Middlesex (106 and 229 for five) lead Yorkshire (299) by 46 runs
Compo’s just hit a pair of magnificent cover driven fours off Bresnan as the day winds down, with 8 overs left in the day. He and Franklin have dropped anchor a bit since taking the lead and Middlebrook is into the attack. Think the Yorkshire leads will settle for a big night tomorrow, rather than Thirsty Thursdays. The stand is 91.
Tom Cooper has become the third Somerset batsman to score a century today – and he didn’t hang around like the other two. The Australian, who plays international cricket for Holland, got there from 103 deliveries, with 13 fours and two sweetly driven sixes. He reached his maiden championship hundred when he drove Crane through the covers for four. But he’s just out for a miscue for 118 to give Hampshire their second bowling point.
James Hildreth could join the hundred club too, it seems, if Somerset don’t declare. The Hampshire bowlers are hanging in there, though Crane has become a little expensive. With 20 overs to go Somerset – who scored 565 for five declared in their last innings here, against Worcestershire, are 483 for three.
I popped in the Somerset Cricket Museum at tea. It’s housed in a splendid 500-year-old bar. The latest addition is the helmet Chris Gayle wore in his three Twenty20 games for Somerset, in which he scored 151 not out, 92 and 85 not out.
But curator David Wood’s favourite old Somerset player is the legendary Sammy Woods, who played for England and Australia, and whose task on one tour, to the West Indies, was to mix the breakfast cocktails for the other players. Those were the days.
Middlesex (106 and 197 for five) lead Yorkshire (299) by four runs
Since tea, Nick Compton and James Franklin have played really well, and have knocked off the 50 run deficit, and are now building a lead. Compton especially has shown real intent, skipping down the track to Middlebrook and sending a lofted drive over mid-on for four, then hitting an inside-out drive through extra cover next ball. They’ve run twos immensely well and are making things hard for Yorkshire. Great to see.
Tea: Middlesex (106 & 143 for five) trail Yorkshire (299) by 50 runs
Dexter came and went, both times to loud applause from the members. He was beaten a couple of times by Brooks, then responded with a handsome cover drive. But he didn’t last long, getting a leading edge to Brooks, who took a sharp low caught and bowled for his first wicket of the match and set off in rapturous celebration. You sense that the Yorkshire lads might fancy a night on the tiles in West Hampstead tonight.
Middlesex shouldn’t allow that to happen. They have 32 overs to survive and bat deep and the pitch is no minefield, even if it’s done a bit. Hopefully James Franklin can channel Compo’s spirit for a bit of dig in. Still 50 behind, mind.
Middlesex (106 & 128 for four) trail Yorkshire (299) by 65 runs
Stevie Eskinazi and Compton dug in gainfully for a while, with the former off the mark with a pulled four and then later, a beautiful clip through midwicket. Compo has laced a nice cover drive through the field too, and survived a very decent looking LBW appeal from Steve Patterson. Next over, Paterson’s got Eski, though. He’s played forward to a fullish ball and it’s just nipped back, through the gate and sent off stump cartwheeling. Cracking nut.
Neil Dexter gets a nice ovation from the Pavilion as he walks out to bat for Middlesex at Lord’s for the final time. Compo’s digging in and certainly getting a load of chirp from the field, while Adam Lyth bowled an over. All I’m saying is that he’s using a different action he used when bowling for England. This one looks likely to turn the ball a bit more…
Trescothick has gone for 153, losing his leg stump as he attempted to drive Edwards. He batted for a shade over five and a half hours and hit 29 fours.
Just before that, Trescothick had reached 1,000 first-class runs for the season. Remarkably, he has only done that on six previous occasions. He had never done it until 2007. That’s what playing for England does for you.
It’s 369 for two, and Copper has got to fifty. The only hope for Hampshire now is that Trescothick bats for too long and the rain comes. That’s what happened in the last game here, against Worcestershire, and it cost Somerset valuable bowling points.
Hampshire have taken the new ball but what they really need is a prayer mat. Trescothick has just reached his 150 with a glanced four to the fine-leg boundary off Ryan McLaren. That lifted the score to 336 for one in the 82nd over.
