Match times, streaming information, tickets and travel, team news, head-to-head record, weather forecast, prediction, and everything else you need to know ahead of the Vitality T20 Blast match
Fixture: Middlesex v Gloucestershire
Venue: Radlett Cricket Club, Radlett
Dates: Thursday, June 17, 2021
Start time: 5:30pm
What's the lowdown?
Middlesex finally recorded their first win of the Vitality Blast on Tuesday night. They chased down a mammoth 215 against Hampshire Hawks. Their struggles with the bat have been well documented this season, but thanks to 77 from Joe Cracknell and 62 from John Simpson, they appear to have remedied them, even if just for one game.
Despite that victory, they are still at the foot of the table due to an inferior net run rate. However, they have the same number of points as fourth-placed Somerset and could easily leap into the knockout places with a victory.
Gloucestershire have also had a sub-optimal start to the season, narrowly defeating Glamorgan in round one before losing two on the spin. Against Sussex, their batting was undone by George Garton, who took 3 for 19 to limit Jack Taylor's side to 177, before Phil Salt smashed 77 from 49 balls to help his side complete their chase inside 18 overs.
48 hours later, they faced Kent and played out an almost exact replica of their season opener against Glamorgan - except on this occasion, they were only the losing side having fallen six runs short in their chase. The return of James Bracey is a boost.
Who's in form?
Joe Cracknell scored 77 against Hampshire in his first Blast appearance of the season. The fact that he is the county’s leading run scorer is a poor indictment on the rest of the batting line up.
South African Chris Green has taken seven wickets in his first four games with Middlesex. That included a five-for and a hat-trick against Kent. He remains the only bowler to boast those accolades in this year’s competition.
Glenn Phillips has been Gloucestershire's star batter, scoring 124 runs at a strike rate of 151.21 from number four while allrounder Benny Howell is once again proving himself to be an explosive middle-order option, most notably against Kent when he smashed 44 from just 23 balls. Josh Shaw has had the best of it with the ball, taking six wickets at an average of 13.66.
Last five T20 matches (most recent first)
Middlesex: WLLLL
Gloucestershire: LLWLW
Head-to-head T20 record
Total matches: 16
Middlesex wins: 2
Gloucestershire wins: 12
Tied: 1
No result: 1
Abandoned: 2
What's the team news?
Middlesex: Sam Robson and Tim Murtagh have been included in the 14-man to bolster the batting and bowling, respectively, while Max Holden misses out. Robson's inclusion comes off the back of some good performances for the second XI while Murtagh is returning from an elbow injury.
Middlesex squad: Eoin Morgan, Ethan Bamber, Joe Cracknell, Blake Cullen, Stevie Eskinazi, Steven Finn, Chris Green, Nick Gubbins, Luke Hollman, Tim Murtagh, Sam Robson, John Simpson, Nathan Sowter, Paul Stirling
Gloucestershire: James Bracey is included in Gloucestershire's 14-man squad for their trip to Radlett.
Gloucestershire squad: Miles Hammond, Chris Dent, Ian Cockbain, Glenn Phillips, Jack Taylor, Ryan Higgins, Benny Howell, Graeme van Buuren, Tom Smith, David Payne, Matt Taylor, James Bracey, Josh Shaw, Dan Worrall
Latest Middlesex news: Click here
Latest Gloucestershire news: Click here
What's the weather forecast?
Dry and cloudy following some early morning rain, with temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius.
Keep up to date with the MetOffice's rolling forecast for Radlett: Click here
How do I follow the match?
TV/stream: The ECB are offering a streaming service which can be found here.
Middlesex will also be offering a live stream of the match which can be found here.
Radio: BBC Local Radio and the BBC Sport website will carry ball-by-ball radio commentary of the game.
Digital: The Cricketer will carry live scorecards and daily updates from every Vitality T20 Blast match in 2021, as well as the latest breaking news from around the counties and exclusive features. Visit our County Hub for more.
Going to the game?
Tickets
Tickets for Middlesex's three T20 Blast fixtures at Radlett are available to members only and will be played in front of a reduced capacity crowd in line with the government's latest Covid-19 guidelines.
Click here to visit the Middlesex box office.
Travel
Address: Radlett Cricket Club, Cobden Hill, Radlett, WD7 7JL
By train: Radlett train station is around a 15 walk from the cricket club. For details of the trains that run to Radlett, visit www.nationalrail.co.uk
Upon exiting the station, turn left and follow Watling Street south for roughly 10/15 minutes. As you leave the village you will see the Cat & Fiddle pub on your right and the turning into the Club is about 50 yards past the pub on the left. There is a brown signpost on the right indicating the turning pointing to the cricket club and Tabard Rugby Club.
By road:
From the north: Leave the A1/A1M at junction 23 and join the M25 travelling West towards Heathrow. Leave the M25 at junction 22 and take the B556 towards Radlett for a mile to a T junction with the A5183. Follow this all the way into Radlett and as you leave the village you will see the Cat & Fiddle pub on your right. Turn left around 50 metres beyond the pub and follow the path to arrive at the ground.
From the west: Leave the M25 at junction 21a and take the A405 to St Albans until you reach the Park street roundabout and take the right hand/third exit, the A5183, to Radlett. Then follow the directions as details in "from the north".
From the east: Leave the M25 at junction 22 and follow the directions stated in "from the north".
From the south: Depending how far south you are: Either use the M25 and directions as directed above from the east or west; or Take the A5 Edgware Road going north to the roundabout with the A41 going straight on towards Elstree and join the A5183 towards Radlett. Follow the road until you enter the 30 mph zone and the entrance to the public car park will be signposted on the right.
For the public car park, continue along Cobden Hill and the entrance to the public car park is 300 yards on the left.
Prediction?
Neither team is playing at their best, but if the head-to-head is anything to go by, then there can be only one winner. Gloucestershire Win.
OTHER T20 BLAST FIXTURES: THURSDAY, JUNE 17
North Group
Derbyshire Falcons v Northants Steelbacks
South Group
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