Defying Logic and Form:

Middlesex duly completed the expected victory over Surrey just over an hour after the restart by an innings and 44 runs. It was the most dominant performance by Middlesex this season, but one that leave pundits scratching their heads. It defied both the form and logic. Surrey came into the match brimming with confidence from a good win over Northants. Middlesex had hung on for a draw after a last ditch ninth wicket stand that kept Sussex at bay last week.

Surrey lost no players to England’s Test Match squad – Middlesex lost three. Eoin Morgan scored a century and ended Pakistan’s first innings by running out Mohammad Asif. Steven Finn took three wickets and Andrew Strauss is the captain. Middlesex are resigned to their loss, but it offers an opportunity for younger players. Toby Roland-Jones seized his with his first 5-for. “After his performance at Uxbridge last week, he was definitely going to play here,” captain Neil Dexter said. “It’s about momentum. We got some from saving the match against Sussex last week. It’s just one match.”

But what a match it was. Middlesex ought to have struggled, but ripped up the form book and logic instead. What had changed?

“This our home ground,” former West Indies fast-bowler Pedro Collins told us. “Any team should play well on their home ground and we wasn’t doing that through the season. Any team looks to dominate on their home ground in front of their home fans and we did that very well in this game and hopefully we can continue for the rest of the season.”

Collins emphasised the contribution of the whole team.”The guys backed us up in the field very well,” he said. “They field very well and try to stop them and that was good to see and then the batters dominate, but it was good to see in the field. We scored over 400 runs. We are a very good team if we can just continue that.”

Resistance:

Gareth Batty failed to add many to his over-night score before Tim Murtagh joined the party. Josh Davey took the catch to dismiss him for 12. Chris Tremlett strode to the wicket and decided that valour was the better part of discretion. He made an unlikely top-scorer, but batting at 9, Tremlett not only remained unbeaten, but made Surrey’s best score in the match, 53, made from only 42 balls.

Stewart Walters made 43 from 65 balls. He had hit nine fours before he was caught behind by wicket-keeper John Simpson to give Collins his first wicket of the innings. The partnership was worth 67. It had the bonus of bringing Jade Dernbach to the wicket for an interesting cameo.

Dernbach proved difficult to set a field for. He shaped to hit an on-drive and it headed to extra-cover (the other side of the wicket). Two thirds of his runs came in boundaries – a six and a four. The six came from the penultimate ball of his knock. He tried to repeat the shot, but mistimed it and Owais Shah took a good catch at mid-off. Shaun Udal took revenge with the wicket.

Tremlett made his half-century in 39 balls with nine boundaries. It was a superb knock, but in a hopeless cause. He smashed four maximum shots – two apiece from Tim Murtagh and were the victims. One six was massive, rivalling the effort of West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard here earlier in the season. After Dernbach fell, Tim Linley lasted just four balls for his duck, caught by Scott Newman, bowled Collins.

Resuming at 110 for 6 after Toby Roland-Jones’ devastating spell of 5 for 6 from 26 balls, Surrey’s tail showed their senior batsmen how it should be done making more than a century in the limited time required. 212 all out meant a crushing defeat for the old enemy and the celebrations could begin for Middlesex.

Future:

It may be too late to push for promotion – both Dexter and the club’s Director of Cricket Angus Fraser concede that, but they will play for pride and look to finish in the top half of the table. “It’s too early to look to promotion for next year,” Dexter said, but they have a nucleus of talented young players for the future. “It’s easy to forget how young he [Dawid Malan] is.” Roland-Jones is 22 as well.

“The Second XI are doing very well,” Fraser said. Sam Robson is waiting in the wings. “He could have played in this match but the captain wanted Scott Newman to play.” Newman made 54 and Dexter also wanted Murtagh. Both former Surrey men returned to form with a half-century for Newman and a first innings 5-for by Murtagh.

Adam London has had a stop-start season through injury and Kabir Toor is an interesting prospect. “It’s been hard work  and we’re chasing good sides – Gloucestershire, Glamorgan,” said Murtagh. “That’s about it. You’ve got to produce players that play for England. Sometimes you think it’s great, but at the moment we’ve got three players in the England team.”