Compton Middlesex's gain again

Hampshire 413 and 4 for 0 lead Middlesex 362 (Compton 117, Roland-Jones 61, Edwards 4-100) by 55 runs
Scorecard

It may have taken a few more innings than Nick Compton would have liked but, at the ninth time of asking, the former England batsman is a Middlesex century-maker once again.

Having left Lord's in 2009, after six years and seven Championship centuries on the staff of his grandfather's old county, Compton prospered with Somerset to such an extent that he thoroughly deserved his brief but certainly not unsuccessful spell as a Test cricketer.

Those days at the top table are almost certainly over - ended a couple of years ago by a painful-to-watch struggle against New Zealand at Headingley - but Compton's loss, after nine international appearances, looks like being Middlesex's considerable gain.

Compton, 31 for another month, might have continued to score runs aplenty for Somerset (he topped their averages last year with 43.68) but was reluctantly allowed to leave Taunton last winter - with two years left on his contract - after saying he wanted to move nearer London.

Well, Hampshire's Ageas Bowl is a few dozen miles from the bright lights of the capital - as Fidel Edwards has suggested on Twitter - but Compton looked completely at home here while converting an overnight 32 into a chanceless century, the 23rd of his first-class career and first for Middlesex since making 178 against Derbyshire at Uxbridge in the final Championship match of 2009.

The Division One leaders needed a reassuring third day after being outplayed up to this point. And while there were several handy contributions once the visitors resumed, 311 runs behind on 102 for 3, no one apart from Compton could reach 40 until No. 10 Toby Roland-Jones long-handled a free spirited half-century late on to cut the deficit to negligible proportions.

It was a situation perfectly suited to Compton's stickability. After the excitement of an early wicket on Monday, debut-maker Brad Wheal found life a lot tougher while Edwards was his usual mix of menace and misfires. But in James Tomlinson and Gareth Berg, Hampshire had two bowlers who combined splendidly both sides of lunch to challenge even Compton's technique and temperament.

Wickets fell fairly regularly at one end, with James Franklin and Neil Dexter both departing lbw before John Simpson slapped Sean Ervine to cover to end a handy sixth-wicket stand of 59.

Compton, though, would not be moved - unperturbed when 24 overs after lunch with an ageing ball yielded just 39 runs. With the wind gusting, umpire Rob Bailey lost hit hat, one set of stumps lost a bail but there was little chance of Middlesex's No. 3 losing his way or being blown of course.

Apart from a couple of lbw shouts, Compton gave the hosts next to no hope. And while centuries can never be taken for granted, there was something almost inevitable about this hundred - completed with a cut four against Edwards off the 209th ball he had faced.

In the end, it was left-arm spinner Liam Dawson who did for Compton, winning a leg-before decision with the batsman trying to work across the line. By then, though, the follow-on figure had been passed and even a couple of quick wickets for Edwards did little to cheer Hampshire once Roland-Jones started swinging merrily to a run-a-ball 61 while sharing a last wicket stand of 75 with Steven Finn.

Still, at least Edwards has four wickets to celebrate, if he can find somewhere worth visiting in this neck of the woods. "Southampton can't be this boring.....#someonesaveme" tweeted Hampshire's former West Indies Test bowler a few days ago.