Going away to the county champions is always a tough ask, and while Lancashire have had a tough start to the season (they are yet to pick up a victory in the championship) it was obvious that this would be a difficult week against strong opposition.
After losing yet another toss (incredibly that's six out of six lost now this year), Lancashire went in for a bat, and thanks to Ashwell Prince, made 144 on what looked to be a batsman's paradise. With the sun out and the pitch flat, it was a tough task for the bowlers, but they all plugged away manfully. With Strauss and Finn away with England, Morgan came in for his first Championship game in nearly two years, which mean that the balance of the team (six bats, keeper and four bowlers) remained the same, but it could be argued that on that pitch we were a bowler light.
After Lancashire put on an imposing 392, disappointingly the batsmen didn't quite get it going. Most of the top order batsmen made starts (only Rogers and Morgan of the top 8 made less than 19), but nobody went on to make the telling score that Prince had for the hosts. The batting has improved since the start of the season (which with the improvement in the weather is to be expected) but concerns still linger, as does the propensity to collapse at any given point. In many ways, this makes the rearguard action in the second innings all the more impressive, as it certainly hasn't been the norm so far this year.
Middlesex were bowled out midway through the third day short of the follow-on target, but Lancashire chose not to enforce, instead chasing quick runs which they hoped would set up victory. While tactically this strategy was probably the right one for captain Chapple to play, with hindsight it's fairly obvious that he kept his team out there for far too long. Making 266 from 54 overs, Chapple set Middlesex an unlikely 429 to win from three and a half sessions, and the fact that he stayed out there long into the final session of the third day only helped Middlesex in their attempts to save the draw.
Of course, given the way we batted Chapple could have given us ten sessions and probably wouldn't have got us out. Chris Rogers was like a man possessed, and after missing out a bit this year, you sensed that he was determined to make a telling score and save the game for his side. 138 not out was made by Buck - his first ton of the year - and indeed only his second time past fifty. Those runs just show Buck's importance to the team; with backs up against the wall he's often the man who delivers. He's now made four tons for Middlesex, and none of them have been made in winning causes, but this only emphasises the fact that he puts his hand up and makes the "hard" runs when his team needs it most. Credit must also go to Sam Robson and Joe Denly who both kept him company and made fifties as the draw was managed at 5pm only 1 wicket down.
Again, another week where Middlesex have competed well. As with quite a few games this year, we haven't got into many winning positions, but we have showed that we can compete, and that we are able to hold our own against the strongest teams in the division. Lancashire have struggled this year, but they still are a good side, so to take a draw from that game is very encouraging. Next up is Sussex, and while we've now had a run of fixtures against teams who will fancy finishing at the top end of the table, we now have a chance to beat one of the 'teams around us' in mid-table. Sussex do of course have a strong side, but so do we, and this is exactly the sort of game that we should be targeting. Here is the squad that's been announced...:
Chris Rogers (c)
Gareth Berg
Corey Collymore
Joe Denly
Neil Dexter
Steven Finn
Dawid Malan
Eoin Morgan
Tim Murtagh
Ollie Rayner
Sam Robson
Toby Roland-Jones
John Simpson
No real shocks to the squad, and we're lucky to have Finn back for this game after he missed the adventures in Aigburth. Toby Roland-Jones has come back in after recovering from his injury, and he'll hope to continue the excellent start to the season that he was enjoying before he was struck down. However, unless Berg or Murtagh are given a rest Toby's unlikely to play, with Finn likely to be the man coming straight in for Collymore, who again went wicketless against Lancashire.
Corey's had a pretty miserable start to the season, and just hasn't got it going, which has really made his place vulnerable. He's only taken six first class wickets all year, and the likes of Steven Crook and Anthony Ireland may not be too far away from a call up if Corey's misery continues. For my money, it's the dreads. Once those grow back, he'll be fine...
I'd guess that the team will be the same as at Liverpool other than Finn in for Corey, which means we'll line up as:
Rogers (c)
Robson
Denly
Malan
Morgan
Dexter
Simpson (wk)
Berg
Rayner
Murtagh
Finn
With Denly enjoying batting at three (after being pushed down a spot when Strauss was around) he looks as though he's staying there, and while Rogers does prefer batting at first drop, he's more than capable (as proved last week) as an opener, and is happy to take one for the team and open up alongside Robson. Otherwise I don't envisage any shocks to that team, and with the sun due to be out at Lord's, it might be nice to win the toss (for once), have a bat and stick on about 700! Here's to the next four days!
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