Yeah I get you, and indeed I think we all agree. I went out for my lunch at lunch on the game and was thinking to myself it would be great to play through this if the rest of the day is going to be rained off. And that would have really suited us.

BristolBear wrote:

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.

They won’t do it but there’s a strong case to be made for declaring overnight so Middlesex have to bat at 1030 against a new ball in late September!

Decisions on light have to consider the safety of both sides, it is possible that the fielding side had difficulty seing the bal against the background.

Weather looks OK today, maybe a shower mid afternoon, what also worth stating is it's incredibly wet here (3 miles from the ground). The heavy rain went on until about midnight and things are still soaked this AM with a heavy atmosphere. There is definitely a good case for declaring now and getting them in, but I think there's enough time to shoot for a BP or two with the bat, which maybe important, and the feel-good factor of Rhodes getting a first century for the season, maybe even Briggs too.

The drainage there must be amazing.

Good for Rhodes to get his century. Shame he got out so shortly after but imagine he was very relieved he finally turned threatening to do well in the last couple of matches into a decent score in this one.

I do wonder what Middlesex’s approach will be now. They’ll know that they can’t afford to have a worse result than Kent.

Yah, I'm surprised they got underway on time

Tayls79 wrote:

Weather looks OK today, maybe a shower mid afternoon, what also worth stating is it's incredibly wet here (3 miles from the ground). The heavy rain went on until about midnight and things are still soaked this AM with a heavy atmosphere. There is definitely a good case for declaring now and getting them in, but I think there's enough time to shoot for a BP or two with the bat, which maybe important, and the feel-good factor of Rhodes getting a first century for the season, maybe even Briggs too.

It's a difficult balance but I think we missed a trick here not declaring overnight.

Batting getting easier now and we look good.

very difficult and I suppose they took what was the logical decision to get runs on the board first innings.

Gutted for Briggs!

Suspect it’s a case of just getting the batting points because unless the track completely changes overnight, a draw looks the only likely result. So get as many points as possible.

Can’t see us bowling them out currently for a total we could chase. And they won’t risk losing whilst Kent are doing poorly. So for them to get enough runs to threaten declaring they’d need to bat too long for it to be possible to bowl us out on a pitch only getting better for batting.

True about the bonus points. We were five behind Hants start of this game so if we can chip away at a couple of those this round and we assume draws everywhere it's a big thing going into the final round.

HOWEVER - still think there's enough in this game for the win - and there's still enough time for Hampshire to lose. Middlesex aren't the strongest batting side and we still have four sessions plus a bit to bowl them out and knock off some runs. Quite a heavy shower in progress right now but it should clear up fairly soon, it's bright, and tomorrow looks good for most of the day.

BristolBear wrote:

Suspect it’s a case of just getting the batting points because unless the track completely changes overnight, a draw looks the only likely result. So get as many points as possible.

Can’t see us bowling them out currently for a total we could chase. And they won’t risk losing whilst Kent are doing poorly. So for them to get enough runs to threaten declaring they’d need to bat too long for it to be possible to bowl us out on a pitch only getting better for batting.

1030 tomorrow is key!

A shame the ball is a bit older now but that half hour first thing will decide the game!

no further play today might suit us!

Bright sun shine and blue sky three miles west of Lords... Drying quickly.

Looks like this is heading for a draw. Yates bowling some spin - only a part time spinner. Middlesex now 227/4. 33 ahead.
Why doesn't Mousley bowl his spin? I know they use him for white ball cricket, but he always looks threatening with his spin speed variation.

Yates was only bowling with the old ball before we took the new one. Half a chance here...

Suddenly it's got a bit more interesting.

Unfortunately rain is not too far away…

I think we’re going to get stopped by the weather. Though maybe not if we get this last one quickly.

Goes both ways though, we got robbed by the rain and drainage at Somerset, but saved against Lancashire.

58 to win but it looks decidely dull on You Tube. I wonder how long the umpires will allow the fast bowlers to bowl when they come back out. That's if they come back out.

Who can we open with to knock this off v quickly?