Middlesex v Leicestershire - preview

Date released: 15 August 2008

Middlesex face Leicestershire in the LV County Championship match at Lord's from 20-23 August.

The two teams are separated by just a point in the LV County Championship Division Two.

Ones to watch

Leicestershire

Man in form: James Allenby The Midlanders' star man this season is undoubtedly Western Australian James Allenby.

The talented 25-year-old has excelled with both bat and ball this term and is currently eighth in the Professional Cricketers Association player rankings.

A Leicestershire player, familiar with Lord's will be one-time England wicketkeeper, Paul Nixon.

The vocal stumps-man captains the Foxes and has moved himself up and down the batting order as he looks for form.

Hylton Ackerman is one of several Kolpak players in the visitors' line-up. The right-handed Cape Towner scored an excellent 199 in Leicestershire's recent match with Warwickshire.

In their most recent County Championship match another South African, Dillon du Preez performed well with the ball.

Both Du Preez and Allenby took four wickets each in a draw with Gloucestershire at Cheltenham.

Middlesex

The home side's star man this season has, arguably, been Tim Murtagh.

The experienced seam bowler has taken more than his fair share of wickets this season but has also chipped in with valuable runs.

Stand-in skipper: Ed Joyce Just a few days ago, Middlesex faced Glamorgan in Colwyn Bay. Murtagh added three more wickets to his season's total in the first innings, as did Alan Richardson.

Indian spinner, Murali Kartik took three more in Glamorgan's second innings.

Batting-wise Middlesex will be without their best batsman. Fresh from helping Middlesex to a Pro40 win against Somerset under the floodlights at Lord's, Owais Shah will be with the England one-day squad.

In the absence of regular captain, Ed Smith, namesake Ed Joyce has taken up the captaincy mantle with aplomb - leading the Crusaders to victory in the Twenty20 Cup.

Middlesex's specialist batsman have each drifted in and out of form but with bowlers like Murtagh adding to the total the pressure has been eased on the top order.

Veteran spinner, Shaun Udal, is another bowler who has added run-scoring to his list of talents as his 91-runs against Worcestershire showed.

Tickets will be on sale on the gates. Come along and enjoy a great few day's cricket at Lord's.