On Thursday, Ravi Patel was named in Essex’s squad to face Surrey at Colchester. That same day, Middlesex played Nottinghamshire at Lord’s and, rather bamboozled by their opponents’ spinners Imran Tahir and Samit Patel, hastily recalled their own Patel from his loan and thrust him into this match, knowing it would be played on the same track.
It is a knee-jerk move that has worked out rather well for everyone. On Saturday, Patel bowled exceptionally to take four for 42 – his best first-class figures – and set about a collapse of five for 61 after Sussex had made a rollicking start to their reply to Middlesex’s 234, which ultimately limited the visitors’ lead to 66. The steady hand of Nick Gubbins and some dashing strokeplay from Sam Robson saw this cut to just 19 by stumps. Back at Colchester, Monty Panesar, recalled in Patel’s stead, picked up three wickets on his Championship return.
After 113 minutes of a morning session dominated by a stand of 134 between Luke Wells and Matt Machan, Patel’s removal of the latter was vital. Three times Machan, compact, powerful and wristy, had straight driven beautifully, as well as lofting Ollie Rayner over mid-on for six on his way to 81. Wells, tall and angular, but playing with equally delicate hands, was more watchful. After Wells drove him through the cover in his first over, Patel drew Machan forward to drive with a flighted one that turned through his gate and hit the stumps.
Shortly after the break, Patel dismissed Wells, caught at slip, and tempted the hitherto fluent Chris Nash to injudiciously attempt to launch beyond the short boundary at the Tavern Stand, only to be beaten by turn and sky to mid-on. When Luke Wright, who took 22 balls to get off the mark, played on trying to pull a Tim Murtagh ball not nearly short enough for the shot, and Ben Brown slapped Patel to cover, where Rayner took a fine catch low to his right, it looked as if Machan and Wells’ good work had been undone.
Yet Mike Yardy, on his final appearance at Lord’s, is a doughty old customer and added 38 with Ashar Zaidi and 40 with Ollie Robinson to restore Sussex’s advantage. Yardy’s trigger movement, a crabbing shuffle so extravagant it almost seems a Chanderpaulian parody, can look ungainly, but he drove with poise, dabbed carefully and judged the locality of his off stump beautifully to reach 70, his top score of the season.
The new ball did for Zaidi, who, like Yardy, swept Patel compulsively, before Robinson was trapped plumb in front after a series of booming drives, with Yardy playing on shortly after. Chris Liddle was there for a good time, not a long time, swiping to third man to bring up the third batting point, then being bowled next ball.
How far Robson can extend his late cameo may be crucial. He drove and cut with authority, and sent the final ball of the day, a leg-break from Wells, behind point for four. He was uncowed by the variable bounce, a factor alongside Patel’s turn that will make a chase of 150 extremely uncomfortable come this match’s fourth day – but this pitch’s fifth – on Monday.
