CLOSE, MATCH DRAWN.
Rain had the final say at Lord’s, with the weather-ravaged Specsavers County Championship Division One match between Middlesex and Nottinghamshire abandoned as a draw after a second successive washout.
No play was possible on either the third or fourth days, and both teams afterwards expressed their frustration at a situation in which they were not even able to contest the full complement of bonus points available.
Middlesex were due to resume on 203 for 3 from 62.2 overs in reply to Nottinghamshire’s first innings of 354, but heavy morning and afternoon rain led to a decision to call things off at 2.20pm. Middlesex take 9 points, and Nottinghamshire 10.
Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, said: “It’s a real shame to lose two full days of cricket, although I’m not sure where the game was going for us.
“Obviously, it looked as if we might have been facing a first innings deficit, unless we had come back strongly with the ball and taken quick wickets if there had been a resumption. You never know, of course, but at this stage of the season we’ll take the ten points we get from the match and move on.”
Toby Roland-Jones, the Middlesex seamer who took 5 for 61 in Notts’ first innings, said: “It’s been a strange couple of days, sitting around and hoping for the weather to clear. We looked like playing a few times, but it was not to be.
“Both sides would have looked at having a good first session, if there had been a resumption, to get the game going their way, but it was a steady wicket on which to bat so it would have been difficult for the bowlers.”
Today’s first rain began shortly after the players had finished their pre-play warm-ups and groundstaff brought the covers on. Inspections were planned for 1.30pm and subsequently 2pm but heavy rain then began to fall and the decision to call off the game as a draw was by then inevitable
LUNCH, DAY 4.
There was no play before lunch at Lord’s today in the already weather-ravaged Specsavers County Championship Division One match between Middlesex and Nottinghamshire.
