RESULT
Southport, June 09 - 12, 2017, Specsavers County Championship Division One
180 & 236
(T:108) 309 & 111/2

Lancashire won by 8 wickets

Report

Simpson knows Middlesex need to stir

There are still hopes of a positive result at Southport despite a day lost to rain

Lancashire 123 for 4 (Murtagh 3-21) trail Middlesex 180 (Simpson 53*, Clark 3-36, Mahmood 3-63) by 57 runs
Scorecard
There was no possibility of playing cricket on the second day of this match at Southport. The overnight rain relented quite early in the morning but it was replaced a couple of hours later by another front which drenched the outfield that the Lancashire and Southport groundstaff had worked so hard to dry. At three o'clock Peter Hartley and Steve O'Shaughnessy called things off for the day and the only surprise was that they had not taken that decision an hour earlier.
Food tended to dominate proceedings thereafter. The rain may have prevented cricket being played but it softened the ground at Trafalgar Road and made it all the easier for the young crows to forage for worms; in the tents and marquees the corporate hospitality guests tucked in as heartily as they had every right to do, especially given that they had been denied their cricket. The players drifted back to their hotels in town with plans to watch the football or go out to eat in one of Southport's many restaurants. Another day in another season.
The good news from the point of view of those attending on Sunday and Monday, when the weather forecast is considerably better, is that this looks like a three-day pitch. A par score is reckoned to be about 240 and much will therefore rest on whether Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dane Vilas can be parted on the third morning. It would be difficult to fancy Middlesex's chances on a pitch showing variable bounce at the Grosvenor Road End if they conceded a lead of anything over 70 or so, and the need for points is not lost on the champions' wicketkeeper-batsman, John Simpson, whose unbeaten 53 held his side together on the first afternoon.
"I'd say Lancs probably edged the first day," he said. "It nipped around early and it was a strange day, as much as anything because there were four guys caught down the leg side, which I've never seen before. It was a case of applying myself when I got the opportunity to bat.
"When you're coming at four down with about 70 on the board you have to get your head down but capitalise on any loose deliveries and try to put the bowler under pressure. It was a good old fashioned grafting knock. We got a couple of quick wickets and then the pitch settled down a bit. Then it started swinging a little and I'm not sure whether that's got anything to do with the tide coming in or going out. But it was an intriguing day."
Simpson is in his ninth season at Lord's and is one of the best uncapped cricketers in England. Time and again people reading their morning papers at county matches see that he has scored runs and wonder what his prospects might be without Bairstow, Buttler and Billings in the England set-up. Across the river the same is said of Ben Foakes, whose time should surely come. Simpson, himself, is more concerned with helping Middlesex defend the title they won so gloriously at Lord's last September. Four successive draws hardly help but there is a long way to go yet.
"Apart from the Hampshire game where we had to dig in and fight really hard to come away from with a draw, I think we've played some really good cricket," said Simpson "We dominated all four days against Essex without getting over the line but the weather curtailed that game. Against Surrey we had to cope with Sangakkara but he's a world-class player and churning out runs and hundreds is what world class players do.
"It's now a case of getting it all together and putting in a total team performance, which we haven't done so far. But Lord's has been a tough place to get results - I think we only won two games there last season - so I think it's going to be a case of trying to force wins at home and win games on the road. You have to remember that we're a couple of games behind some teams and a couple of good wins will put us back in the mix."

Paul Edwards is a freelance cricket writer. He has written for the Times, ESPNcricinfo, Wisden, Southport Visiter and other publications