Bravo, Smith, Bravo!

The 50 over tour match between Middlesex and the West Indies would be a one-sided affair, with the home side being comfortably crushed. Dexter won the toss and batted, with Lendl Simmons and Chris Gayle (his first game back for the West Indies) blasting the ball about, Gayle hitting Robbie Williams for two fours in one over, before hoisting Tim Murtagh for two sixes in the next. He then swiped Anthony Ireland's first ball to Josh Davey in the deep to go for 34. Simmons then wandered down the track to Paul Striling and was easily stumped by Adam Rossington (on debut) for 23, 67-2 after 15 and not looking too comfortable. But they needn't have worried as Dwayne Smith and Darren Bravo began to hit out against the weak Middlesex attack, they weren't without chances as Smith inside edged Ireland for four and was dropped by Malan off Tom Smith, a tough chance diving to his right at long-off.  He was also missed by Smith at cover, a half chance from a lasered drive.
Smith reached 50 off 48 balls, and Bravo off 69 balls before they decimated the bowling. Smith thumped an on drive off Ireland which carried into the back of the top tier of the pavilion, only a couple of metres lower the Keiron Pollard's hit into the right side tower couple of years ago. Smith looked set for his first list-A hundred, but toe ended Murtagh to Stirling at mid off to fall for 96 from 89 balls, a partnership of 156.
Big hitting Pollard was next in, but he only scored 18 when he top edged a hoick off Davey for Stirling to take an excellent diving catch at deep point in front of the Grand Stand crowd. 262-4 with 6 overs left and Middlesex may have thought they were getting away with it as a variety of full tosses weren't always punished as they should be. Williams had dropped Darren Bravo at long-off a couple of overs before, and had broken his collarbone in landing, so it meant Ireland, Davey and Dexter (Middlesex used 8 bowlers in all) to finish off, and it went badly. Sub Tom Scollay provided more poor fielding, letting Dwayne Bravo (Darren's half brother) get four through long on with a weak flap at a bouncing ball before Dwayne twice hit Ireland to the shorter Grand Stand boundary as 22 came off the 39th over to bring up the 300. Darren Bravo then went to his hundred off 110 balls in the last over, before Dwayne hit another six off Davey over point. Dwayne couldn't get two from the 4th ball of the over, but Darren finished the innings well, rattling a straight six off the middle deck of the pavilion then hitting the last ball high into the Warner Stand to finish 112 not out from 112 balls, Dwayne with 40 from 21 (2 fours 3 sixes) as West Indies finished 335-4, a massive total and probably well beyond Middlesex. Stirling finished with 1-28 from seven (why didn't he bowl all 10?) and Davey 1-71 from 10.
Any hopes of a solid start were dashed when Robson (3) was LBW to Andre Russell, though it maybe was a touch too high. Paul Stirling (1) mis-timed a flick off his pads to Darren B at square leg, 11-2. Neil Dexter hit three fours, and actually looked like making a decent score, before toeing one from Russell to square leg for 12, 31-3. Adam London (3) then fell to the obvious hook trap, hitting the ball down the throat of Simmons on the boundary to give Dwayne B a wicket, 38-4. 19 year old Rossington looked capable against the West Indies bowlers, playing Dwayne B and mystery spinner Sunil Narine very well, unlike his team mates. But all too soon, Malan went for a pull and top edged to keeper Denesh Ramdin running round to go fro 21 from 43 as Middlesex then had another collapse. Next over, Davey played the ball from Narine to square leg and charged through for the single, with Rossington shouting back to no avail, so sacrificing his wicket for 17, run out by Pollard and Ramdin by the length of the pitch. Murtagh then had a massive slog at Narine 2nd ball and edged to Ramdin, 67-7, 3 wickets in 9 balls and reaching 100 looking a big ask.
Davey and Tom Smith then fashioned a defensive partnership, mainly blocking and occasionally hitting through the gaps, Davey with a particularly good slog-sweep off Narine for four. Smith even bowled to Smith to complete a further commentators nightmare, but the end was nigh as Gayle's off spin soon cleaned up in his only over. Smith tried a reverse sweep and got in a complete tangle, with the West Indies claiming the catch at slip, the umpires ruled it incomclusive, so Gayle fired the next ball down to send the leg stump flying, 107-8, adding 40 in 12 overs. Ireland came and was LBW 2nd ball for a duck (both wickets accompanied by Gayle's unique celebrations) and with Williams unable to bat, Middlesex were all out for 107, a double wicket maiden from Gayle meaning a win by 228 runs for the West Indies, Rampaul 2-15 from six and Russell 2-19 from five being the other stand out bowlers. This was Middlesex's biggest List A defeat and an uninspiring warm up for the T20 which they now begin.

