Middlesex vs Sussex | Doubleheader

Blast is back, and to kick things off it's a doubleheader as both our women and men take to the hallowed Lord's turf to face Middlesex on Thursday. 

For Paul Farbrace and his Sharks side, they will be hoping to repeat last year's efforts in the group stage - one that witnessed them claim nine victories from their 14 matches. It secured second place and, after a blistering win against Lancashire, an early Finals Day exit at the hands of Gloucestershire has Sussex waiting for a first T20 title since 2009.

Meanwhile, a busy offseason has handed Alexia Walker a permanent role as Head Coach of Sussex Women in what has been a testing yet positive start to life since the changes in structure to the women's game. This is the opening round of Vitality Blast matches for Walker's side, too, but have already enjoyed a fair bit of the white ball this season, competing in the One Day Cup and Women's County Cup - showing rapid improvement.

Team News

Paul Farbrace has named a 15-player squad for the short trip to Lord's:

Squad: Alsop, Carson, Clark, Coles, Currie, Foreman, Hudson-Prentice, Hughes, Lamb, McAndrew, Mills, Robinson, Simpson* (wk), Thomas, Ward

Alexia Walker has picked a 14-player squad for her team's respective fixture at Lord's shortly before the men's match:

Squad: Adams, Buckle, Collis, Curling, Docherty, Gentry, Green (c), Harman, Lewis, O'Neill, Stanley, Westley, Harvey, MSL Taylor

The Opposition

Richard Johnson's Middlesex have found the T20 Blast a testing competition of late with bottom-two finishes in each of their previous four campaigns. They improved toward the end of last season, though, with strong wins over Gloucestershire and Glamorgan before defeat to the Sharks on the final day of the group stage.

New Zealand's Kane Williamson will be available for at least 10 Vitality Blast fixtures in a Middlesex shirt in 2025, but Ireland international Josh Little will miss out through injury. Max Holden, too, will be unavailiable due to his call-up to the England Lions side.

Walker's side went one step further in the T20 County Cup this season - both side's only experience of the format this season. Whilst Sussex swept aside Buckinghamshire in the opening round, eventually knocked our by Glamorgan Women, Middlesex Women fell to a 5-wicket defeat to Kent in the opening round.

But in the Metro Bank One Day Cup, Middlesex are flying high. Four wins from as many games has them leading the line at the top of Division Two, with Finty Trussler and Artemis Downer already raising a few eyebrows.

How to Watch

As always, you can watch every ball, free of charge, via our Match Day Centre. You will need to register for a free account to access the stream, statistics, replays and live scorecard. You can find information on how to register here.

The women's match gets underway today at 2.15pm, with the men's match commencing four hours later at 6.15pm. 

Tickets

Tickets for today's doubleheader can be bought here.