That’s the close at the Oval, on what feels rather like Surrey’s day.... Speak tomorrow folks.
Another wicket for Tom Curran, who has bowled gallantly today. Ollie Rayner done leg before. It just looked right.
Sorry, I told you the new ball was taken, but I lied. Batty is continuing and the ball remains really very old.
And here’s the wicket, with the old ball....
Watch @_TC59 bowl Paul Stirling for 7 https://t.co/kx5nwWgrbA
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) May 15, 2016
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Well, well, well. Surrey took the new ball with eight overs remaining in the day, and CurranT has taken a wicket with its second ball, as Stirling chopped on. Suddenly, this is looking a little like Surrey’s day...
Well batted Chris Woakes. Cliche alert: a captain’s knock, and a mighty recovery from Warwickshire after their major wobble early doors.
Here at the Oval John Simpson fell sweeping Gareth Batty (see below), and Middlesex have simply had too many players get in and get out today, which is never a good idea. New ball isn’t coming that soon, I don’t reckon. Without Rampaul, they might have a three or four over burst with it this evening.
Watch Gareth Batty pick up the wicket of John Simpson LBW for 12 https://t.co/hrHzc8k3XT
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) May 15, 2016
Surrey aren’t for giving up here. They’ve weaseled another set batsman, Adam Voges out, as James Burke pinned him leg before. Suggestion it was a little high, but it nipped back nicely. There’s a video of it below.
They have not taken the new ball and there is no sign of Ravi Rampaul yet. He’s got a hamstring injury, and I’ve heard some suggestion that he wasn’t terribly fit going into the game but that they didn’t have much choice, given their injury issues.
Watch @jamesburke07 trap Adam Voges LBW for 47 https://t.co/fv1poIGsds
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) May 15, 2016
Another nice letter about Tony Cozier here.
Oh, Dawid. That was a poor shot. Wafting outside off at a wideish one, away from his body and he got an edge through to Foakes. Burke, who has plugged away gallantly after a bit of a schooling from Gubbins early doors, was the bowler. John Simpson’s in now.
This, by the way, is outrageous from Rashid. I see he’s got Rogers now too.
Want to see the world's most nonchalant caught & bowled? We give you @AdilRashid03. Tres was 97* at the time too...https://t.co/2zrg2cLsxL
— County Championship (@CountyChamp) May 15, 2016
As the players return to the field, some good news from the Oval. On my teatime wander I saw one Zafar Ansari, looking very relaxed and eating an ice cream. The pleasing element was that there was no strapping on his troublesome thumb, and no evidence that it was actually troublesome at all. Hopefully he’ll be back soon; Surrey certainly need him on today’s evidence.
Tea at the County Ground where Kent have reached 209 for three. That was a better session for Northants with the wickets of Bell-Drummond for 47, well caught at slip by Rory Kleinveld, and, a couple of overs before the interval, Sam Northeast. The latter had played a robust innings and was on 49 when he drove Panesar firmly back with the bowler taking a sharp low return catch with some ease. Joe Denly is still there though, and has batted well for 92. Panesar has enjoyed a better afternoon, bowling from the Pavilion end, his rhythm visibly improved, so that his figures now read 21-6-63-1. He was pleasantly surprised to be picked, and is finding it slightly strange if an experienced international bowler can ever find second division championship cricket as such.
Meanwhile, it has been an enjoyable afternoon in the company of Peter Willey, who may well be the strongest bloke I ever came across in cricket. We first played against one another 48 years ago on this ground, where I note that he was lbw Selvey for 1. Oddly, it is something I recall vividly because I lost my footing as I followed through and didn’t really see the ball hit the pad. So my appeal was rather indifferent. Tom Spencer, the umpire said nothing, and then Arnold Long, the keeper, also appealed loudly. At this the finger was raised. “ That’s out,” said Tom.” But next time appeal properly.” So an early lesson learned. I also note that I was lbw Mushtaq ( Mohammed, a wonderful all rounder who bowled legspin). It was the start of my total incompetence against legspin. Before I took guard, Robin Jackman told me on no account to play back because he bowls this flipper. In it came, and back I went. End of.
