Worcs seek some magic after Fell ton

It is no great surprise that the Middlesex players are not fond of playing at Uxbridge. They have not won a Championship match here since 1991. And, with a day left to play, it looks like a winless run that will continue for another year.

The outfield is scorched and undulating, while the pitch asks much of the pacemen and even more of the spinners. That being said, Uxbridge is one of the better outgrounds on offer. Some say Middlesex will struggle to win the Championship if they continue to play here. There may be some truth in that, but it is fair to say they will struggle to win it playing at Lord's, too. Championship-winning teams do not tend to get turfed out of their home ground for students.

A penny for Sam Robson's thoughts as he walked off, two balls into his second innings, with a pair to his name. He has faced three balls in the match, all from Charlie Morris, all pearlers. Another, too, for Moeen Ali's: brought on first-change in an innings that started with Worcestershire boasting a 76-run first-digs lead. After three overs for not many and no wickets, he only made a return to bowl the last two overs of the day.

By that time, Saeed Ajmal had bowled 13 overs; though, to be fair to Ajmal, he also produced one of the balls of the game. Just as Nick Gubbins was looking assured on 23, the Pakistan offspinner, operating around the wicket to the left-hander, pitched one on middle and off, dragging Gubbins forward, before it turned past the outside edge and took the top of off. It was not long before he left the changing room to make his way to the radio tent where the team analyst showed him video footage of his dismissal. It was a peach.

When the day drew to a close, things were not as precarious as they could have been. Nick Compton had looked in good touch, hitting his first ball for six (Okay, it was a two into the leg side which led to four over-throws) before hitting some more deliberate and stylish fours; he drove Leach with ease and showed just how good a shot-maker he is with a drive off a decent length ball from Morris, which he jumped back to thread through cover. But when he went to Jack Shantry, Middlesex were still three behind and, now, three down.

But Joe Burns and Paul Stirling remained calm, pushed on and defended well. There was slight cause for concern when Burns edged Leach but no chance came from it, as it died in front of Alex Gidman at first slip. Stirling gave a taster of what might come with a couple of superbly timed drives and then, in the final over, a hard pull that nearly put a hole in one of the advertising boards. His unbeaten 39 was the beginnings of a first-class innings of the sort of worth that Middlesex fans have craved from him for a long time.

Having judged the first five balls of the day well, Alex Gidman allowed the last of Tim Murtagh's over to crash flush into his off stump. That would be the first of four wickets for Murtagh, on a morning and afternoon of frustration for Middlesex.

As the track dulled, Tom Fell continued to a second Championship hundred of the season by hitting his 16th four off his 174thball. On his way to 143, the highest first-class score of his career to date, he freed his arms, aware that Worcestershire's tail is not really one that needs shepherding. Even Ajmal, batting at No. 10, hit four boundaries in an innings of 20.

Fell was involved in a thrilling stand-off with Toby Roland-Jones - though he admitted at stumps he didn't enjoy it that much - that would eventually see him caught in the deep off what looked and sounded like a well-struck hook.

On 132, he swiped at a short-ball from Roland-Jones that stung the tips of John Simpson's fingers behind the stumps. Roland-Jones let out a scream and returned to his mark. When the pair met the next over, another was dug in short and Fell crashed it for six - the first of the innings - right over square leg. Roland-Jones said a bit, Fell remained still. Soon Fell was walking off and Roland-Jones said a bit more.

At that point, Worcestershire were 332 for 8 in the 108th over. That they ended up on 385 owes much to Shantry, who hit back-to-back sixes off Roland-Jones before displaying a touch of ingenuity to dab Ollie Rayner fine on the leg-side and take his side past 350 for a third bowling point. He was left unbeaten on 41 when Murtagh floored four stumps in dismissing Ajmal and Morris in the space of three balls. That gave Murtagh his best figures of the season so far.

As for Moeen, the last time Worcestershire won an away game in Division One (against Lancashire in 2012), he took 6 for 29. Anything remotely similar would give his side a chance to win another.