Kiwi stars aim to Blast Middlesex into shape after frustrating start
THE return of the T20 Blast will come as light relief to Middlesex as they struggle to live up to the highs of last season in the longer form of the game.
The defending County champions have had a difficult season to date, with just one win and two defeats with the red ball this season and sit sixth in Division One, just above Somerset and Warwickshire in the dropzone.
So the arrival of New Zealand trio Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Tim Southee could come at just the right time to breathe some life into Middlesex’s season.
Vettori has signed a threeyear deal at Lord’s and will be head coach in the T20 campaign.
And head coach Richard Scott is looking forward to the shorter form of the game as well as working with Vettori.
He said: “I will still be involved in the T20, maybe looking at opposition sides and working with players not in our team, but it will be fascinating for me to watch the input from Daniel and I very much look forward to tapping into his expert knowledge in this form of the game.”
Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s managing director of cricket, added: “The skills required by players in different forms of the game are wide-ranging – why should coaching be any different? Daniel will only strengthen what is already an outstanding coaching unit.”
Vettori played a total of 442 times for New Zealand in all three formats of the game and has more recently been working with Brisbane Heat in Australia’s Big Bash, as well as the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.
McCullum will look to score runs with his explosive style of batting while fellow Kiwi Southee will bring international experience to the bowling attack.
Middlesex begin their T20 campaign against Gloucestershire in Cheltenham today and they will be boosted by the return of Australian Michael Klinger.
And while Middlesex may have signed a couple of high profile overseas stars, he believes the key to success is for more players to contribute across the team.
Klinger said: “There are some teams with one or two high-profile players who can take a game away from you.
“The way to overcome that is to have more players contributing, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be the same people all the time. Last year, although one bowler would generally go for a lot of runs, we had four others bowling well and taking wickets.
“If one or two of the toporder batsmen got out cheaply, the middle order stepped in, and if you look at when we have done well in short-format cricket, it’s been when everyone plays their specific role.”
Elsewhere, former England batsman Kevin Pietersen returns to play domestic cricket for the first time in two years after he rejoined Surrey.
Surrey will begin their campaign away to the Essex Eagles today while Glamorgan will entertain Hampshire.
The Kent Spitfires have to wait until Sunday to get their T20 campaign underway when they face Essex, and the Sussex Sharks face Glamorgan at Arundel on the same day.