Previews from both sides:
https://edgbaston.com/fixtures/first-xi/middlesex-vs-warwickshire-19-september-2023/#match-match-previews
https://www.middlesexccc.com/news/2023/09/squad-preview-middlesex-v-warwickshire-county-championship
I think the last time Warwickshire won a county championship game without Sam Hain was June 2018 when we beat Durham in division two
Davies in for Hain.
Won the toss bowling first.
Oh dear no breakthrough so far after winning what seemed a crucial toss at this stage of the season.
Hopefully batting on a better track than those we've played on recently at Edgbaston may yet help.
Bowling very well in some extremely helpful conditions. Lords is a great place to bowl when the clouds are in. Glad we're making it count. Must keep the pressure on as Middlesex lower order can be dangerous.
Clive Eakin on commentary doing his best Darth Vadar impressions again.
This really was a big toss to win, bowling excellently to back it up too.
Great from OH-D! 4 wickets for 19 runs, he just gets better and better! Middlesex now 104/9.
Bit out of order them not being able to put the floodlights on this morning but presumably they're on for the day now so could be batting in murky twilight for a while here
Well Yates sadly never saw the ball it appears!
Joking aside its Autumn, why are we playing 2 more rounds of championship cricket?
Due to high wind speeds they were unable to raise the floodlight towers this morning, as stated on the radio comentary.
Our top order is really a shambles.
Rhodes seems to have found some late season form. But Yates, Davies, now Brathwaite, just so unreliable.
Looking interesting. It is due to absolutely hose it down here from now, though it actually looks OK in the city this instant. Looks like Hampshire are well out of the Essex game and they haven't picked up full bowling bonus points. One or two batting points for us would be very useful on the assumption both games get washed out, though low scores in out game mean we're never that far from a result. Looking up? Hard to tell and great for CC.
Watching this I’m wondering why Murtagh is retiring.
He’s bowled some absolute beauties.
The balls to Barnard and Burgess were gorgeous. They’ve pitched in almost identical places, ones jagged back, the others moved away. Not just a little bit of movement either. Superb bowling.
Why are we off for bad light, the batsmen had no issue. They were flaying it to all parts.
It’s now going to rain for the rest of the day. Seems a poor decision by the umpires.
Raining now and that'll finish it so not sure the bad light for 15 minutes will have made much of a difference. In any case, another 72 runs would be great here. Allow Rhodes and Briggs to get centuries, two batting points and still five sessions plus to bowl Middlesex out for under 180 with the odd shower delay. It will just have to be tomorrow I guess...
BristolBear wrote:
Watching this I’m wondering why Murtagh is retiring.
He’s bowled some absolute beauties.
The balls to Barnard and Burgess were gorgeous. They’ve pitched in almost identical places, ones jagged back, the others moved away. Not just a little bit of movement either. Superb bowling.
I would think that Tim Murtagh is retiring because, at age 42, fast bowling is too much like hard work. Also, he already has a coaching role at Middlesex and presumably this will become his full-time role.
Anyway. whilst accepting that the Warwickshire upper order is badly mis-firing at the moment, it's absolutely right also to give credit for some excellent bowling.
Chuffed for Rhodes, he's been threatening this for a few weeks.
Tayls79 wrote:
Raining now and that'll finish it so not sure the bad light for 15 minutes will have made much of a difference. In any case, another 72 runs would be great here. Allow Rhodes and Briggs to get centuries, two batting points and still five sessions plus to bowl Middlesex out for under 180 with the odd shower delay. It will just have to be tomorrow I guess...
No you’re right 15 minutes won’t make a big difference in the scheme of things for this match. It’s just more a wider point in general, it’s a frustration of mine, that cricket always seems to shoot itself in the foot regarding time played or not played. There’s a million laws and regulations about when not to play, yet nothing that allows common sense to prevail and increase playing time when possible.