Robson 178 sends England reminder

It is eight and a half months since Sam Robson sloped back to the pavilion at The Oval, stumps spread-eagled by India's Varun Aaron for an impeccably nondescript 37. Even at that moment, early on the second day of the fifth Test, with England already on course for an innings victory and a 3-1 series win, you sensed he was at journey's end.

A century in his second Test, against Sri Lanka, and a solitary fifty-plus score in seven innings against India, wasn't quite enough to dispel his many doubters. A Middlesex opener he may have been, but the long-awaited heir to Andrew Strauss, he was not.

But at two minutes past three on Saturday afternoon, almost 24 hours to the minute after another seminal moment of closure for England's latest Test opener, Jonathan Trott, Robson dabbed Scott Borthwick through backward point to bring up his first century of the season, on the very ground where - in three weeks' time - England will launch their latest Ashes summer with a taxing Test against New Zealand.

After three ducks in five innings, Trott, it is safe to suggest, will not be in the frame for that contest, while Adam Lyth, the logical next cab off the rank, has spent more time mixing Gatorade than managing greentops during a frustrating month of understudying in the Caribbean.

All in all, this wasn't a bad day for reminding England's selectors that, when it comes to Test cricket in English conditions, Robson remains the man in possession.

"Last summer, I didn't grab my chance with both hands but I don't look at it as a failure," Robson said. "My returns were okay, albeit not quite good enough. But I've definitely taken the positives. It was disappointing but I know what I've got to do at the end of the day. Most players get dropped in their career, I can only look forward."

By the time he edged Paul Coughlin to Borthwick at second slip with two overs of the day remaining, Robson's 178 from 300 balls had formed the sturdiest of backbones to Middlesex's first-innings total of 329 for 4 - not a bad return having been asked to bat first on an ominously overcast day.

Robson's only other chance was offered to the exact same combination three overs earlier, but with 172 to his name when Borthwick on this occasion shelled the opportunity, he'd already made his point with some aplomb.

It was his 14th hundred in 88 first-class matches, but his first since that Sri Lanka Test last June. It also drew an important line under a fallow start to the 2015 season, with a previous highest score of 35 in six outings, including a brace against Oxford University.

But right from the outset, Middlesex batted with the sort of self-belief that only a 400-plus run-chase can give a team. In the absence of Graham Onions, who was ruled out before the toss with a knee problem, Chris Rushworth led Durham's line with pace and accuracy on a lively morning wicket, but their opponents responded with confidence mainlined from their remarkable win against Somerset on Wednesday.

Robson helped himself to 26 fours in his day's work, including a nudge off the hip from the very first ball of the match, as he and Nick Gubbins negotiated the early cloud cover in a stand of 66. A loose shot ended their alliance, as Gubbins - the anchorman at Taunton - shovelled Coughlin to second slip, but as the sun threatened to break through, batsman error became the most likely source of wickets.

Sure enough, that proved to be the fate of Middlesex's other forgotten England opener. Nick Compton, back where it all began for him after his five years out West, helped add 113 for the second wicket to raise the intriguing possibility of both England exiles making their case in unison.

But then, having eased to his fifty from 84 balls, Compton played a nothing sort of wipe across the line at Borthwick and was bowled.

The captain, Adam Voges, from whom Middlesex are extracting full value before he is hijacked by the Aussies later this summer, then trotted along to his own half-century, his fourth in as many innings, before Rushworth rapped his front pad to send him on his way for 57. Only time, and more of these runs, will tell if the two batting partners can yet feature on opposing sides later this year.