SPARE a thought for James Middlebrook.

Having played in every one of Essex’s Friends Provident Trophy matches on the way to Saturday’s final against Kent, the spinner was left out of the Eagles’ team at Lord’s.

Now 31, Middlebrook was 12th man when Essex last reached a showpiece final — in the 2002 B&H Cup against Warwickshire — but the former Yorkshire man had high hopes of being involved this time around.

But, thanks to a combination of overcast weather conditions and dampness in the Lord’s pitch, captain Mark Pettini instead chose to select an extra seamer in Chris Wright.

Afterwards, the skipper revealed that informing his old friend that he had been left out had been one of his toughest tasks since taking charge in June 2007.

“I think it was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do since becoming captain,” said the Echo columnist.

“He’s not only a colleague but also a good mate of mine, so to tell him he was not playing in a final was a difficult thing to do.

“For him to be a close friend of mine and for him to have been part of our success all the way through was extra difficult.

“But sentiment sometimes doesn’t come into it on a big day or any other time.

“Conditions were such that I wanted to play another seamer, especially knowing what Kent’s strengths are at the top of the order.”

Pettini spent a week on holiday in Dorset earlier this month formulating his plans for Saturday’s victory.

And Middlebrook would have been in those plans had conditions been more conducive to spin — but that is likely to be cold comfort to the man who joined Essex in 2002.

“I had an idea during the week, obviously with the weather forecast and knowing that Lord's doesn’t turn a lot,” the captain added.

“You obviously wait until you’ve seen the pitch. If it had been a hot week and the pitch had been a bit drier, it could have been a different.

“But when it was going to be overcast, I knew what my decision was going to be.”