Royal Rain

On Jubilee Tuesday, Middlesex start their 5th home game of the season at Lord's, this time against Sussex. For the first time this season Middlesex won the toss and fielded first.
Ninth ball of the day, Alex Barrow was tucked up by a short ball from Corey Collymore finding the edge for John Simpson to take a great diving catch to go for nought, 0-1. Then Nick Compton, scorer of 1000 runs this season, left an inswinger from Tim Murtagh which trimmed the off bail, Somerset 1-2 inside three overs. Arul Suppiah and James Hildreth then showed some lasting power, albeit with luck, as runs came about slowly with the run rate at 2 an over. Toby Roland-Jones then got one to skid past Suppiah's prod to be bowled for 15, 45-3. Craig Kieswetter came in and batted out until lunch. After lunch, runs began to flow as Kieswetter played some powerful drives and pulls, bringing up the 50 partnership in a good fightback. Hildreth found the going easier against the older ball and he reached 50 off 108 balls with 5 fours, as Somerset passed 100. Corey Collymore pulled up with a knee injury one ball into the 47th over, meaning Gareth Berg had to complete the over, and Hildreth swung and edged the last ball behind for 58, Middlesex back ahead with Somerset 125-4. The rain then came two overs later, at 130-4, and it didn't stop, so the play was called off at 4:40, and with the forecast dodgy for the next three days, it couold be hard for one side to force a result.
There was one last thing, the aircraft from the royal flypast flew over the Grand stand, a great sight for those of us left at Lord's in the rain.

Sussex Sunk

The final day of Middlesex vs Sussex at Lord's, with Sussex 34-1 in their 2nd innings, still needing another 174 to avoid an innings defeat.
Steve Finn opened from the Pavilion End with a hostile spell, Chris Nash inside edging a four, only to be bowled next ball, 58-2. Murray Goodwin has failed so far this year to score many runs, and he promptly poked Finn to Ollie Rayner at slip for 5. Joe Gatting and Mike Yardy then saw off Finn and Tim Murtagh, but Gareth Berg struck almost immediately, Gatting LBW for 18. Luke Wright now joined captain Yardy in having to bat until almost tea to try and save the game, Toby Roland-Jones having a strong LBW shout turned down against Yardy. The pair brought up the 100, only for a couple of dumb shots cost them any chance they still had in the game. First, Wright (13) went for a booming drive through the covers, only for the edge to fly to a diving Finn at gully. Then, 4 balls later, Yardy pulled a short ball from Roland-Jones straight to Eoin Morgan at deep square leg for 10, one of the two men placed there for the obvious ploy. That moment of madness left Sussex 101-6, with Ben Brown and Naved Arif seeing out the time until lunch, 102-6.
After lunch there was a seven over period before Sussex scored a run and when the did Arif edged a cut to Morgan at gully who spilt a relatively easy catch. The pair had their moments of luck, Arif even headed a Berg bouncer, but wickets weren't forthcoming as Brown played some good strokes as he had in the 1st innings and showed that there really was nothing wrong with the pitch. The fifty partnership then came up as the batsmen started to get more expansive, Brown thumping a cover drive off Rayner.
Arif finally fished at an outswinger from Berg and was well caught low down by Dawid Malan diving at first slip on 15, 164-7 after adding 63 in 25 overs. Sussex had tended to lose wickets in batches, and after another booming cover drive off Rayner to go to 50 from 83 balls, his 2nd of the game, Chris Rogers moved himself to a very short cover so Brown attempted a reverse sweep next ball, only for it to bounce off his glove to Berg at slip to fall for 53, 170-8 now. The return of Finn couldn't get another before tea with Sussex 191-8, 17 behind, James Anyon and Steve Magoffin surviving.
After tea, Rogers made the smart move of replacing Rayner with Malan at the nursery end, and the batsmen couldn't resist going for a hit against his leg-breaks. Magoffin having one keep low and miss his leg stump. Anyon edged Finn for four, before hitting four more to level the scores in the match. Magoffin then swung Malan for a colossal six flat into the back row of the Mound Stand. Four more to the Grand Stand boundary and an upper cut off Finn and soon the pair had added 50 in 12 overs. Magoffin then went for one hit too many, skying to Roland-Jones at deep mid-on to fall for 37 off 54, 223-9. Monty Panesar (0) then went for a Viv Richards-esque swing over midwicket, only to find Finn and give Malan his 2nd (2-19) as Sussex finished 225 all out, Anyon 13*, Finn 3-66, Berg 3-53, Rayner 1-12 with Middlesex needing 18 to win off 29 overs.
Gatting and Nash opened the bowling as Sam Robson and Rogers made light work of the of the win, Robson (10) driving Nash for four to win by 10 wickets at 4:40 their 3rd win of the year, shoring up 4th place in the table for now.

