Squad named for Durham game...

... and interestingly, after this news earlier this afternoon, Neil Dexter's been named in the squad (which makes my assumption that he wouldn't be look very foolish, and confirms that I know absolutely nothing about what's really going on at Middlesex!).

The 13 man squad itself is:

Chris Rogers (c)
Gareth Berg
Steven Crook
Joe Denly
Neil Dexter
Steven Finn
Dawid Malan
Tim Murtagh
Ollie Rayner
Sam Robson
Toby Roland-Jones
John Simpson (wk)
Andrew Strauss

Corey Collymore is missing out (as predicted, I had to get something right eventually) as part of the 'rotation policy', but chances are he wouldn't have made the team either way. Gareth Berg has been struggling with a chest infection, so Steven Crook is in as cover for him, but we'll find out tomorrow morning whether he's fit to play.

From what I see, the only selection dilemma is between Neil Dexter and Ollie Rayner. We will go with four seamers (as usual), with either Crook or Berg (fitness depending) joining Murtagh, Roland-Jones and Finn, with Strauss coming into the top order. So the question is whether they go with the extra batsman (Dex) or the spinner (Rayner)?

There's a case for leaving out both. The ball hasn't spun much in this very early part of the season, and seeing as Ollie was only required to bowl six overs against Surrey, it would make sense to strengthen the batting, which has been rather shaky thus far. Conversely, with Dexter having handed over the captaincy, will he be right mentally to suddenly go and make runs? Or would the release of not being required to captain take the pressure of his shoulders and allow him to return to form?

It's a tough one, but I reckon that they'll go with Dexter. Having named him in the squad, they're going to pick him (otherwise they'd have let him slip away and play for the 2nds) so as such he may get a game. Plus, the batting needs all the strength it can get, and as handy as Ollie Rayner is, I think we'd all prefer the safety-net of Dexter at six with Simpson at seven and Berg at 8.

Whatever way Middlesex go, it'll be a tough game, as Durham are a very good team. However, they did lose their only game of the season last week to Notts, and after Sunday morning, we'll have a lot of momentum to take into the game, which will hopefully help us massively. With overcast conditions forecast, and the pitches playing quite tough so far, the toss will be massive, especially considering the damage Durham's formidable bowling attack could do if asked to field first. Hopefully Chris Roger's tossing (careful) will be better than Dexy's (0 from 2 this year) and he can help Middlesex to a second win in a row. Come on the Middle!