Some years later, at Lord’s, on a king pair, I faced Mushie again. “What are you going to bowl me, Mushie?” I asked. “ I will bowl you googly,” he said. Knowingly, I played for the leg break, ss you would, and was bowled through the gate. “ I told you I bowl google,” chortled Mushie. “ Great,” I said.” I can’t trust you to be offing devious.”
Anyway , time for a cuppa.....
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And that’s tea at the Oval, brining an end to another fine session for the (sort of) visitors. Malan, who has pulled and cover driven very well, brought up his 50 in the over before be tea. Voges growing into his innings and looking rather good now. Enjoy your cake.
There’s Borthwick’s hundred, which is great to see. He’s obviously been reading BTL about his conversion rate. Nothing like a Badger scorned, eh.
100 runs for @Borthwick16 from 158 deliveries including fourteen 4's. Top work Scotty, well batted! #DURvLAN
— Durham Cricket Club (@DurhamCricket) May 15, 2016
Very pleased to read this.
Wicket for Monty. Excellent return catch gets rid of Sam Northeast for 49.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) May 15, 2016
Richie B would be enjoying the action today.
Fine day for Richie Benaud in the @CountyChamp pic.twitter.com/0xAFWT7ssj
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) May 15, 2016
I returned from a little perambulation to discover that B-Dolly fell one short. Shame. Doesn’t sully what is a pretty special hot streak. At least he finally has a first-class 50, mind.
Middlesex have a batting point as the game ambles along here. Currant bowled a fine spell which did for Gubbins and almost Voges too, but one senses Surrey might find themselves rather stretched: Rampaul is off the field injured, while Pillans and Burke haven’t quite looked the part. Batty and Currant will have to plenty of bowling, I think.
Conflicted over this one. Not sure who I love more, Dilly-Rash (sounds uncomfortable, doesn’t it?) or Tres.
WICKET! Rashid gets Trescothick, who smashes one back at him head-height, and Rashid hangs on. Trescothick goes for 97 off 151 (17x4)
— Yorkshire CCC (@YorkshireCCC) May 15, 2016
Here’s the wicket of Gubbins, who was (rightly) furious with himself having played so well.
Watch the wicket of Nick Gubbins caught by Arun Harinath off @_TC59 for 91 https://t.co/CsePvcrxFP
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) May 15, 2016
Trott goes! Lucky that Warwickshire bat so deep...
Anyway, here at the Oval, Nick Gubbins has gone, for 91. That’s the third time he’s got out in the 90s, and he’s yet to get a ton. Tom Curran had a right to be furious after Gubbins had got a pair of boundaries due to misfields - first sub Gary Wilson (on fro Ravi Rampaul, who is injured) then Arun Harinath. But then Gubbins got a leading edge trying to turn to leg and Harinath - who, like Curran, got his county cap at lunch, took a fine catch low down. Brilliant innings from Gubbins, and a shame not to see him bring up a maiden first-class ton.
Trescothick and Trott in the runs. All is right with the world...
Two boundaries in 3 balls takes Jonathan Trott to 52 from 101 balls with 10 fours. He's stood out. 98-5 Warks. #countycricketlive
— CulleyCricket (@CulleyCricket) May 15, 2016
Malan’s up and away with two stunning off-drives off Ravi Rampaul, the second of which brings up the Middlesex 150.
I see the latest Worcestershire B-Dolly is among the runs again, and he’s been joined by my favourite of all my favourite current youngsters, Joe Clarke. The boy has wrists to die for.
On B-Dolly, err....
We just had a little break in proceedings so opening batsman D'Oliveira could remove the mobile phone he'd left in his pocket from lunch.
— Elizabeth Ammon (@legsidelizzy) May 15, 2016
Right on cue, just as I was about to mention Badger Borthwick and Young Burnham’s impressive little partnership, I noticed Galactus’s comment BTL imploring me to do so (not quite sure of motive, but nevermind). Anyway, it’s great to see Borthwick, particularly, in the runs. You do wonder sometimes what he has to do to get a look-in. He’s got the lot, I reckon.
Here, by the way, is the wicket of Sammy Robson at t’Oval.
