Notts Out to End the Season

The final day of Middlesex vs Notts at Lord's was the last day of the season from my perspective and sure enough it rained, so (having already lost a day to rain) we were delayed until just after lunch before play would resume with Middlesex on 96-0 against Notts 430 first innings total.
Chris Rogers and Sam Robson went on the attack early, as Notts struggled to bowl anything consistent, with Rogers cutting an early couple of boundaries including one which evaded Luke Fletcher's dive which took a large chunk out of the hallowed turf... Rogers cut Harry Gurney for six into the Mound Stand, then followed up with another four as he moved into the 90s. It wasn't long before another boundary off Fletcher brought up his third Championship hundred of the season (142 balls), and he was within sight of 1000 championship runs when he pulled Andre Adams straight up in the air for Fletcher to complete the catch for 108 out of 151 for the first wicket, worth the wait in the rain to see him bat so easily. Adams soon had two, as Robson nicked behind next over for 41, 152-2.
Joe Denly and Dawid Malan then steadied the ship with the nice strokeplay (Denly finding some late form) and luck (David Hussey dropping Malan at slip twice in two overs) as they added 59 to bring up the first batting point. Malan then went for a massive swing off Samit Patel, and was bowled for 15, 211-3. Denly helped raid 19 off an over from Gurney to complete his 50 from 70 balls, but was bowled from Gurney's next over for 63, 245-4. Simpson saw the 250 up then Dexter sliced a drive off Gurney to Michael Lumb at gully, 252-5. Simpson and Berg came together for the quick burst after tea, and added 42 and saw off another 12 overs with some rasping cuts and drives before Berg popped the ball back to Adams for an easy catch on 26, 294-6. Ollie Rayner heaved a couple of boundaries, but was LBW to Adams for 9, 314-6. Simpson then took over the scoring, and showed his good form in the last month or so by completing 50 with a pull for four off Adams to the Mound Stand fence, it also to Middlesex to 353-7, where Rogers declared and the game ended in a comfy draw, Notts taking 9 points and Middlesex 8.

Good Night Australia

The Women's Ashes had just started it's T20 leg, with England up 6-4 on points, Chelmsford was the venue, and England won the toss and batted. Charlotte Edwards crashed 11 off the first over from Ellyse Perry before falling to Sarah Coyte next over for 17. Julie Hunter then snared Heather Knight for 13 as England posted 42-2 off the powerplay. Danni Wyatt and Sarah Taylor then added the bulk of the runs as Taylor was particularly violent straight and square as runs were easily found off Hunter and Jess Jonassen as England reached 76-2 halfway through.
England were cruising along, Taylor completing her 50 from 37 balls with a boundary off Rachael Haynes as well as bringing up the 100, and the pair carried on, not hitting many boundaries, but rotating the strike well and the score had reached 126 when Wyatt's luck ran out (literally) as a direct hit from Haynes found her short for 28. Australia kept the last three overs tight as Jonassen, Coyte and Erin Osborne only went for 20 with Taylor swinging at every ball, she was finally bowled off the last ball of the innings for 77 about halfway down the pitch by Osborne (the pick of the bowlers with 1-22 from 4). This left England with 146-4, a good total that would test the Australian top order if they were to succeed, with their hitters needing to fire.
Australia began slowly, with 8 from the first two overs, the pressure telling, as Meg Lanning was run out for 2 from a direct hit from Arran Brindle. Alyssa Healy fell in the same over well taken by Taylor off Brunt, 10-2. Jodie Fields and Jess Cameron needed runs, but got in a tangle, Danni Hazell being played out for a maiden in her first over, Aus 26-2 after the powerplay. Fields was then bowled by Jenny Gunn for 6, 27-3. Cameron upped the rate with 10 off Gunn's next over (including a straight six), but Australia were being tied down by England, and were 49-3 halfway through. Any hope was killed off soon after as Cameron (caught and bowled Gunn 35) and Blackwell (caught Greenway off Wyatt going for a huge heave 20) fell in consecutive overs, by this time the required rate was 12 an over and Perry and Haynes were left with too much to do, even though they did some damage to Gunn, Hazell and Brunt's figures, they were left with 25 needed from the final over and they completed a 50 partnership, but finished 15 short, 131-5, Perry 30 off 20. For England it was a good fielding and bowling display, apart from when Edwards dropped a sitter at square leg that lobbed straight to her, as Gunn (2-33) and Hazell (0-18 from 4) were the best bowlers. England take it to within 1 more win of regaining the Ashes trophy as the teams move on to Southampton.

