That’s all folks...
All over here, although technically it should not be so until 4.50pm when Middlesex could have declared their innings and a draw settled upon. It was 26 minutes shy of that time when the umpires appeared to suggest the light was not good enough to continue and the players shook hands.
Richard Gibson sends another report
There have been some cheap runs on offer between the showers here and batsmen of the calibre of Sam Robson and Nick Compton are never likely to turn them down. Former Zimbabwe international Brendan Taylor has rolled out some gentle off-spin and Steven Mullaney has bowled in tandem with Samit Patel after tea. Middlesex, who have announced that one former club captain Mike Gatting is replacing another (Andrew Strauss) on the club’s executive board, are 160-1.
Richard Gibson sends another report
WICKET! Nightwatchman James Harris has finally gone for 44, although he gestured angrily with his bat in the direction of umpire Martin Debenham after being given out lbw to Harry Gurney. Notts 83-1.
In other county news, Geraint Jones has quit as Gloucestershire captain and will leave the club in September, halfway through his two-year deal, to give youth its head. Jones, 38, sitting out the current match against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham, said: “It’s been something I’ve been thinking about quite strongly in the last few weeks and I’ve come to the decision that this season will be my last. Over the last few weeks I felt there were guys who needed an opportunity and my place in the team was potentially that opportunity.” Good on him.
Richard Gibson reports from Trent Bridge
Just half a dozen overs have been sent down here due to annoying morning drizzle, and the lack of action has increased the chances of this match ending in a handshake at 4.50pm. There was one chance spurned when Sam Robson provided a regulation catch for Steven Mullaney at second slip. It went down, to Jake Ball’s angst. Middlesex are 14-0 at lunch, still 31 runs in arrears.
Meanwhile, half a mile down the road from here, Chris Woakes has sandwiched a first-ball duck for Nottinghamshire second XI with two eight-over contributions against Worcestershire’s second string. The 26-year-old has been loaned out by Warwickshire as part of his comeback from a knee injury. Another chance to bat will come later today, weather permitting.
Richard’s first report of the day
There were some interesting observations from Kent captain Sam Northeast on the prevailing attitude in the second tier after victory over Leicestershire at Grace Road yesterday. In a quest for positive results, clubs are preparing pitches of greener hues than are generally seen in the top flight, and Northeast’s comments ‘people want results because they want to play in Division One, and I think someone higher up than myself probably needs to look at what is happening at the moment with Division Two wickets,’ were timed perfectly. His team had just climbed off the bottom of the table but what good was done by a contest being concluded with such haste? Leicestershire got their fingers burnt at Grace Road and Essex have suffered the same fate with their ‘sporting’ tracks at Chelmsford. Thankfully it has not been a policy employed by the top three Lancashire, Surrey and Glamorgan.
It is possible that the result in question, in the equivalent of five and a half sessions play, could be the only win of the Division Two matches that finish tomorrow. Meanwhile, in Division One, the weather is set for a say in the finish at Trent Bridge, where Nottinghamshire host Middlesex. Rain is also circling Birmingham where current leaders Yorkshire need nine final-day wickets to beat Warwickshire while Somerset v Sussex looks to have fallen victim of Taunton’s tendency for the pitch to go flat. We will see.
Morning all
Today we have Richard Gibson at Trent Bridge for Nottinghamshire v Middlesex. Here’s his report from yesterday:
Nottinghamshire v Middlesex
Chris Read hits 23rd hundred to frustrate Middlesex
Had a soothsayer revealed a decade ago that Jimmy Anderson was to become England’s leading wicket-take, it would have been a fair assumption Chris Read was to become his chief accomplice. As things transpired, while their relationship remained strong off the field – Read performing usher duties at Anderson’s wedding – only three times did they combine for dismissals in Tests, all in Sydney at the end of the 2006-07 whitewash by Australia.
Enjoy the cricket