If a West Indies Team Bats Without Chanderpaul, Does It Score Any Runs?

The third day of the first test between England and the West Indies, England resuming overnight on 259-3, ahead by 16, with captain Strauss on 121 not out. Kemar Roach found some early movement, and had Strauss caught by Denesh Ramdin on review, which showed the inside edge. Jonny Bairstow then came in on debut to join Ian Bell, and played nicely for 16, though was nearly run out getting off the mark. He was LBW to Roach England wobbled, making a possible 450 much less likely. Matt Prior (19) then missed a drive to give Shannon Gabriel his first wicket in tests, charging off towards point to celebrate. Tim Bresnan (0) had a fatal waft outside off to be caught behind to give captain Darren Sammy his first wicket
Lunch then came at 341-7, but Stuart Broad was bowled by Fidel Edwards for 10 in the first over after lunch, 343-8. Bell finally found a reliable partner in Graeme Swann, and they added 55 in seven overs, Bell reaching fifty off 94 balls and Swann hitting six fours in a 25 ball 30, when Gabriel bowled him. Bell then was last out, looking to heave Gabriel into the Mound Stand, only to be well caught by Keiran Powell at deep square leg.
So 398 by England, a lead of 155 was good, but could have been much more, the pick of the bowlers being Gabriel (3-60) and Roach (3-108).
The West Indies reply started slowly, but saw off James Anderson and Broad without trouble, but the introduction of Bresnan started a slide, as Adrian Barath edged behind for 24, 36-1. Then 4 balls later, Powell pulled Broad straight to Bell at deep square leg, falling for an obvious ploy, 36-2. The chaos before tea was completed four balls later, as Darren Bravo played the ball to cover, Kirk Edwards set off for the single, Bravo didn't, the pair standing mid-pitch pointing and Edwards scramble back was wasted as Jonny Bairstow had picked up the ball and gunned down the middle stump, West Indies 36-3 and in chaos at tea.
After tea things got slightly better as Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Bravo looked to bat for some time in an effort to stop the slide, which they did, although Anderson dropped a flying chance at slip off Bresnan, the only chance Chanderpaul gave, as the intensity dropped with England scratching their heads as to how to prise them out. Swann eventually got the breakthrough, Bravo (21) leaving one that went down the slope and knocked back the off stump. 65-4, but Marlon Samuels and Chanderpaul managed to see out the rest of the day without any further trouble, 120-4, Chanderpaul 34 not out and Samuels 26 not out still trailing by 35.