Morgan the Magnificent

The final (probably ever) 40 over game for Middlesex was against Leicestershire at Lord's on August bank holiday. Eoin Morgan was captaining Middlesex in his last game before going off on England duty, won the toss and fielded, and it began fairly evenly as an early pull for six from Greg Smith over the short square boundaries was tempered by Josh Cobb departing for six driving Finn to mid off. Ned Eckersley joined Smith in adding a 50 partnership to lay a solid foundation, Smith reaching 50 off 61 balls before slicing into the deep off Ravi Patel for 56, 91-2. Eckersley and Matt Boyce kicked on in the 2nd half of the innings, lofting the ball over the short boundary as Eckersley completed 50 from 53 balls and looked set for a hundred, before smearing Harris to Roland-Jones in the deep for 73, 186-3 and a good total on the cards.
Boyce then brought up the 200 and reached his 50 from 51 balls, then sliced to point for 53, to give Ollie Wilkin his first wicket. Wilkin then had two in five as Mike Thornley edged behind having a huge swing, 222-5 with 3 overs left. Two balls later Rob Taylor holed out off Roland-Jones for 5, 226-6, things were getting a bit tense as Middlesex were running out of time to finish their overs as Patel rushed to complete the 39th over. Ben Raine smashed a six, then smashed to Morgan in the deep and (after a six run ppenalty as Middlesex failed to finish their overs in time) Shiv Thakor top edged Harris to Finn at fine leg, 248-8. Then Harris had another final over meltdown like he had against Somerset, as Tom Wells as three balls disappeared for four, and a no ball bouncer was iced by a short ball whacked into the Grand Stand and the final ball of the innings a length ball that was smoked over extra cover into the Mound Stand, Wells making 31 off 11 balls, the last over costing 32 with the penalty and Leicestershire making a challenging 274-8.
Straight away Dawid Malan edged Rob Taylor behind first ball and then Paul Stirling lost his middle stump to Nathan Buck as Middlesex slumped to 22-2. Joe Denly and Eoin Morgan revived the chase with a quick 72, Morgan looking particularly good against the spinners. Denly then chipped a return catch to James Sykes who had to dive over non-striker Morgan to complete the catch, 94-3.
Adam Voges, also his last game, joined Morgan as the skip reached 50 from 43 balls, leaving Middlesex needing 143 with 20 overs left. Morgan raced onwards adding 81 in 9 overs and moved onto 90 before scooping the ball to Smith off Thakor for 90 from 63, a great knock, but with 100 still needed, job not finished. Voges then fell in identical fashion for 37 and at 198-5 Leicestershire were back in the game. Enter John Simpson, who along with Wilkin, went on the attack and found the boundary as Taylor and Buck wilted under pressure, and it was down to 18 off 20 when Wilkin top edged to third man for a handy 20. But there was to be no panic, as Simpson swung Taylor for a short six, completed a 37 ball 50, and then hit back to back boundaries off Buck ending it with a late cut, to win by 4 wickets with 10 balls to spare, Simpson unbeaten with 58 off 39. A pleasing end for what was a solid one day season.

Flying Footitt's Fast Finish

The final day of Derbyshire vs Middlesex at Derby began with Middlesex 25-2 needing 272 more to win the game, which looked unlikely from the outset, but Adam Voges and Sam Robson began solidly as Derbyshire failed to bowl accurately, giving away some early easy runs as the 50 came up in the 19th over, but then the collapse started, as Robson was bowled by Groenewald for 29. Mark Footitt came in for his 2nd spell of the day, and cleaned up Eoin Morgan for 9 before getting some late swing to detonate Neil Dexter's stumps, 85-5 and still 200 needed. The last hope, Voges, brought up the 100 then fell to Burgoyne for 48, 101-6. Gareth Berg now came in, and looked to get on with things, as he slammed Burgoyne back over his head for a monstrous six eighth ball he faced. Simpson then fell to Burgoyne as Middlesex looked to be surrendering cheaply, 121-7. Berg and Ollie Rayner then launched surprise counter attack, as they made the pitch looked placid and easy, finding boundaries fairly easy to come by as they added 50 in 14 overs before Berg completed his own 50 from 76 balls, as they managed to see off the front line bowlers as Alex Hughes and Madsen had a bowl in an attempt to break this partnership that had carved a chunk out of the required runs. But it was Matt Higginbottom who got the breakthrough, Berg edging to slip for a fantastic 71, 206-8. Rayner and Roland-Jones brought the target down to 60, but TRJ was then Footitts fourth victim for 14, and then end came soon after as Murtagh popped up a catch to Chesney Hughes for 1 to give Burgoyne his third, 240 all out, Derbyshire win by 56 runs, Rayner left unbeaten four short of a 2nd 50, and pick of the bowlers being Footitt 4-65 and Burgoyne 3-66. Derbyshire take away 23 much needed points to give them the chance of surviving and Middlesex 4.

