Staying “humble and hungry” is the mantra that Angus Fraser, the Middlesex director of cricket, has been drilling into his squad during the build-up to their defence of the County Championship title that, after sitting out the first round last week, now whirs into life at Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl on Friday.
It is a mindset Fraser pinched from hearing Martin Keown on the radio discussing how the Arsenal team of the late 1990s and early 2000s would deal with a new season following success the year before and one player who appears to embody the approach is Nick Gubbins, the left-handed opener whose 1,409 runs last summer proved pivotal in ending a 23-year wait for the title.
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