Watch the wicket of Sam Robson stumped by Ben Foakes off Gareth Batty for 53 https://t.co/htpKmpa1IU
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) May 15, 2016
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Well, well, well. I’ll be damned. Surrey have a wicket in the first over after lunch. Batty chose to have a trundle from the Pavilion End and Robson, who has looked to use his feet to him all day, skipped down to defend, and was beaten on the outside edge. Foakes smartly stumped him. Dawid Malan in now. 126-1.
A lovely little letter:
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I mentioned earlier that Sammy Robson was dropped on 9 by Sanga. Here’s a look...
With 482 Champo runs to his name before facing Surrey, @Middlesex_CCC's Sam Robson is not a man to drop. Oh Sanga... https://t.co/uXYlAAKYXq
— County Championship (@CountyChamp) May 15, 2016
Were pitches human, that at the County Ground would be feeling as if it had had a belly full of ale and a large kebab the night before. Just a bit on the sluggish side. There are three very distinct parts to it: either end looks bare, and the rest just a bit of colour albeit that is brown too. The demarcation is distinct, like it would be on a dun coloured battenburg cake. The probability is that the grass has been left on in the middle to try and promote a bit of pace , rather than the ends shaved to help a spinner ( if that is the case, they have not gone far enough down).
But all in all, it is desperately slow and really hard work for the bowlers. So Kent, who won the toss and batted first, have prospered before lunch, with Daniel Bell-Drummond (40) and Joe Denly ( 46) sharing an unbroken second wicket partnership of 87 after Tom Latham was run out for 2. Bell-Drummond, one of a number of openers making names for themselves already this summer, has been solid, working the ball nicely to leg and on the rare occasions given width, angled the ball away nicely on the off. Denly has been more robust, looking to hit straight, which he has done effectively on three or four occasions. The morning saw Monty Panesar’s return to first class cricket and he came on to bowl his first spell after almost an hour. He has a little more timber on him, but the action is still languid and full-bodied. There was nothing yet to help him though. A first speill of 6 overs conceded 22 runs and a change of ends, a further 12 from 3 overs as Denly twice hit him firmly straight. He might have a long afternoon’s bowling.
That, then, is lunch at the Oval and what a morning for Middlesex. Sure, it was a massive toss, the pitch is flat and one boundary near-comically short, and Surrey are missing five bowlers through injury and school (Footitt, Ansari, Scurran, Meaker and Dunn), but what a morning.
Nick Gubbins dines on 70, his highest score of the season, and if you were to have arrived in the hope of watching a prospective England opener, you would have assumed it was he, not Sam Robson - who has played nicely himself for his 53 - who was in the frame. Gubbins has straight driven, late cut and pulled beautifully - and a little cheekily. It’s been an exhibition. Robbo, too, has played well, but already Sangakkara’s drop of him on 9 looks criminal. There was, off Batty, a six hit down the ground by Robson, and into the Pavilion. He sort of pulled out of the stoke halfway through, so god knows how far it would have gone if he’d played it with conviction.
Surrey’s bowling has been, well, ordinary, as Shane Warne might say. Gubbins has rather toyed with them at times, but Batty has also been guilty of following the ball a little bit, I’d say.
Enjoy your lunch.
Some things never change, and for that we should be grateful
50 for Marcus Trescothick! Somerset 95/1#SOMvYORKS pic.twitter.com/o1UQikdnVn
— Somerset Cricket (@SomersetCCC) May 15, 2016
A rare failure for Tom Westley at the ECG, as Tony Palladino pins him leg before for a duck. At New Road, Brett D’Oliveira is cruising along nicely again.
You’ll surely all have seen this, but there’s never a bad time to get it out again. DJ Gubbo:
— Martyn Fryer (@Cricket_I_LuvIt) April 14, 2016
Gubbins has just brought up a marvellous half-century - his third of the season, all in the first innings - with a beautiful cover drive off his 60th delivery, bowled by Tom Curran. That was his sixth boundary off Curran.
What is going on at Edgbaston? Luke Fletcher, the great man, is ripping through Warwickshire but Jonathan Trott is standing firm. I see Monty is on at Wantage Road and Selve is giving a few indications of how he’s going BTL.
