The Australians enjoyed a comfortable five wicket win over Middlesex in the last warm-up match before the on-day international series with 19 balls to spare. A thrilling century by Cameron White – his first at Lord’s – part of a 176 run fifth wicket partnership with Michael Hussey took the Australians to the brink of victory.

Hussey was unbeaten on 72 at the close. At 64 for 4 in the Australians’ reply Middlesex’s captain Adam Gilchrist fancied their chances, but knew not to get over-confident. “I saw Mike Hussey walking out,” he said. “It was a situation tailor-made for him. I’ve seen him do it too many times to get excited.”

He wasn’t wrong. ‘Mr Cricket’ was in excellent form with an unbeaten 72, but White was the undoubted star. The all-rounder had never hit a century at Lord’s previously. The weather and umpires threatened to keep that streak going, but White refused to be denied.

“It was just a bit of rain,” said White. “We didn’t want to go off.” It proved to be an inspired choice. With his team reeling at 51 for 3, his skipper Ricky Ponting seemed prepared to go off, but waited while White debated with the umpires, eventually persuading them to remain. The crowd appreciated his efforts.

51 for 3 turned into 64 for 4 as Tim Murtagh – the only successful Middlesex bowler – took the second of his three wickets. Ponting was trapped leg before wicket for 17. 176 runs later Lord’s rose to applaud White back to the pavilion after a magnificent century. He deserved to be there at the end, but it wasn’t to be. White departed for 106, caught by Newman – Murtagh’s third and last wicket.

White reached his century with a six – the best of his nine boundaries. The other eight were fours. It took him 114 balls to record his maiden hundred at headquarters. Tom Smith was the unfortunate bowler. He lasted another six balls, but only added three more.

Hussey’s share of the 136 ball century partnership was 46. He reached his half century with his fourth four shortly afterwards. White dominated the rest of the partnership. Hussey only made another 26 of the 113 scored.

Australia needed 44 to win with plenty of time to achieve it. Leg-spinner Steve Smith is a talent that should just be allowed to do what he does according to Gilchrist. He can bat a bit too. At the fall of White’s wicket Smith took over, outscoring Hussey – finishing unbeaten on 28 – but Mr Cricket  did his job admirably. The Australians’ batting order has strength in depth, but the bowling – Doug Bollinger apart – is another matter.

Champagne Bowling:

Bollinger made bowling at Lord’s look easy. The rest of a depleted Australian attack, missing Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson, looked ordinary and this will be a concern to Ponting and Australia’s selectors. The threadbare attack conceded 273 runs to Middlesex in fifty overs. Gilchrist got a start, 38 a did captain-elect Neil Dexter 45, but failed to press on to make the big scores that were available. Scott Newman hit an unbeaten 55. Owais Shah – somewhat unfairly discarded by England – helped himself to 92.

It was not an Australian attack to instil fear into England’s batting order, but Bollinger was a class apart. 273 was a good score, but it could have been far more. “I thought 270 or 280 was a good score on that wicket,” said Shah before crediting Bollinger’s contribution. He found it strange facing an attack without Lee and Johnson and didn’t think England would be too troubled, but Australia’s batting is a different matter.

It went down to Smith at number 7, whose entertaining cameo 28 from just 17 balls, finished the job with four fours – the last when the scores were level. Hussey made 72 from 99 balls with six fours. Gilchrist tried seven bowlers, but couldn’t find an answer to Hussey, Smith or even more so White. Only Murtagh bowled his full allocation of ten overs, taking 3 for 43.

Past and Present:

Bollinger won the duel with David Warner easily and early, passing the bat in a hostile opening over, conceding a glorious off drive that dissected mid-off and bowler for four before finding the edge to wicket-keeper Tim Paine. Warner had to go for 5 – the first of three victims the pair claimed.

Meanwhile, Gilchrist proved that class is permanent. Shah – a batsman who proved his point today – could only watch as Gilchrist helped himself to boundaries in Bollinger’s next over. The first an uppish square-cut cleared Ponting; the other a glorious straight drive.

Bollinger was replaced by Clint McKay after bowling 3 overs for 18. Gilchrist and Shah put on 67 for the second wicket. Gilchrist’s share was 38 that included five boundaries three fours and two sixes. He knocked the ordinary McKay out of the attack after four overs and was threatening to do the same to Shane Watson – the bowlers he hit for six – but then the former Australian wicket-keeper threw it away, giving catching practice at deep-square to the ever dependable Hussey.

Shah carried on to establish himself as the lynch-pin of Middlesex’s innings, reaching his fifty from 79 balls with five fours. He deserved a century, but fell eight runs short after 123 balls to the least deserving of the Australian bowlers – McKay.

Shah hit eight fours and a six during an innings that suggests his England career should not be discarded lightly. The irrepressible Bollinger took the catch at the wide long-on boundary, giving  Newman and Gareth Berg the opportunity to build on the platform laid by Dexter and Shah.

Captain Elect:

Dexter is scheduled to become Middlesex captain after Gilchrist’s scheduled departure at the end of the week. He played a captain’s innings today. After a rare failure by Dawid Malan, he joined Shah with the innings stalling at 86 for 3. Dexter played a mature innings of great maturity, outscoring Shah. An 88 run partnership with Shah ended with Dexter becoming Bollinger’s third and last victim for 45, made from 60 balls.

He had hit five fours in a partnership that rescued the impetus of Middlesex’s innings. That brought  Newman, batting down the order as the last recognised batsman, to the crease. He normally opens the batting, but thrived on dropping down to six, building a useful partnership with Shah, which realised 63 runs.

Newman reached his fifty with a six in the final over of the innings – his second – and that was followed with  his fourth and final four. It was an impressive innings that steered his side to 273 for 5. He was unbeaten on 55 at the close made from just 54 balls. He provide the end of innings aggression with four fours and two sixes.

Bollinger was by far the pick of the Australian bowlers, taking 3 for 24 from his eight overs. It remains a mystery why Ponting did not allow the impressive Bollinger to bowl another two overs.  McKay finished his ten overs at twice the cost per over with far less success. Watson’s 7 overs cost 44 with one wicket and Ryan Harris was wicket-less, but unlucky with the new ball. His 9 overs cost 47.

Meanwhile, the spin twins – Nathan Hauritz and Steve Smith took no wickets. Hauritz conceded 41 from 9 and Smith 43 from 7. Despite Bollinger’s efforts it was an imposing target, or would have been without White and Hussey. Nevertheless, the weakness of the attack, failure to take wickets and keep the scoring of a county side down will concern the Australians. Their batting won’t.

The Reply:

Shane Watson and Tim Paine opened the innings – both were to depart to run-outs. The first was freakish; the second was due to brilliant fielding. With the score on 25 Murtagh dropped a return chance from Watson, then on 15, but deflected it onto the stumps to run out Paine, backing up on 10. Ponting and Watson took the Australians’ score 50 before being parted by the brilliance of a compatriot.

Warner may not have contributed with the bat, but his fielding was inspired. A superb throw from backward-point – a direct hit – and Watson was on his way back for 24, albeit scored quickly. Vice-captain Michael Clarke was trapped lbw for 0 by Murtagh and Australia was in trouble at 51 for 3.

The umpires soon decided that light rain was enough to take the players off the field. Ponting started to walk off, but waited while White refused to leave. He convinced the umpires to change their mind. Middlesex and England may wish it had rained more heavily, but nothing – not even the weather – could deny White.