Right now the only thing in cricket more fashionable than a New Zealander is a New Zealander captain. Thus it was fitting to see James Franklin help Middlesex recover after a disastrous start in which four wickets fell in the first 80 minutes, even if he did become Jack Shantry’s fourth victim in the day’s final over.
Middlesex could barely have started worse. They lost one former England opener, Sam Robson, caught at third slip, before the game’s stated 11am start time, and another, Nick Compton, 15 minutes later, as he lofted Joe Leach’s full toss to midwicket.
Nick Gubbins became Shantry’s first wicket – and the first with reason to look longingly at the pitch – as he lofted one that held in the track to mid-on. Paul Stirling smote Shantry through the covers but was on his way two balls later, trapped in front by another that seemed to hold.
All the while Joe Burns impressed, resolute in defence and playing late, with the occasional wristy flourish in attack. But he became Shantry’s third victim as Tom Fell took a fine catch at third slip. Shantry’s style may be idiosyncratic, illogical even, but he rarely offered the chance to leave the ball alone.
A score of 102 for five looked as uncomfortable as Shantry’s action but Franklin was on the attack quickly, wrestling control Middlesex’s way. He brought up his century with a typical drive down the ground and milked Worcestershire’s spinners with ease and precision, planting a long leg down the pitch and probing gaps. He shared 170 with John Simpson, who edged the new ball to second slip after stoic resistance. Franklin offered only one chance, a hook that went through Charlie Morris’s hands at fine-leg when 120, and eventually fell nudging Shantry to leg-slip.
Saeed Ajmal was always thrown the ball before – and more often than – Moeen Ali and, while neither bowled particularly poorly, neither threatened to take wickets. Both, in truth, looked like men wistfully wondering why they were in Uxbridge.
