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Essex have named a 12-man squad for their LV County Championship match against Middlesex at Lord’s, starting on Friday (June 6).

Grant Flower is set for his first Championship appearance of the season with Varun Chopra omitted from the top order.

Tom Westley returns to the side after missing out on Wednesday’s Friends Provident Trophy victory at Leicester with Graham Napier the other player to drop out.

Tim Phillips is unavailable after knee surgery.

Play is due to get underway at 11.00am. 

Pre-match comments
Speaking ahead of the game, First-Team Coach Paul Grayson told the Essex CCC website:

“People have talked about one or two below-par performances of late but we are in the semi-finals of the Friends Provident Trophy and are going reasonably nicely in the Championship.

“If we can get a good result at Lord’s then we go into the Twenty20 Cup in a good position in the Championship table.

“Five or six of our players have not performed in the way that they would have wanted to in recent weeks but it says a lot about the players at this Club that we’ve still managed to get ourselves into the position we have.

“We are well aware that we need more runs from the top order and Grant Flower will bring us more experience in that area. It’s fair to say that some of the pitches we’ve played on recently have been bowler-friendly – the conditions at Worcester in our last game were not easy for example. First innings runs are vital and we know our batting points tally needs to improve – we will try to achieve that in this game. Our aim is to bat first and post a decent score.”

Tickets
Ticket prices are as follows:
£14 adults/£7 concessions
Concessions at Lord's are Over 65s and U16s - except during the Twenty20 matches when concessions are only U16s.

Online and Radio coverage
BBC Essex – our official broadcast partner - will be providing live ball-by-ball commentary of the game from 11.00am on Friday. You can access the commentary via the Essex CCC website by CLICKING HERE or at http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/realmedia/cricket_commentary.ram from the start of the match.

Essex squad to play Middlesex in the LV County Championship at Lord’s (Friday June 6 to Monday June 9, 11.00am start)
Jason Gallian, Tom Westley, Grant Flower. Ravinder Bopara, Mark Pettini,
Ryan ten Doeschate, James Foster, James Middlebrook, David Masters, Alex Tudor,
Danish Kaneria, Tony Palladino.

Day Two at Lord’s
Saturday of the Championship match between Middlesex and Essex is a very special day at Lord’s.
For more information on Ladies Day, click here:
http://www.middlesexccc.com/news-detail.asp?NewsID=1181

Meanwhile, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has invited a group of children from the Shooting Star Children's Hospice to enjoy a day at Lord's on Saturday.

For the second year running, the children and their families will watch Middlesex battle against local rivals Essex in the Liverpool Victoria County.

The families, who are all based in the western half of Greater London and surrounding areas, will be hosted by MCC in a VIP hospitality box in the Grand Stand.  The day will start with a personalised tour of the ground, including the MCC Museum and the Investec Media Centre followed by lunch. Each child will receive a goodie bag with items from MCC, Middlesex, and Essex plus autographed postcards from some of the Sky Sports presenters including Ian Botham.  There will also be a chance to meet some of the players.

The Shooting Star Children's Hospice provides essential care and support for children and young people with life-limiting conditions and their families, free of charge, 365 days a year. These care services include short breaks, care at home, support for siblings, emergency care and end of life care. It costs £3 million every year to maintain the services at Shooting Star House and in the community, and with no long-term statutory funding, the majority of this comes from voluntary donations.