really proud of the whole team for that performance.
Three games down, two wins, one draw against Kent, which we think we could’ve won with a day to go, which is unfortunate, but I think the team is starting to believe, there’s a feeling of calmness around the group that I haven’t seen in a while and that bodes well for the future. The squad is in a good mental space and the confidence of this result should put us in good stead for the next few rounds of games.
Opposition Corner
Captain: Leus du Plooy
Head coach: Peter Fulton
2025 finish: 4th
2025 highest run-scorer: Leus du Plooy (1,009)
2025 highest wicket-taker: Toby Roland-Jones (45)
Key winter moves: Middlesex made their only significant change off the field, with ex-New Zealand international Peter Fulton appointed as head coach after a successful six-year stint with Canterbury. On the playing side, it’s basically as you were, with no room in the budget for overseas additions. Experienced top-order batter Stephen Eskinazi, who was on loan at Leicestershire at the end of last season, converted that temporary switch into a permanent one.
What we’re looking forward to seeing: Josh de Caires started out as an opener, then morphed into a frontline off-spinner batting at seven before returning to the top of the order in the second half of last season. Having passed 50 four times in six games and earned himself a new contract, de Caires now has the chance to nail down his spot as Sam Robson’s opening partner if he can begin turning some of those into hundreds.
Aiming to catch Test selectors’ eye: Already a mainstay of the England Under-19 side that reached the World Cup final in February, 18-year-old seamer Sebastian Morgan made a strong impression in his first three Rothesay County Championship appearances for Middlesex. Morgan’s potential with the bat will also have been noted after his mature knock of 97, coming in at nine against Gloucestershire.
Final thought: Morgan is part of a crop of promising young pace bowlers emerging from Middlesex’s academy, along with the likes of Noah Cornwell, Naavya Sharma and Jamie Feldman. If the younger quicks continue making strides to back up the ever-reliable Toby Roland-Jones and Ryan Higgins, Middlesex could force their way back into the promotion conversation. That will also need an experienced batting line-up including Robson, Du Plooy, Higgins and Max Holden to put big scores on the board.
Match Centre
The Club’s match centre will be in operation for the fixture with live scorecards, statistics & video highlights as they happen. You can watch the game live via Middlesex YouTube channel. Durham Cricket will have full coverage on social media, with a full match report at the close.