Here at the Oval, it is, well, flat. Looks like being a long day in the dirt for Surrey and one hell of a toss to have won for Adam Voges. Those who have seen the pitch say there should be a bit about it, because Surrey are looking to force results (they’ve drawn to Somerset and Durham already here), but there’s little evidence of that yet. Gubbins is looking supreme, Robson a good deal more scratchy, and Gareth Batty is already on to bowl. He’s reluctant to do that this year, for whatever reason.
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If you haven’t had a look already, this is well worth a read. Don McRae meets the charming Angelo Mathews.
Looks tough going at Warwickshire, doesn’t it? Laurie Evans, playing his first game of the season, in at 5-2 with both openers gone, which is probably not how he imagined things panning out. Ian Bell out with that injury, I see.
Also injured is Chris Rushworth, but Durham are zipping along at more than fours at CLS. The two oldies are in at Taunton after a Steve Patterson wicket, which is lovely to see.
Interesting start here at the Oval, where you’d really like to have a bat. Middlesex have found their way to 35-0, but not without incident. Sam Robson, he of the great run glut, has been dropped by Kumar Sangakkara at first slip off Ravi Rampaul with nine to his name, while a couple of other edges - from both he and Nick Gubbins - have fallen just short of the cordon.
Gubbins, it has to be said, looks in wonderful touch. Twice he’s drilled Tom Curran down the ground for beautiful fours, while the first of those was immediately followed by a lovely boundary through the covers. Gubbins’ brother, Will, made 144 for his club Stirlands yesterday; could Nick - DJ Gubbo - follow suit today?
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I’ve always had a soft spot for Wantage Road, or the County Ground as I like to think of it. Nothing fancy, just a proper,well, county ground. And it only takes me twenty minutes to get here. So what’s not to like.
I’m only here for two days before I have to go to Leeds for the first Test, but I thought there was an opportunity to have a look at Daniel Bell-Drummond, who has taken his game to the next level this season, and Ben Duckett , another opener, who was on the verge of a triple century last month when the weather washed away any chance of completing it. But now I find I have the added bonus of Monty. It is genuinely heartening to see him back on the first class field and in a much better place ( i mean in his mind rather than Northampton) than he has been for some years.
For now though we have been watching Bell-Drummond and Tom Latham opening for Kent against Rory Kleinveldt and the young tearers Olly Stone. The Cobblers ( which is what they were called by us almost 50 years ago and , sorry, that is what they remain to me ) have just lost their first wicket, with Latham run out at the bowlers end by Alex Wakley as they tried and failed to sneak a quick single. So Kent are 15-1.
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Preamble
Well a very good morning to you all. Will Macpherson here at the Oval, and what a pleasure it is to be back in the chair for the first time this season. Today we also have Mike Selvey at Northamptonshire’s game with Kent, where Monty Panesar is making his long awaited return to top-level action.
At the Oval, the sun is shining and the pitch looks as flat as ever. Unsurprisingly, Adam Voges asked to toss a coin, and when it landed he had called correctly, so Middlesex will bat. In the absence of Nick Compton, Voges moves up to first drop, while James Harris returns in place of Steven Finn, who like Compo is off with England. Surrey have replaced Matthew Dunn with his namesake Pilans. Zafar Ansari still isn’t fit, which is slightly worrying: it’s all very hush and my hunch is he might be out for a while. This is the first London derby since 2013, by the way. Both sides are winless (although there haven’t been many wins...)
Elsewhere, we have a veritable belter of a round, even without the land’s finest, who are preparing for a Test at Headingley on the Thursday. In Div One, Lancashire head north to Durham, Yorkshire travel south to Somerset, and Nottinghamshire face Warwickshire at Edgbaston. That should be one hell of a game.
Down in Div Two, it’s the relegation derby as Sussex head to Worcestershire, the Gls meet as Gloucestershire host Glamorgan, while red hot Essex welcome Derbyshire. Of course, as I mentioned above, Northants are playing Kent, and Monty is in the side. Great news all round.
Best of all, though, is that the weather is beautiful here and, as far as I can see, we are not going to have any delayed starts. Very unfamiliar ground.
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Enjoy the cricket folks, and be sure to get in touch BTL. Selve and I will do our best to keep you abreast of developments ATL. Go well.
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