Travel: signal problem at Preston Road a pain. 20 mins lost. Thereafter ok. Had set off early despite rain/lightening/thunder. Was headed to the driest ground in England. So worth the gamble. Arrived at eleven. Gateperson optimistic. Said groundstaff very good at drying up and a quick drying ground to boot. 

Weather: after the storm: the sun is out, the sky is blue, there's not a cloud to spoil the view...but it's raining, raining in my heart...Buddy Holly.

Prospects of play: inspection at 12.00pm. Umpiring delay for inspection. Eventually appeared at 12.10. Play to start at 12.30. 24 overs lost, but reduced to 16 as extra half hour to be played. Intervals to vary.

1st session:
 
Overnight: Essex 54 for 4. Finn opened from River End to Pettini. Maiden. Silvers from Hayes Close End to Masters. Maiden. Finn has an appeal rejected for a catch behind next over. Finn continued his good form from last night. Eventually, Masters made a square cut for 4 off Silvers. 3/4 slips plus a gully. Masters played and missed at Silvers, a let off, but then punished him with a four next ball. A yorker from Finn off a short run, enabled an extra over by Spoons. One of whose deliveries rose steeply and was fielded high over his head by Nashy. Excellent take. Both Pettini and Masters had enjoyed rather a charmed life during the short pre-lunch session. Lunch Essex 75 for 4. Pettini 9* Masters 17*.

2nd session
 
This was an absolute action packed session and the best I have viewed this season from a Middlesex angle. Tea was to be taken at 1555 regardless of overs. Remainder to be bowled in the final session! Finn opened from R.E. to Masters who displayed stoic defence. Then an edge over the slips for 4. Berg replaced Silvers at the HCE. His first over was on the money and things started to happen. Finn bowled another testing over to Pettini, making him jump around. Next over, Bergy castled Pettini's off stump, which ended near the boundary. Not bad for a club bowler. Pettini 10. 86 for 5. Next over Berg squared up Masters LBW for 22. 87 for 6. On the money again. The 3rd Berg over, Wheater edged him to Kartik at second slip. 87 for 7. You could say The Iceman was in danger of melting down: he was running hot. A 4 from CJC Wright and a high bouncer which eluded Nashy took the score to 95 and completed the over.

It was noticeable, as well, that Berg, was bowling at a brisk pace. Finn maiden. Berg maiden. Essex were struggling to reach the follow on score of 125. Silvers replaced Finn at the R.E. after a very long and excellent spell by Stevie boy. Quite frankly the best bowling I have seen from him in a first team jersey. The same must also be said of Bergie. The slip cordon had remained in place since the start of play. Three maidens followed in succession. An attempted runout was made by Malan off Bergy's 6th ball of the next over. Dexter then replaced Spoons at the R.E. Good shout for lbw against CJC Wright was turned down by Vanburn Holder. Maiden. There was a frequent shouldering of arms by the Essex batters. Dex maiden. Berg finally got a nick from Middlebrook , taken expertly by Nash. 98 for 8 and the follow on looking a possibility if desired. Kaneria lashed a 4 off Dex to advance Essex beyond a 100.

A further slog by Kaneria just evaded the field. Lucky man. Off Berg, Murali failed to hold onto an edge at slip from Wright. This would have been his fifer. His reprieve did'nt last long, as he was taken by Nash off Finn next over. 120 for 9. Wright 19. After surviving what appeared to be a plumb lbw off Berg, Kaneria saved the follow on, hitting Gareth for a straight 4. Chambers then survived another lbw shout from Finn. That proved to be painful, as next ball from Finn, Chambers ducked into it and there was a nasty crash of the ball striking his helmet. A delay ensued. New helmets were brought out, plus physio attention, after which Chambers resumed. He responded with a couple of 4's. Another lbw shout from Bergy turned down. Kaneria at this point decided, attack was the best form of defence and targeted Finn, who finally took a little bit of stick from Danish, a 6 and a 4, before he finally holed out to Dexter off Finn. 157 ao. A lead for The Middle of 117. Tea taken at 3.35: innings closed. A very eventful session Full of incident.

Finn's First First-Class Middlesex Michelle

PS: Danny Boy had a lunchtime session with Gus, tuning his length. Finn's figures of 21.3 - 8- 57 - 5 were a career best. Berg's 13-2-35-4 plus his 56 in the 1st innings were career best's. All of these for Middlesex of course.

3rd session

Strauss/Compo opened. Strauss took strike from Masters at R.E. AJS off the mark with 2 off the 1st ball with a half stop at mid wicket. 2 slips only, inner ring, 3rd man, fine leg. Pettini aware that there is a great deal of time left in the match, was a trite defensive, not wanting The Middle, to get out of sight, with a too attacking field one assumes. So this session was more one of attrition. 45 overs were to be bowled. Compo contented himself with pushing the singles. A pull shot from Andy S was just pulled up short of the boundary and three were taken. Middlesex were also intent on building a platform, a thoroughly sound tactic. 'I'm gonna work to the midnight hour' 'Wilson Pickett',  describes the play for most of the time until a large chunk of overhead murk, which had been hanging around dripping for a time, finally brought proceedings to an end at 5.25 with 23 overs left unbowled.

Before that happened there was a square cut and a smooth legside glance from Compo which brought boundaries. Straussey joined in with a nudge over the slip and a sort of 'jump in the air' shot, both off Chambers which found the ropes. In the meantime, at the 14 over mark, Kaneria spelled Masters at R.E. Field: inner ring, deep cover and mid wicket. Wright spelled Chambers at HCE. AJS tucked into a square cut for 4 off his 6th delivery. The 50 partnership came up in the 20th over: there ain't been too many of them over the last couple of seasons. As a personal thought, Compo looked ,more relaxed with Straussey at the other end. The slight drip since about 4.45 had now eased. A massive slog by Compo on the offside, did,nt get very far, suggesting maybe a slight slowing of the pitch, which throughout, has been quick, had bounce, and offered assistance to the bowlers. Straussey outside edge off Kaneria, offered a chance to Chambers running back, but was grassed. Contrarily, the drip, as mentioned earlier, finally got up steam and we headed for the Pav to watch England rescueing their hopes in the 20/20 WC. Score 60 for 0. Strauss 35* Compo 24* The umpires called it off at 6.15 and we headed for home.

Summation: Briefly the best two days Middlesex cricket I have seen in a long time in the 4 day format. This time, weather permitting, let us hope, we can push home the advantage we have worked so hard to get over the past two days, after losing the toss.
 

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