Middlesex travelled north to Chester le Street at the head of the championship table with opponents Durham having slipped to third whilst without a game last week. The several Middlesex players who took part in the corresponding match last season may just have had in the back of their minds memories of being bowled out on the third morning and falling 16 runs short of victory. When skipper Rogers won the toss asking Durham to bat was probably not a decision he fretted over.
With Benkenstein ruled out by injury for the next few months Durham recalled Jennings but there was no place for Richardson for it was Borthwick who entered at three after the early dismissal of Stoneman. Any fears that Durham would be dismissed for something like the 102 they scored in the first innings last year were quickly dispelled and lunch was taken at 100 for 1, with Borthwick in particular having played very fluently and being 46 not out at the interval.
If the morning had not gone according to Rogers' expectations the afternoon appeared to justify his decision to field for despite some dropped catches in the slips Durham found themselves 149 for 5 when Mustard joined Will Smith who had batted patiently while wickets fell at the other end. The sixth wicket added 55 before Smith was out and although contributions from the last four batsmen were modest, enough support was given to Mustard for the second batting point to be gained.
During the afternoon I had been joined by my friend Pete Sixsmith who offered to ease my return journey by giving me a lift to Durham station. We stayed long enough to see Onions keep out the hat trick ball after Collymore had dismissed Thorpe and Wood but missed seeing Mustard go to his fifty with some lusty blows before being caught in the deep for 62.
Middlesex were faced with 8 overs batting before the close and the cake that had looked soggy at tea but had risen thanks to Mustard's efforts was nicely iced by Onions who removed Rogers, previously averaging over 70 in the championship for 3 and Thorpe had Sam Robson, averaging over 80, for 1. Denly and Smith hung on to the close but Middlesex will start this morning still 248 in arrears. The forecast for Chester le Street today is for some heavy, possibly wintry showers borne on a strong northerly wind. Neither batting nor fielding will be pleasant and the thought of it being colder than yesterday has been enough to put me off making the trip north.
Most readers will be aware of the events at Cricket Field Road, Horsham yesterday where Somerset won the toss and were bowled out in a little over 22 overs for 76 with Magoffin taking 8 for 20. I have commented more than once on Somerset's problems this season, in particular how their batting line up, so strong on paper has struggled in the championship but been buoyant in 40 over cricket.. Sussex found themselves with a first innings lead as early as 2:30 and by the close had stretched it to 222 with one wicket in hand. To make Somerset's coach Dave Nosworthy's day the last wicket pair added an unbeaten 27 before stumps with one MS Panesar 17 not out. Nosworthy does a nice line in 'coach speak'. Gems like 'If we can get a little more discipline in the morning and hit good areas then we will be in the mix'. His comments yesterday evening were a little more straight forward. 'There are no excuses we didn't get it right'. Fair enough, Dave.
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