Hampshire and Middlesex served up excellent cricket here. It was far from warm (Middlesex’s 12th man Paul Stirling was running on extra cable-knit sweaters rather than lemonade), the game ambled along and the crowd, while not quite one man and his dog of the stereotype, was sparse, of a certain age and donning the obligatory uniform of fleeces and flat caps, clutching the Racing Post and entering the raffle.
The action on the field was equally gentle but it was Hampshire who left most satisfied. For Middlesex, Steven Finn, still down on pace but having located his radar, bowled encouragingly, beat the bat regularly and was unfortunate to take only a single wicket, while Hampshire’s Michael Carberry was organised and mature in accumulating 67 and Jimmy Adams, who became a father for the second time this week, watchful and wise for 61 of his team’s 295 for 5.
Adams lost the toss and Middlesex’s stand-in captain James Franklin, seduced by a green-tinged track and some cloud overhead, elected to bowl. In this light, Hampshire’s steady accumulation made this an infuriating day for Franklin. While the ball did move and the pitch was occasionally uneven – as Adam Wheater, whom Finn trapped lbw with one that stayed low with the second new ball, can attest – Middlesex’s bowlers were too inconsistent. James Harris, he of the fantastic early season revival, was particularly poor in the morning and was pulled from the attack after his first three overs cost 28, although he did improve steadily throughout the day.
Liam Dawson’s was the only wicket to fall before lunch. He negated the challenging conditions and a fine first spell from Finn to time the ball beautifully for his 36 before being caught behind off one of Neil Dexter’s nagging nibblers. Dawson and Adams, who drove beautifully down the ground, shared 85, before Carberry and the captain put on 75 more. Harris dismissed them both, either side of a beautiful but frustrating cameo from James Vince.
No one timed the ball better than Vince as he ghosted to 27, every run of which had the aesthetes purring. The silky stylist was an impressionable 14-year-old in the famed summer of 2005 and this was a perfect example of why so many are so quick to compare him to Michael Vaughan. The cover driven boundary that got him off the mark off his fourth ball and the gorgeous clip through midwicket for four more that came from the next delivery were pure Vaughan.
After playing so stunningly, he threw it away, caught at deep mid-on off Ollie Rayner’s off-breaks shortly before tea with an innings of real substance – the kind he’s yet to play in a season with a top score of 37 in eight innings – beckoning. Ditch just a nugget of that flightiness and Vince will undoubtedly add Test caps to the ODI he earned in Ireland this month.
Dale Benkenstein was unsurprisingly delighted with his side’s day. “It’s always good to come out with 300 on a day when you’ve been put in,” the Hampshire coach said. “It’s a bit disappointing that we’re drumming on about getting big scores but the guys said they never really felt in. It isn’t a flat deck and there’s something in there for the bowlers.”
Will Smith has the chance to notch that game-defining score – the one Hampshire’s top four missed out on – and to make Franklin and Middlesex pay. Smith brought up his 123-ball half-century with the final ball of the day but with the heavens set to open on Monday, he may be made to wait to resume his side’s sedate progress.
