North Middlesex do not fear anyone, says captain Joel Hughes
Middlesex's Ethan Bamber during the LV= Insurance County Championship match at Lord's Cricket Ground, London. Picture date: Sunday April 11, 2021. - Credit: PA
North Middlesex captain Joel Hughes insists they do not have to fear anyone in the league - especially now they’re starting to find form.
They currently sit fourth, just one spot above their next opponents Ealing who they will welcome to Crouch End Playing Fields on Saturday.
The skipper is confident his side can start chasing down the front-runners in the Middlesex County Cricket Premier Division.
“Ealing is always a massive game, I think we’re in a good place for it, I think we know our game even with quite a few new players who have now settled into how we play well as a team,” Hughes said.
“I don’t think we’ve got anyone to fear now and we just need to do our thing then hope for the best.”
They head into the clash on the back of a five wicket win over Teddington on Saturday,
Teddington elected to bat first after winning the toss where they were restricted to 119 thanks to Ethan Bamber (4-41) and Joel Hughes (3-14) among other good support from their fellow bowlers.
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Hughes’ side then scored 122-5 in reply with Evan Flowers (33 not out) leading the way with Tom Heathfield (25) and Hassan Khan (19) providing support.
“It was a very satisfying day especially after losing the toss. The wicket looked pretty good, but it didn’t play so good.
“We’ve been playing some consistently decent cricket without the results that we would have liked so to get 10 points at Teddington and I think they’re one of the better teams in the league was great.
“It’s always hard to win at their place and it was pleasing to get a comfortable win.”
He added: “It’s always an absolute honour to have Bamber, he’s a great man and a great bowler, and then with the bat I think a lot of the hard work was done before Evan.
“Tom Heathfield and Matt Cracknell really provided the platform and set the tone for the innings. They nullified their main threat which relaxed the lads for what can be quite a nervous run chase.”
The captain also revealed how pleasing it was to return following a long lay-off due to shielding and injury.
“It’s lovely to be back, I was a little bit worried as I'm not at full capacity, but I was able to bowl off a short run, do a job, and get a few wickets which was extremely pleasing.”