A Bad Day for B "oh no" para

The final day of Essex vs Kent at Chelmsford was a dull affair on paper as it quickly became evident that neither side fancied a result (unlike other games around the country) and we'd be off at 5pm pretty much whatever.
So Essex began 94-2 with Mark Pettini on 61 and Billy Godleman on 27, and Mark Davies struck ninth ball of the day with Godleman falling LBW so 94-3. Greg Smith then came, played a glorious drive past mid-off for four, then edged to James Tredwell next ball to give Charlie Shreck his first wicket.
The news was that Alviro Petersen (ankle) and Ravi Bopara (thigh tear) would bat with runners and having been off the field could only come in after 5 wickets down. This meant James Foster came in and he and Pettini played well, Pettini in particular taking 12 off a Shreck over. Ivan Thomas, making his Kent debut replaced Shreck at the River End, and soon had Essex in all sorts of bother, as Foster aimed a powerful cut, only for Brendan Nash to leap at point and cling on and had two wickets in four balls as Pettini, destined for a first hundred for a couple of years, played around a straight one and was LBW for 92. This left Essex a bit stuffed at 140-6, as they were obviously planning on gaining some batting points, which looked some way off.
Now we had the highlight of possibly the season as Petersen (with Tom Westley) and Bopara (with Smith) batted together with runners, this only lasted five balls as Bopara almost ran his first run, so both batsmen dispensed with their runners at the end of the over. Bopara was ordered (via the twelfth man) that he must bat with a runner, so Greg Smith (who'd already gone back to the dressing room and taken off his helmet) came back out looking thoroughly fed up with it all.
Petersen was charging between the wickets and hobbling afterwards, becided that boundaries was the best way forward, smiting one off Davies before spooning to midwicket where Scott Newman took a good diving catch to his right giving Davies his fourth.
Lunch came almost after that wicket at 158-7, and afterwards, with no prospect of a contrived chase happening, Bopara (looking more uncomfortable by the ball) and David Masters then decided to bore their way towards 200, with Masters getting a slightly ironic round of applause when he scored his first run after some long time. The pair ground on and on, and it was a relief when ninth ball with the new ball, Shreck found the edged of Masters bat to Ben Harmison to go for one of the most boring 9s known to humankind (47 balls), the pair had added 23 in 17 overs. 181-8 then became 181-9 since Tymal Mills was LBW first ball to Shreck. Willoughby survived the hat trick ball and the next ball, before Bopara farmed the strike for the first 3 balls from Davies.
Then came the moment of the match, as Bopara (on 19) dabbed the ball to Newman at deep-ish cover and Willoughby went through for the single, but Bopara ambled down the other end as well, along with the runner, which nobody noticed immediately as Newman picked up the ball, only to look up and see Shreck charging in from fine leg gesticulating wildly and shouting to Newman to run out Bopara as he'd left his crease at the striker's end. Bopara heard this as well and started back, but in vain as Newman threw to Geraint Jones to complete the easiest run out of his career.
The incident was similar to the 2010 T20 final when Somerset didn't realise they could run out the batsman. This left Essex 181 all out with 50 overs left in the day, the pick of the Kent bowlers being Davies (24.4-13-20-4). Nothing more interesting was going to happen now  and Rob Key and Newman saw through to tea at 38-0, Key playing a nice reverse sweep for four off Westley on the way. After tea, Newman hit a couple of fours off Mills, before giving Westley an easy return catch on 24, 54-2. Ben Harmison was then caught at 2nd slip for 1 off Mills in the next over, 57-2, but that was the last real action as Nash (22 not out) and Key (40 not out) saw out the 10 overs before at 4:50 Kent declared on 92-2 and the players shook hands, Essex taking 6 points and Kent 7.