Their one success came with the score on 272 when Abell was lbw to Gareth Berg. The opening stand was just one run short of the Somerset record against Hampshire, between Peter Roebuck and Nigel Felton at this ground in 1986. Since then this version of Tom Cooper has had no trouble easing into the thirties.
Middlesex (106 & 86 for none) trail Yorkshire (299) by 107 runs
Sammy Robson has gone to a very fine 50, from 68 balls, by spanking James Middlebrook through the covers for four. Yorkshire look rather toothless, the sun is out and the pitch has flattened out (although it wasn’t desperately lively yesterday, Yorkshire just bowled better). Striling has opened the shoulders a bit too, launching Brook for two fours thrashed through the offside and one pull in an over...
Middlesex (106 & 87 for one) trail Yorkshire (299) by 106 runs
Oh Sam, sorry. Just as I toasted your form, you’ve gone and got out. He’s basically just missed a straight one from Bresnan. It moved back a touch and was a good ball, but Robson flattered it. Gone for 53. Compton on a pair, as is Malan after him...
Middlesex (106 & 87 for two) trail Yorkshire (299) by 106 run
And, another. Middlebrook has spun a nice one through Stirling’s unlatched gate and Yorkshire are ticking again. Poor shot, two batsmen in on a pair.
Middlesex (106 & 87 for three) trail Yorkshire (299) by 106 runs
….and another. Middlebrook traps Malan plumb in front for a pair. Bresnan’s just got one to keep a bit low to Compton, and then next ball he’s had a wild swipe outside off to a full one. Twice in two days they’ve lost their first three for none.
Updated
It’s lunch here now and Somerset are 239 without loss. Trescothick has 107 and Abell has moved on to 115. So they are just a single behind the Hampshire score. Hampshire are in for a long afternoon. They haven’t bowled that badly but the pitch has flattened out and they’ve had the second best of the conditions.
Lunch: Middlesex (106 and 50 for none) trail Yorkshire (299) by 143 runs
That’s lunch then, and Middlesex have enjoyed a very solid hour of batting. Sammy Robson has looked extremely good, while Paul Stirling has scratched a little, although the stocky Irishman did pull his second ball – from Brooks – into the Grandstand for six. He also survived a massive caught behind appeal in the final over before the break, from BressieLad. Robson has played some beautiful shots through off, hitting Brook for back to back fours, one cut, one drive through cover, then sending Patterson for two on-the-up drives in an over. Nice stuff.
Yorkshire haven’t quite looked a million dollars, it has to be said. Some dusty heads, perhaps?
I feel as though I’m lost in some drowsy reverie because I’ve just seen Marcus Trescothick score a magisterial century at sunlit Taunton, the spectators are on their feet and pints of cider are being dispensed in all directions.
I’m glad to see, over my left shoulder, construction work under way on the new Somerset Pavilion; this is proof that I am not dreaming of some golden yesteryear.
It’s been all Somerset this morning. The Hampshire bowlers might have been encouraged by some early cloud cover but it’s gone now, and they’re toiling under blue skies which are forecast or remain in place all afternoon.
First of all we had the Somerset 200, then the Trescothick century, his 57th, which was followed a short time later by Abell’s maiden hundred. Trescothick got there by sweeping and cutting Mason Crane for successive fours. It was his second of the season.
Abell, who had just got to a 1,000 first-class career runs in his 17th match, then got his to his century by driving Crane through the covers for three. It’s 224 for nothing.
Yorkshire (299) lead Middlesex (106) by 193 runs
I have to say, I thought I’d be getting in touch sooner. But if there’s one more glorious sight than Jack Brooks and Ryan Sidebottom bowling in tandem, it’s Jack Brooks and Ryan Sidebottom batting in tandem. And how they’ve batted. It’s over now – as Sid is caught and bowled by Dial M - but not before they’d added 78 (equal highest in the innings), forced Middlesex to use four bowlers and unleashed an array of wild swipes to undo all the hosts’ good work late yesterday.
Brooks, of course, was the more correct, with a couple of nice cover drives and a pair of consecutive cuts, one late, one orthodox, off James Harris. He went to 50 with a nicely dabbed single into the gully when the field had spread. Sidebottom was great fun too, a couple of swiped pulls and not-quite-meaty-enough blows down the ground.
