Tim Murtagh felt the pain two balls into his opening spell. Grimacing as he clutched his left hamstring, the Middlesex and adopted Ireland seamer is now a doubt for Friday’s one-day international against England in Dublin.
Murtagh will be assessed by a specialist on Monday but, with only four days to prove his fitness, the chances of him being ready to test James Taylor’s greenhorn side at the Malahide Cricket Club look remote. Having missed his only chance to play at a World Cup after fracturing his foot during the winter, it is another cruel setback for a 33-year-old with only 10 caps to his name.
It also sees his county side a bowler light here at Lord’s, albeit in control at the close on day two as James Harris, who completed the over, claimed two for 46 – with a wicket late in the day from Steven Finn – that left the visitors, Durham, on 157 for four in reply to Middlesex’s 463 all out.
The right-armer Harris, who bowled with good pace and a tight line, teased Mark Stoneman into a push to second slip on 21 for the initial breakthrough before returning to produce a more regulation caught behind to remove Michael Richardson for 26.
Sandwiched between those two wickets was a first for the club from James Franklin, the New Zealand all-rounder playing on an Irish passport, with Scott Borthwick nicking off on 26. And there was joy for Finn who, having cut a frustrated figure for 13.4 overs, produced a snorter with the penultimate ball of his day that Calum MacLeod could only deflect on to his stumps.
At the other end the left-handed South African opener Keaton Jennings held firm, combining some flashing drives through the covers with solid defence, and he will resume on 61 not out with the nightwatchman Chris Rushworth for company.
That Durham need only to double their score to avoid the follow-on, and that Middlesex were unable to launch an already promising innings from 329 for four fully into the stratosphere was thanks to the burly Australian seamer John Hastings, with the first of his four for 87, bowling Franklin after play had resumed 50 minutes late due to morning rain.
The nightwatchman Harris fared little better, wafting outside off-stump to give Hastings his second and Phil Mustard a simple pouch behind the stumps, only for a stand of 58 between Neil Dexter and John Simpson to steer their side to 384 for six at lunch.
While Simpson went on to bring up his first half-century of the summer from 89 balls – a classy knock of left-handed panache – Dexter perished on 33 when he fell head first into a short-ball trap from Hastings and was gobbled up by the diving Usman Arshad at long-leg.
Ollie Rayner provided support for Simpson to the tune of 16 runs before a full delivery from Chris Rushworth crashed into his pads and Murtagh, his replacement, was bowled by the leg-spinner Scott Borthwick when going for the big yahoo.
Hastings then wrapped up the innings as Simpson, who had brought up his fifty two balls before the loss of Murtagh, spooned to mid-off attempting what would have been a 10th four.