A Howelling Defeat

The opening game of the CB40 for Middlesex was against Gloucestershire at Lord's. The afternoon started damp and wet and when it finally stopped, we had a 26 over game in front of the Sky cameras. Gloucestershire won the toss and fielded, which looked like a good decision as Middlesex scored only a single off 3 of the first 4 overs. Dawid Malan and Joe Denly then began to pick up the pace and had put on 45 in 7 overs when Denly missed a drive to Graham McCarter and was bowled for 25.
A slow outfield was making runs harder to come by and Malan finally snapped, heaving the spin of Ed Young to Benny Howell at deep mid-wicket for 22, Chris Rogers then edged Howell to Jon Batty and Middlesex were 58-3. Paul Stirling was one of the few who mastered the conditions and cracked three fours as Middlesex began to recover, but Neil Dexter aimed a huge swipe off Young, and was caught at long-on for 9. Then the key blow as Young spun one past Stirling through to Batty, Young was the only one to appeal and it was given out, much to Stirling's surprise (25 off 21).
Gareth Berg and John Simpson rebuilt the innings from 90-5, gradually increasing the scoring rate as they added 47 for the sixth wicket before McCarter grabbed his 2nd wicket on debut, Hamish Marshall holding the catch at long-off to dismiss Simpson for the top score 29. Berg edged Ian Saxelby behind next over, and Steven Crook was caught at cover in the final over as McCarter finished with 3-41. Young finished with 3-26 off 6 overs. Ollie Rayner's 13 off 6 provided a useful flourish as Middlesex 157-8, a good total but it seemed 10-15 runs too few.
Chris Dent smashed two fours off Tim Murtagh's first over, but fell LBW to the final ball for 8. Marshall then laid into Collymore, hitting 22 off his two overs as Gloucestershire raced to 54-1 after 5 overs. Howell provided good support, and Middlesex needed a quick wicket, and they got one as Rayner struck in his first over having Marshall LBW for 33 off 22, 61-2. Howell and Kane Williamson carried on accumulating as Gloucestershire reached 89 after 10 overs. Steven Crook then struck having Williamson LBW first ball for 9.
Alex Gidman carried on the quick hitting, blasting 26 off 21 before Rayner bowled him on his way to 2-29 off 6 overs. Ian Cockbain was the last wicket to fall for 19 LBW to Dexter, 149-5 but only nine needed off 7 overs. Howell soon ended proceedings, smashing Denly through midwicket or four to win by five wickets with 22 balls left, Howell 45 off 48 (3 fours, 1 six). Young was awarded man of the match.

I Declare The Improbable Possible

The morning of the final day of Middlesex vs Worcestershire had the game turned on it's head as Daryl Mitchell approached Chris Rogers with the offer of a match. As a result Worcestershire declared on their overnight 45-2 and Middlesex forfeited their 2nd innings leaving Worcestershire with 283 to win from 96 overs.
Mitchell and Michael Klinger looked none to sure as they edged and played and missed their way to 21 before Klinger did what Dexter had the day before, leaving one that swung in this time from Murtagh and this time, LBW rather than bowled for 12. Mitchell then hacked to Dawid Malan at slip to fall for 9 in Murtagh's next over as 26-2 then became 35-4 as Andrew Strauss caught both Vikram Solanki and Moeen Ali off Gareth Berg and Toby Roland-Jones. The chase looked off, but Matt Pardoe and James Cameron showed some fight, as they took the score past 50 in the 24th over. But another wicket was bound to go, and it did, Pardoe edging Berg to John Simpson 14. Lunch then came with Worcestershire 73-5 and the question was now, could they last until tea?
Worcestershire's problem wasn't losing wickets occasionally, it was losing them in huge torrents, as was exemplified after lunch as first Cameron (30), Ben Scott (13) and David Lucas (3) all went in the space of 10 balls to Murtagh and Roland-Jones as they crashed to 96-8 with 60 overs left in the day. Aneesh Kapil and Richard Jones then went about hitting the total towards respectability as after some swinging and missing they picked up a couple of boundaries. Rogers then brought Malan on from the Nursery End and Steve Finn on from the Pavilion end. Jones tried to flog Malan out of the ground and was just missed by Rogers at deep mid-off and Berg at cover before swiping a flat six into the Grand Stand.
The plan seemed to be, Kapil plays out Finn, Jones targets Malan, and Jones brought up the 50 for the ninth wicket with the top edged slog which hung in the air before dropping over the short boundary to the Grand Stand just over the head of Finn. Kapil brought up the 150 with the first ball of the next over, giving Finn a shot at Jones. He needed just one ball, as the edge from Jones screamed low into the gully where Neil Dexter pulled off a stunning catch diving to his left to break the partnership on 54 with Jones top scoring with 32 off 33. The end was nigh, as Finn yorked Richarson 3rd ball, for a duck on his 37th birthday, as Middlesex pulled off an unlikely win by 132 runs, Kapil finishing 21 not out. Roland-Jones took 3-29, Murtagh 3-39, Berg 2-20 and Finn 2-30 as a solid team bowling effort gave the hosts 19 points for their 2nd win of the year as they rose to third in the table with Worcestershire's two points leaving them 2nd from bottom.