Robbo Wins Battle of Hastings

Dingy reports on a great day for the Middle where the only negative was the weather.

Middlesex had their best first day for quite some time at Lords on Saturday. Put in, under leaden skies, we closed on 329-4, after Sam Robson regained something close to his best form with 178, supported by 50s from Compton and Voges.

Durham won the toss and chose to bowl, despite the loss of Onions who injured a knee warming up. They still had a side with what was shown to be no less than six right-armed seamers of varying speeds, whom the eternally-youthful skipper Collingwood continued to rotate and change ends, mixed with the spin of Borthwick and the all-sorts of McLeod.

Sam turned the first ball of the game from Rushworth square on the legside for four; this proved an omen. In the cold conditions, the ball seemed to do very little: there was an unconvincing appeal for caught behind and one horrible jerk off the back foot that could have touched an edge but didn’t, otherwise Sam was quickly into his stride while Gubbo remained calm and unruffled at the other end. It wasn’t until close to an hour had been played that Rushworth started to trouble Gubbo but it was Coughlin (who looks about 16) who induced the edge to slip at about 12.20. Gubbins will be disappointed to go for 23 he had a long net in the afternoon) but his 80 minutes at the crease were worth far more to the side than the runs themselves. The wicket helped to slow the scoring rate and Compo’s nervous start added to this effect. But 106-1 was a brilliant score to go into lunch on.

Afterwards (and we were allowed a perambulate), the second wicket pair moved steadily on and runs came with the ball hardly ever beating the bat. It really did make you wonder about the increasingly popular idea of winning the toss and bowling. Somewhere between 70 and 80, Sam punched one off the back foot through the covers for 4, his own shot, and you knew he was back in form. He did spend ages on 86 but we were going at about 3 ½ an over, so this was no issue at all. When he did get going again, he moved quickly to 99, while Compo moved easily to his 50.

At this point, Borthwick was brought on to relieve the boredom of right-arm seam. Sam duly completed his ton, of 161 balls. But shortly after, Compton, perhaps misjudging a shorter, quicker on, was bowled heaving to leg. Given the number of pies Borthwick sent down in the next few overs, to help Sam move on from 100 and Voges to get going, Compo must have been sick as the proverbial.

The only real answer Durham had at this point, not to look threatening but just to keep the scoring rate down, was their excellent skipper who had bowled seven overs for a single run at one stage. Tea 221-2.

In the last session, even with the new ball when it was taken, Durham could raise hardly any hint of a real breakthrough. It was a shock when Voges, clearly in prime form and scoring effortlessly all round the wicket, was lbw to Coughlin who, though he bowled some loose deliveries (he helped get Compo going), also got more lift than any of his teammates. It did not look the most convincing decision.

After that, it was just a matter if Sam could carry his bat through the day. He just failed, jabbing a tired-looking shot to slip off Rushworth. Perhaps surprisingly, this brought in a nightwatchman, Harry having now got this much-prized role in the side.

Best things:

The excellent company (thanks to you all);

Sam back in form;

Gubbo’s continued advance.

Worst things:

The wind;

The temperature;

The lack of sun.