Start of Play:
It’s overcast and drizzling at Lord’s this morning, meaning a delayed start to Day 1 of the LV=County championship Division 1 match against Warwickshire CCC.
Early lunch has been announced at 12:30, so a further inspection by the umpires after lunch, weather dependent.
To keep up to date with start times and news, please use the Lord’s Prospects of Play hotline on 020 7616 8603.
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Lunch Update:
An early lunch was being taken at Lord's, where the start of the LV= County Championship Division One match between Middlesex and Warwickshire was delayed by rain.
Umpires Martin Bodenham and Steve O'Shaughnessy had planned to inspect at 11.45am, hoping that light rain would have eased by then, but the weather did not improve and so an early lunch at 12.30pm was taken and the officials said they would look again after the 40-minute interval had passed.
It's looking much brighter here now, next pitch inspection at 2pm.
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Rain Update:
starting to clear up, toss due at 2:30 for start of play at 3.
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Tea Update:
Warwickshire 66-3 v Middlesex
Steven Finn, England’s forgotten fast bowler, struck three times in a fiery new ball spell of 3 for 31 to give Middlesex early reward for their decision to ask Warwickshire to bat first in the LV= County Championship Division One encounter at Lord’s.
Varun Chopra, Jonathon Webb, on championship debut, and Ateeq Javid were Finn’s victims as Warwickshire reached 66 for 3 by tea on a rain-shortened opening day, with the match eventually starting at 3pm because of rain.
Finn’s first three overs from the Pavilion End cost 24 runs but he did have Javid dropped on four at third slip in his second over before working up impressive rhythm and hostility.
Chopra was first to go, well-held low at second slip by Olllie Rayner diving to his left, and the 23-year-old Webb – having played a number of attractive drives down the ground – gloved a nasty lifter to Sam Robson at short leg.
Both made 14 and Javid, on 18, also fell to a smart catch by Robson at bat-pad as Finn finally got his man, Javid having also survived a huge appeal for a catch behind the wicket by John Simpson when he had made 16.
Finn rested with the superb figures of 10-4-31-3, and they could have been even batter had Eoin Morgan, playing his first championship match of the season following his return from the Indian Premier League, not put down a relatively simple chance at leg slip when Laurie Evans fended off another spiteful delivery from the tall paceman.
At tea, taken three balls early due to bad light, Evans had 2 and Jonathan Trott had moved on to 9.
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Middlesex v Warwickshire – day 1 CLOSE
Warwickshire 148-3 v Middlesex
Steven Finn, England’s forgotten fast bowler, produced a fiery new ball spell of 3 for 31 to give Middlesex early reward for their decision to ask Warwickshire to bat first in the LV= County Championship Division One encounter at Lord’s.
Finn’s blast, though, eventually blew itself out on the immoveable force that is Jonathan Trott, the now-retired England batsman who finished a rain-shortened opening day on 44 not out to guide Warwickshire to a relatively comfortable 148 for 3 by stumps.
Laurie Evans, dropped on nought at leg slip by Eoin Morgan in the final over of Finn’s superb ten-over opening burst, then kept Trott faithful company with 41 not out in an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 92 in 33 overs.
Finn, who has not played a Test for England since July 2013, did return for a further five-over spell in the last session, following his pre-tea exploits of 10-4-31-3, but could not break the Trott-Evans partnership. His overall figures for the day were 3 for 49 from 15 overs.
At the close, with 46 overs lost to the weather in the day, Trott had faced 100 balls and hit five fours while Evans had eight fours in his 103-ball stay.
Varun Chopra, Jonathon Webb, on championship debut, and Ateeq Javid were Finn’s victims as Warwickshire reached 66 for 3 by tea, after the match had eventually started at 3pm because of rain.
Finn’s first three overs from the Pavilion End cost 24 runs but he did have Javid dropped on four at third slip in his second over before working up impressive rhythm and hostility. Chopra was first to go, well-held low at second slip by Olllie Rayner diving to his left, and the 23-year-old Webb – having played a number of attractive drives down the ground – gloved a nasty lifter to Sam Robson at short leg.
Both made 14 and Javid, on 18, also fell to a smart catch by Robson at bat-pad as Finn finally got his man, Javid having also survived a huge appeal for a catch behind the wicket by John Simpson when he had made 16.
If Morgan had taken the chance offered by Evans off Finn, which would have left Warwickshire at 56 for 4, Middlesex’s decision to bowl would have been even more justified. As it is, honours are even after the initial exchanges, with Warwickshire attempting to extend an unbeaten championship record at Lord’s which goes back 32 years to 1983.
