MATCH PREVIEW: Lancashire v Middlesex
Match Preview as we host Middlesex at Emirates Old Trafford
Lancashire v Middlesex
Rothesay County Championship, Division Two
Friday May 8 - Monday May 11, 2026, 11am
Emirates Old Trafford
After a week off, Lancashire are back in action, with the aim of securing a third win in five games.
The Red Rose have made an encouraging start to 2026 without it being a dominant one. An opening round draw at Northamptonshire was followed by wins at home to Derbyshire and away at Gloucestershire. Unfortunately, last time out they were beaten by Durham at Chester-le-Street.
Now, they tackle a Middlesex side who have won one, lost one and drawn two.
They had their bye week late last month and were back in action last week, against Durham at Lord’s. That game finished in a high-scoring draw.
While this is Lancashire’s second bite at the promotion cherry having missed out last year, Middlesex have been in Division Two since 2023. They narrowly missed out on second place in 2024.
Lancashire are third in the early-season Division Two table on 60 points, 11 behind Durham, who lead the way after four games. Middlesex are fifth on 49.
Opposition
Middlesex have a new head coach in former New Zealand international batter Peter Fulton, who joined them over the winter from Canterbury.
Top-order batter Leus du Plooy continues as captain.
They have the experience of du Plooy, all-rounder Ryan Higgins and former England Test duo Sam Robson and Toby Roland-Jones, also ex-Pakistan left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar.
Middlesex have also signed South African seam-bowling all-rounder Eathan Bosch as their overseas player for the remainder of the summer. He debuted against Durham last weekend.
There are some exciting youngsters hoping to make an impact, led by the 18-year-old seamer Sebastian Morgan, who was part of the England Under 19s team which reached the World Cup final in Zimbabwe over the winter.
Middlesex finished fourth in last season’s Division Two table, a place ahead of the Red Rose.
Opposition player to watch
New overseas signing Eathan Bosch is available for the rest of the season, across all competitions.
The 28-year-old is a one-time South Africa international, a fast bowler who is handy with the bat down the order. His solitary appearance came in an ODI in February 2025.
His older brother Corbin is currently an all-format Proteas, while his father Tertius had a brief international career in the early 1990s.
Eathan is a tall seamer who played his 50th career first-class match on debut against Durham at Lord’s over the weekend just gone, and he has a century and three hauls of five wickets or more to his name in that period.
Previous meeting
These two counties played out a pair of draws in last season’s Rothesay County Championship, one at Lord’s in April and the other at Emirates Old Trafford in September.
Both sides had their victory chances in the first game, while the Red Rose had much the better of things in the second but ran out of time because of the weather.
Rain meant there was no play possible on day one before days two and three were heavily interrupted as well.
But Toms Bailey and Aspinwall claimed four wickets apiece to bowl Middlesex out for 211 in the early stages of day three before Lancashire started day four on 105-0.
A quartet of half-centuries from openers Luke Wells (62) and Keaton Jennings (61), Josh Bohannon (87) and Matty Hurst (67) as well, meant the Red Rose raced to 375-5 declared.
Unfortunately, though, there just wasn’t enough time to force the win, with Middlesex finishing on 99-4. Bailey, forced to bowl some spin because of fading light, claimed three more wickets and debutant Arav Shetty one.
What they said
Lancashire are pleased with their start to the new season, their two early wins giving them a platform to push on from, says director of cricket performance Mark Chilton.
The Red Rose have played four, won two, drawn one and lost one so far.
They are within striking distance of top spot. And although things could have been even better - they were close to winning at Northampton and lost at Durham last time out - there is definite encouragement with the way things have gone so far.
Chilton said: “We’re pleased with the way we’ve started.
“We always knew it was an uphill struggle following the start of last year. That was a really difficult start. So, to have got a couple of wins under our belts early, we’re pleased even though it could have been better.”
Chilton says the week’s rest came at a good time for a squad shorn of three key players - Ajeet Singh Dale, Arav Shetty and Luke Wells - because of long-term injuries.
“I wasn’t at Durham,” said Chilton. “But, before that, I saw the lads get off the bus from Gloucester and thought they looked exhausted after that.
“With three days off, we managed to get ourselves in a position to compete at Durham. But, credit to Bedingham and Gay on that last day, they played very well.
“It was a rough 10 days or so with the injuries, so it’s just allowed us some time to regroup, recharge and get set for the next phase of the season.”
How’s Stat!
This is Lancashire's oldest first-class fixture, first played in 1865 at Old Trafford. This is actually the 200th meeting, and Lancashire have won 57 and Middlesex 56.
This is the 189th Championship game, Lancashire winning 51 and Middlesex 52.
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