The restart was delayed until 2.30pm, and only nine more balls were possible before the heavens opened again. There was time, however, for Hutton to be brilliantly caught one-handed low down at first slip by Nick Knight off the bowling of Dougie Brown.

            Play then got back underway at 3.25pm, with Smith and Shah safely negotiating the time left until tea by reaching 113-1.

            It was after the break that the Middlesex batsmen really cut loose, with Smith’s fine stroke play sometimes eclipsed by Shah’s magnificent hitting. Shah was certainly in stunning form, scoring quickly and once advancing to Daniel Vettori to strike him back over the sightscreen at the Nursery End. 

            The partnership looked set to last until the close but, with the light deteriorating, Shah was given out leg before to Heath Streak. The shout was only half-hearted and the ball did seem to hit the batsman rather high, yet Shah did well to hide any understandable disappointment.

            Smith kept his composure to record his first century of the season, brought up with a drive past mid-off, and he richly deserved the appreciation shown by those in the ground.

            Ed Joyce struck two boundaries before misjudging an attempted hook, lobbing the ball tamely to Knight at slip. At 227-3, there was a risk that the earlier hard work could have been undone, but Smith and Jamie Dalrymple stood firm to see Middlesex to 255-3 when rain intervened once again to curtail the evening session by five overs.

            Middlesex have batting in depth to come, and they will hope to secure maximum batting points after building a solid platform earlier. Furthermore, they can look forward to the return of Chad Keegan, playing his first Championship game for over a year because of injury.