Not enforced:

Glamorgan led by 165 runs on the first innings but captain Jamie Dalrymple chose not to enforce the follow on. “I think it was the case that we had a few injury problems,” said their wicketkeeper Mark Wallace. “James Harris, who leads our attack was struggling with a quad injury so we decided that it was best not to enforce the follow on, plus we thought that the wicket would probably get worse.”

Wallace had a good view of the behaviour of the wicket from behind the stumps so had the wicket deteriorated? This is an important consideration after the ban on the use of heavy rollers between innings. “Whether it has or not is probably debatable,” said Wallace, “but I think it was the right decision certainly not to enforce the follow on because we would have been a bowler down and at a great disadvantage.”

Rather than risk an attack with just three specialist bowlers Dalrymple chose to give Harris time to recover and bat again. Middlesex fought back. Mark Cosgrove retired hurt on 17 after ducking into a delivery from Steven Finn. He was hit on the helmet. It wasn’t clear that he would return. Glamorgan closed on 119 for 6. Michael Powell made 47 from 76 balls with six fours to add to his first innings half century and Wallace scored 37 from 66 balls with four boundaries. He made a splendid unbeaten 79 in the first innings.

“I think Middlesex bowled very well,” said Wallace. “In the first innings, they bowled a fraction short. We still played well in the second innings. We got over 200 which is a fair effort considering we were a little bit shocked with Mark Cosgrove having to retire hurt and a few other things. I thought Middlesex bowled very well. Steven Finn was exceptional – didn’t get the wickets that he probably deserved, so we were actually very happy with our second innings performance.”

Seventeen wickets had fallen on the second day, compared to nine on the first and eight on the third day – a day that Strauss and Malan batted magnificently, but first Glamorgan’s tail wagged. David Harrison made 24, batting at ten and Dean Cosker was left stranded on 49 when Murtagh took a return catch from Waters for 1. They were dismissed for 209. “I think if we can go on and win by 100 runs or 70 runs it will because of Dean Cosker and David Harrison,” Wallace said about their contribution on the third day. “It will be the edge, so we’re quite happy.”

Glamorgan added a hundred runs on third day for the loss of their remaining four wickets, which included Cosgrove without adding to his total. Murtagh took 3 for 53 from 19 overs, but Berg bagged 4 for 72 from one over less.

Defying the Odds:

Set a challenging 375 to win in the fourth innings on a wearing Lord’s pitch, Middlesex were soon put on the back foot. Scott Newman fell for a five-ball duck, leg before wicket to Jim Harris. Fresh from his five wicket haul in the first innings, Harrison was determined not to be outdone, inducing a loose shot from Sam Robson, which Dalrymple held on to. That gave Robson the unwanted distinction of completing a pair – Harrison trapped him lbw for 0 in Middlesex’s wretched first innings. Robson lasted just four balls.

Hands on hips and shaking his head, Strauss looked on in disbelief. It was 1 for 2 – he had yet to face a single ball. Dawid Malan joined him at the wicket. They not only stemmed the bleeding, but put on 143 runs for the third wicket – comfortably the best partnership of the match. “The two Middlesex lads, Andrew Strauss and Dawid Malan, played exceptionally well on that pitch – probably the best batting of the entire game,” said Wallace, “so you know you’ve got to doff your caps to them really.”

Malan was first to reach his half century – it took 94 balls and included nine fours. Strauss was marginally more circumspect. His fifty took 98 balls and contained six boundaries. “It’s been a bit rusty, obviously not having played for a couple of months and we didn’t have much opportunity – we had hardly any opportunity to get outdoors before that first game,” said Strauss, “so it was bound to be a bit rusty. I had to battle a bit in both innings, but I feel pretty good. I’d like to get a hundred or two in the near future, but this game was an important one to spend some time in the middle and getting used to batting again.”

Strauss played himself nicely into form with 69, including eight boundaries from 132 balls, but the plaudits belonged to Malan, who ended the third day in the nervous nineties – six short of what be only the second century of his first class career.  That was made on debut against Northants two seasons ago. Middlesex can take some comfort from Malan’s form.

The loss of Adam London’s wicket as stumps beckoned took a small bit of gloss off a fighting performance by Middlesex on the third day, which left both teams interested. Middlesex sent in their overseas player Iain O’Brien – a confirmed rabbit with the bat – as nightwatchman to protect the last recognised batsman, John Simpson. 

At 187 for 4, the hosts needed another 188 to win, while the visitors required another six wickets to complete the victory that seemed a formality when Glamorgan spurned the opportunity to enforce the follow on. “Had it not been for Dawid Malan and Andrew Strauss playing so well and maybe making the scoreboard look a bit skew-whiff I think that score would be shorn up,” said Wallace.

Meanwhile, Berg remained optimistic that Middlesex could still win. “You’ve always got to think that,” he said. “We’ve batted poorly three times, so we were due some runs. We’re half way there with six wickets left. We need to score some runs with myself and Simpson next in, we can score them.”

Formalities:

Malan reached his century, but the fluency of his splendid knock was gone. He added 21 to his overnight total of 94, completing just his second first class century. He played and missed on 99 at Harris, but completed his century with a boundary through gully. He deserved the plaudits, but after his wicket fell the end appeared nigh despite an attacking cameo from Gareth Berg.

By lunch the result was no longer in doubt. Tim Murtagh survived a confident leg before wicket and in the third over after lunch Steven Finn was last out for 0. Middlesex was all out for 298 – a good effort batting fourth, but the damage had been done earlier.

“I think a bit of confidence for the team for us to get up to 300 on a difficult wicket when it was quite difficult for us,” said the centurion Malan, “so I think for the team we can take quite a lot – not only my performance, but other performances to get up to 300. I think we’ve taken a lot out of that as a team, so hopefully we can take that into our next few games. We learned how to bat on it and hopefully we can take that form into our next game”