Raynering Down

The third day of Derbyshire vs Middlesex at Derby began with Middlesex in a bit of trouble at 197-6 with Ollie Rayner and John Simpson batting to avoid the follow on, and with 5 overs to go until the new ball, they'd have thought they'd be able to see off five overs from Madsen and Burgoyne, but that was not to be, as Simpson charged through for a single, only to be found short from the direct hit by Chanderpaul, 208-6. Rayner, now left with the tail and the new ball, took on the bowlers a bit more, as Toby Roland-Jones edged to Chesney Hughes at slip off Groenwald for 5, Rayner completed a 108 ball 50, a welcome return to batting form after a poor season. the end came quickly, as Rayner couldn't get them past 250, as Murtagh edged behind for 10 and Finn LBW for a 2 ball duck as Footitt finished with 3-69 and Higginbottom 3-59 with Middlesex all out for 249, 136 runs behind.
Middlesex (and Murtagh) came out blasting, with Ben Slater caught behind 2nd ball for a duck and then Madsen edged to Denly at slip to give Murtagh his 2nd, 4-2. Chesney Hughes fell soon after, LBW to Finn for 3, 16-3, maybe Middlesex could still turn this game around. Chanderpaul and Johnson had other ideas, arresting the slide with a solid 50 partnership to take the lead past 200 before Chanders was LBW to Roland-Jones for 32, 68-4. Alex Hughes joined Johnson in frustrating the Middlesex attack, with a solid defence being the order of the day as there was plenty of time left and a handy lead already secured and soon the 100 was up and Johnson completed his 50 from 101 balls, then Hughes edged to slip for 24 off Gareth Berg, 116-5.
Tom Poynton came and went, giving Rayner his first wicket, 131-6, and then he snared Johnson by Robson at short leg for 59, 133-7. Peter Burgoyne was LBW for 4, and (after some quick boundaries) Groenewald popped to short leg and Footitt fell first ball, as Rayner finished with 5-67 as Derbyshire were all out for 160, leaving Middlesex 297 to win in a day and a bit.
It proved to be too long to last until close as Denly was LBW to a Footitt yorker and Finn being sent in as nightwatchman was LBW for a five ball duck, completing a pair for the day and (after joining up after being disposed by England) summed up a miserable few days for him.
Middlesex ended the day 25-2, still a long way from winning the game.

Not Quite The Plan

The 2nd day of Derbyshire vs Middlesex began well for the visitors as Peter Burgoyne fell 5th ball of the day to Murtagh, and Matt Higginbottom was caught by Morgan off Harris next over as Derby slipped to 284-8. But Middlesex failed to close out the innings, as in the next 12 overs as Groenewald and Madsen added 66, Groenewald merrily swinging the seamers straight and through the leg side as he hit 9 fours in his 49 which ended when he edged to Simpson off Rayner in the last over of the bonus points, Derbyshire now 350-9. But the pain wasn't over, as another 35 runs came as Mark Footitt carted 13 off an over from Rayner before he edged to slip for 19, Derbyshire 385 all out, last two wickets adding 101, Madsen unbeaten on a fine 138, Tim Murtagh with 3-63 being the pick of the bowlers.
Middlesex began slowly, but lost Robson for 16 (all the runs scored) caught by Johnson off Groenewald as things started to look dodgy when Denly fell for 4 caught by Chanderpaul off Groewald, 25-2. Eoin Morgan and Adam Voges took them to lunch without any more wickets falling. The 50 came up soon after and the pair looked good to get most of this massive total they were pursuing when Morgan popped the ball straight to sub fielder Calum Brodrick off Higginbottom for 28, 75-3. Dexter and Voges carried on crawling the score onwards, past 100, and to the 50 partnership, with Voges's 50 taking 139 balls. Dexter, who was struggling along on the slowing pitch, was bowled by Footitt for 21, 128-4. Then the big fish Voges was given LBW to Higginbottom for 69, he didn't seem happy with the decision as he stormed off. Higginbottom made it 2 in six balls, bowling Gareth Berg for 2, 154-6. Simpson and Rayner launched a counter attack before close, as Middlesex finished the day 197-6, still 188 behind.

Driven to Insanity by Madsen

The first day of Derbyshire vs Middlesex at Derby began with Middlesex winning the toss and fielded, and began with a hostile opening barrage from Murtagh and Roland-Jones but with no success, until Gareth Berg got Chesney Hughes to hole out to Roland-Jones for 16, carrying on his struggles this season, 37-1. The pace of the innings started to pick up once Wayne Madsen arrived, he carried on his batting form by picking off some early runs as Middlesex began to drift a touch. Lunch came with Madsen on a run a ball 25, and the fifty partnership between Ben Slater and Madsen came up shortly after.
Runs came slowly but steadily, as the pair passed 100 and Slater completed 50 from 128 balls before edging behind off James Harris shortly after, 118-2. Shiv Chanderpaul came and went, caught at short leg by Same Robson off Ollie Rayner for 2. Madsen reached his own fifty in the next over from 95 balls. Middlesex then let the game drift a bit, allowing Johnson and Madsen to put up 50, until Johnson tried to hammer Adam Voges's spin, and was caught at square leg for 33, 179-4. But the crash of wickets wouldn't come as Alex Hughes and Madsen brought up the 200 and progressed to the new ball with the score 226-4. Madsen went into the 90s, but lost Hughes, trapped LBW by Murtagh for 33. Madsen was soon celebrating, another four off Murtagh bringing up his hundred, and the first player to score 1000 championship runs on the way to it. Tom Poynton fell in the same over, but Madsen lasted out the final six overs, Derbyshire having the slightly better of the day, 279-6.