Finish them off

So I turned up at the historic, but clockless, Horsham ground to watch Middlesex’s reply to Sussex first innings. Silverwood bowled the first over and Mushtaq got a two then a single. To my amazement, the field then spread out all over the place for Lewry. Shows how much I know – he pulled his second ball high wide and not so handsome, and Ed Joyce took a pretty good diving catch at long leg (ish).

Threat

Rana Naved has been in the wickets and he posed the first major threat, in my eyes. Sure enough Ed Smith chipped to second slip in the third over and we were four for one. He could have got Ace too early on – a couple of fours came through the slips - but our man was not to be cowed and was soon rattling off boundaries. At the other end, the skipper, clearly thrown by the absence of a clock, appeared to be playing for a draw.

Morning session

Lewry had opened from the church end but posed less danger, nor did Martin-Jenkins when he replaced him. The wicket appeared good and the outfield was fast, with quite a short boundary on the pavilion side. When Naved was replaced Mushtaq took up residence at the clockless end, where he stayed for the rest of the innings (29 straight overs). At 79, Ben departed to an amazing catch at short leg, Montgomerie anticipating the sweep and taking the ball off the face of the bat. Hutton lingered a long time before he pulled himself reluctantly away.

Middlesex on Top for a While

The period between lunch and drinks belonged to Middlesex, with a 100 partnership between Shah and Joyce. Ace was terrific during this time but he couldn’t dominate Mushie until after his ton, and not really even then. I thought it odd that Lewry opened up at the church end after lunch – Naved might have been better. By the time the latter did come on for his second spell, Ace was motoring and he was hit out of the attack. A straight six was particularly memorable but the contemptuous flick over square leg from Lewry matched it. After moving to three figures, he smashed Mushie over midwicket for another, more brutal six.

Retired Hurt

But the key passage of the day was upon us. Ace was in pain – I couldn’t see if it was finger, wrist or elbow but it was hurting him to hit the ball. And then, Joyce was out. He had played Mushie with a little more composure even than Ace but Wright, fairly innocuous in his first spell, was gifted his wicket, lbw offering no stroke (you could call it the worst kind of dismissal, but Middx had more to offer in that category!).

Unfortunately, Ace retired hurt shortly after this, and suddenly both ends were open. Mushie had to get some reward and it soon followed. Compton, after a confident start, was lbw and two balls later Scott was bowled, offering no stroke. Louw, very high at no 8, never looked anything more than a tailender out for a hit or two and soon he touched one from Wright. Shah reappeared at this point. It was hard to say how much discomfort he was in but his dismissal suggests a good deal: with long on and long off out he tried to hit Mushie straight and it came down with snow on it to be safely pouched nevertheless by Lewry. With Dalrymple scoring steadily at the other end, there would normally have been no need for such a gamble.

More and More Hurt

Keegan lasted very little time, Wright now had his tale up, but he still looks a better bat than Louw to me. After tea, to give the collapse a final farcical twist, Dalrymple was run out trying to return to his ground by a throw so bad it would have got a rebuke in a primary school match. Alas, Jamie had slipped over, and Prior had time to run to very near where he was prostrated, collect the ball and run back to the stumps. Middlesex had lost their last 8 wickets for 78 runs (24 of them to some beautifully clean hitting be Chris Silverwood). At this point I left, to the delights of the M25.

Promising Positions We Let Go Episode 94

So on both days Middlesex had let a promising position slip. It is surely significant to look at how, on both Wednesday and Thursday, Sussex’s overseas players had made significant contributions. Without Mushie, today, they would have ceded the advantage for sure. I counted one full toss and one ball pretty short. In 29 overs. As soon as Ace retired hurt you could feel he would seize the moment. Wright got the first break and kept going but if Sussex had to rely on him, Lewry and Martin-Jenkins they would not be in control of this match.

Despite the collapse, I enjoyed my visit to this leafy, clockless venue. It could all have been so different.