At least the 2nd XI won

London Leprechaun gives us a 2nd or is it 3rd hand report on three games with Middlesex interest today. Only one went our way. Not a great day if you were at Edgbaston or Dublin; not a great day to listen or watch if you weren't. Well done if you went to Radlett.

Fortunately I  am not in the office today, because, as well as events in  Birmingham I need to keep an eye on goings on in Dublin where the Middlesex alternate team are playing. The latter is easier to keep an handle on thanks to Cricket Ireland streaming their matches via You Tube. And its good quality too. Now there’s a thought for the ECB.

Edgbaston is harder initially thanks to the commentary going down.  So while nipping out for some DIY shopping all I have to keep an eye on is Twitter information. Now when Middlesex are batting I don’t want to get Twitter updates too often because that usually means a wicket has gone. (there were many of those on Sunday).  Sadly there is an early Tweet for an wicket. Gladly it is not Robbo and in effect our innings starts now. Thankfully Twitter is then fairly quiet apart from updates on the fact that the commentary is still down. I reach home to news of the Middlesex fifty partnership and Ireland keeping Sri Lanka in check.

So its watching one match looking for wickets and one hoping for none.

Commentary comes back about 12.30 and all sounds calm and unflustered as the Warwicks commentator is noting. Meanwhile Stirlo is bowling for Ireland and gets a wicket second ball with the help of Ed Joyce. It’s all go.  

We get to a untroubled 100 exactly at lunch as Murts and Stirlo are bowling the power play overs in Dublin and doing good.

Time to check the third match today - 2nds at Radlett where Charlie Thurston is playing well, holding the innings together.  I remember him as a fairly small Seaxe Club Awards winner not so long ago. One to watch maybe.

Back after lunch at Edgbaston and things start nice and quiet while Ireland are working their ways through Sri Lanka with Murts bowling a fabulous spell according to the commentators. Two for 21. That’s not bad. Ireland need 220 - one of this gettable but defendable totals. Then Stirlo might get them single handed! 

Middlesex have a couple of mild dodgy moments - the kind that Kevin sounds briefly excited about but all still seems generally well on the West Midlands front in the early afternoon. 

Back at Radlett Charlie is out for 90 and Middlesex 2nd get 248. Another gettable but defendable total!

At 2.23 our first alarm is a dropped catch by Chopra of Robbo - commentators divided how difficult it is. First proper chance of the day.

Shortly after Rogers is out LBW trying to sweep.  155/2 is a good position but now the nervy bit starts. Especially when Robbo goes soon after after looking really serene.  Now the really nervy bit starts. 

But actually at that point it was not too nervy.  Malan and Dexter sound like they are playing reasonably comfortably, aand so as long as we can avoid the dreaded clustering for a day and a bit. . . . And then the commentators start talking about the dark, floodlights are coming on and they all go off for tea as rain threatens

Meanwhile in Dublin Stirling and Joyce are out and Ireland are struggling, and rain starts falling heavily at Birmingham. Oh well I guess another unlikely victory is now more unlikely! And the 2nds need wickets! 

Ireland are collapsing gently while we wait for a 4.30 start. I need to go out again soon and it would be good if there are no more wickets anywhere except at Radlett.

We are back at Edgbaston an hour later in sunshine so hopefully the weather has not done anything to alarming too the pitch. Kevin is predicting more rain and talking up Warwickshire’s position. Maybe part of a cunning plan - maybe just the truth!

Just as I am about to go out the commentators get a bit excited about another chance or not. This is getting too nervy! Then a phone call delays me and takes Dexter’s wicket. 

Thankfully from my point of view, after that all I hear of the latest Middlesex.com batting collapse is an excited yelp from a Warwickshire commentator as we disappear into a train tunnel. I can’t get the commentary where I am so its back to Twitter and those all too familiar words: wicket. At least Malan gets to 40 this time; he must be on the up! I catch the last two to go down and Kevin’s reflection on how yet again we go from 1 wicket down to many wickets down in the blink of an eye. He does have a point in that we are still in early May and four matches down; but this is not just an early season worry. And his final words are that the batsmen probably need more of an arm round them to build up confidence. But is there time? And what pressure would it put on anyone coming in to replace misfiring middle order batsmen. Ho hum.

And this does seem to be turning into a Division where anyone can beat anyone else on their day. So if we could sort out this middle order problem/crisis/confidence (delete or add as necessary) who knows how things could turn out.

At least the 2nds won! Wonder what Charlie is doing on Sunday.