Middlesex star Stirling demands white-ball improvement
Middlesex all-rounder Paul Stirling admits it will be a challenge to revert between 50 and 20 overs cricket over the next few weeks as the domestic one-day season gets into full swing.
Stirling made 60 on Thursday when his team lost their first T20 Blast match of the season to Gloucestershire at Northwood.
Next week Middlesex play on two successive days in the Royal London One-Day Cup before switching back to T20 next Friday against Essex at Chelmsford.
Between now and the end of the month they have six more Blast fixtures and two games in the RLC – with a Championship match against Lancashire at Lord’s to consider as well.
Stirling said: “Personally, I’d prefer to play T20 in a block which we have done in the past. It allows you to get into the format, to work on specific things and get into a bit of a flow.
“That’s probably when you see the best cricket as well. I think as the competition goes on you will see the standard getting better. Hopefully conditions will get better too.
“At Northwood on Thursday it was very, very cold and got quite dark towards the end although it was the right decision to play on, especially with a good crowd in.”
The 23-year-old, who has played 99 times for Ireland in white-ball internationals, is just glad to find a slot in a star-studded Middlesex team.
Brendon McCullum made his debut on Thursday and they have also lined up fellow Kiwi Mitchell McClenaghan and Australian George Bailey to play one-day cricket later in the summer.
That sort of star quality ought to help Middlesex improve on an unimpressive one-day record in recent years.
“We know we’ve been second best in white-ball cricket in the past, even when on paper we’ve had some very good teams,” said Stirling.
“We have got some good players this season and there were a few more who missed out in the first two games so the squad is strong and hopefully we can kick on.
“It would have been nice to have won on Thursday but we had a good start against Hampshire and we’re pretty pleased with how it’s going. It’s a strong group as always with all the teams capable of beating each other.”
