Carberry helps Hampshire blunt leaders

Of Alastair Cook's three former Test opening partners on view in this match, Michael Carberry is surely the least likely to add to his small collection of caps - and some would argue that Sam Robson and Nick Compton are no more than long shots themselves.

Be that as it may, but Carberry has seldom been anything other than a mainstay of Hampshire's batting line-up, in all forms of the game, and their hopes of avoiding a desperate relegation fight on their return to the Championship's top division may well depend on the now 34-year-old's weight of runs.

Carberry, happily settled into the No. 3 slot these days, has passed 50 in four of Hampshire's five games to date. And while he has neither made it to three figures as yet nor been able to orchestrate a victory, his solid form should be of comfort to the south-coast club as they seek to establish a foothold.

The left-hander certainly did not let them down on this occasion. And while he will have been disappointed to depart for 67 - after three-and-a-quarter hours of graft and shortly before the second new ball became available - his contribution added significantly to a frustrating day for the Division One leaders.

Middlesex have not played a Championship match at this venue since 2006 so just might have read more into a dry, well-grassed pitch than the hosts (who would have batted had the coin come down in their favour). But while the scoreline perhaps indicated that bowling first was a mistake, there was enough happening all day - and especially before lunch - to support the decision of new captain James Franklin.

The visitors were not as disciplined as they should have been with the first new ball, conceding a stack of extras and failing to hit consistent lines and lengths. But, that said, the outside edge was still beaten on a good many occasions - and Hampshire's top three of Jimmy Adams, Liam Dawson and Carberry defended well when necessary while missing few opportunities to put away the bad delivery.

Adams and Dawson possibly had to pinch themselves when looking at a scoreboard reading 85 for 0 from 21 overs. Steven Finn, bowling a full length most of the time, might have had two or three wickets on another morning but neither Toby Roland-Jones nor James Harris hit their straps - with Harris especially wayward despite starting this contest with 29 Championship wickets to his credit.

The longer the morning went on wicketless, the more Middlesex rued an early run-out chance when Roland-Jones missed the target from mid-off after non-striker Adams, on 5, had been belatedly sent back by Dawson.

In the end, it was medium-pacer Neil Dexter who came to the aid of Franklin, who has taken over the captaincy from Australia's Caribbean-bound Adam Voges. Having played nicely, Dawson pushed at an away-swinger to edge a catch behind.

Still, if Middlesex thought that would be the start of something big then the old firm of Adams and Carberry put them right with a stand of 75. Runs came steadily, apart from when Finn tried his luck around the wicket to Carberry and was cut, cover driven and angled away past backward point for three fours in an over.

Adams' hopes of a century just a few days after the birth of his second son ended when he deflected a Harris yorker into his stumps and James Vince gifted spinner Ollie Rayner his wicket by hoisting a drive to deepish mid-on.

It was the departure of Carberry, though, that came as the biggest surprise because he looked set to make a day of it before failing to defend securely on the back foot against Harris. That was a nasty blow for Hampshire but Will Smith hit back sensibly to make an unbeaten half-century and guarantee the hosts first-day honours.