Great fun. What it proved, though, is that this surface is pretty benign, and in batting conditions, Middlesex really should force Yorkshire to bat again, and the game should last until tomorrow. Famous last words.
Welcome to the county blog this Thursday morning. Will Macpherson be at Lord’s, trying to shake the champagne out of his head the day after Yorkshire won a much deserved second championship in as many years. Yorkshire are now well placed to wrap up the match before the weather turns, as forecast, at the weekend.
I’m at Taunton for a more grim affair, the relegation tussle between Somerset and Hampshire. The losers here will face the very real prospect of relegation, probably alongside that yo-yo club Worcestershire.
Somerset have just resumed on 147 without loss in reply to Hampshire 240, with Marcus Trescothick on 67 and Tom Abell on 70 not out. Fidel Edwards’ second ball of the day was played – not all that convincingly – by Trescothick, over the slips for four. After three overs Somerset have moved to 158 without loss.
Lately I’ve heard plenty of folk arguing that this time of year, with the leaves falling from the trees and winter’s first signs rearing their brown, purple heads, is superior to high summer. For what it’s worth, I don’t agree. I like long summer’s evenings. But if those people were to argue that, they’d do well to come to Lord’s this morning for ammunition. It’s looking beautifully bright, with that electric early morning in light that makes white so white and greens so green. Given that the only other colour here is the terracotta of the Pavilion, it makes for a wonderful sight.
We had 19 wickets yesterday, and a Championship confirmed. But I expect an altogether more calm day today. The weather is set fair and batting should be easier. Middlesex have one more Yorkshire wicket to take, and there’s really no reason – the pitch has life but not demons – that they shouldn’t be able to put up some sort of resistance. They did well yesterday afternoon to remain in the game at all, and they are desperate to finish second in the table. Which day the game finishes is now the big question.
The intrigue, really, lies in Taunton, where Paul Weaver is watching. Somerset are well on top, after Hampshire made a fine start. Good to see Jamie Overton and Jim Allenby in the wickets there and newly re-signed Tres and young Tom Abell – he’s lovely to watch – get them off to such a good start.
Up at Trent Bridge, Durham ensured that Yorkshire won the Championship yesterday by bowling Notts out for 204, then got themselves well on top with the bat, that doughty and sometimes stylish customer Scott “Badger” Borthwick has a great base to build from today. Down in Division Two, there’s less to play for. Kent are well on top in Cardiff, and Essex made a fine start at Derby.
Enjoy the cricket, I hope it’s as glorious where you are as it is here at Lord’s.
Morning all,
Yorkshire have won the County Championship but still we plough on with Will Macpheron at Lord’s for Middlesex v Yorkshire and Paul Weaver at Taunton for Somerset v Hampshire. Here are a few pieces for you to read while waiting for our intrepid reporters:
Yorkshire retain County Championship title
For the second consecutive season, Yorkshire sealed the County Championship at the home of their closest rivals. If this point illustrates how far ahead of the pack they are, bear in mind they have won the Championship 11.5 days of cricket early, that they have won it despite losing, at various stages, seven players to England, and that they have won it unbeaten. Indeed they have lost only three of 61 Championship games since Jason Gillespie arrived ahead of the 2012 season.
Trescothick and Abel get a flyer in response to Hampshire
Marcus Trescothick will be 40 on Christmas Day and he bats with glasses these days but his enduring value to Somerset was shown on Tuesday when the club pushed a fresh contract under his nose. It is just for one year (hopefully he didn’t read that as 10 when he signed on the dotted line). Next season will be his 24th at Taunton, for he arrived in 1993, when Jurassic Park came out.
Jason Gillespie: ‘I’m so pleased for Andrew Gale’
When Andrew Gale, our captain at Yorkshire, goes on to lift the County Championship trophy at Lord’s at the end of our match with Middlesex it will be a hugely satisfying moment for him and everyone involved at this great club. Defending our title has taken serious hard work, with the 2015 season throwing up plenty of fresh challenges. But our players have risen to each and every one of them. They have been brilliant and played some phenomenal cricket at times.
Enjoy the cricket
