Bevan reclaims edge for Sussex after second Ramprakash hundred

Michael Bevan has responded to another excellent Mark Ramprakash hundred by firing a sweet half century of his own to afford Sussex a slight edge over Middlesex after three days of the teams' absorbing County Championship fixture at Southgate.

Bevan (57*) reached his milestone in smart time to lead the visitors to a second innings mark of 118/3 by stumps, one which leaves them precisely 150 runs short of victory in a contest in which they have always appeared to have their noses slightly in front. Typically, it was the Australian's eye for spotting gaps in the field, and placing his shots into them with a minimum of fuss, which lay at the core of his innings. Although an injudicious attempt from Toby Pierce (25) to loft a Phil Tufnell (2/39) delivery over mid wicket and a similarly ill-timed lapse in concentration from Chris Adams (20) in pushing out an arm ball from the same bowler did not help the cause, his efforts largely ensured that Sussex was back on track for success by the time that stumps were finally drawn.

Just in case no-one had noticed the events of two days ago, it had earlier been Ramprakash (112) who had dominated the opening two sessions of the day's play with a brilliantly crafted fiftieth first-class century. Right now - with another Test axing hanging over his head and his Middlesex batting teammates seemingly doing precious little on the field to help ease the pain - he could have been forgiven for cutting a tragic figure. But, in again summoning the mental and physical resources to prove himself a cut above his colleagues, he proved the very antithesis. It was a courageous display and was full of character, no mean feat considering that he spent the first half of it watching another succession of batsmen come and go at the other end. It wasn't until Richard Johnson (52) followed his lead, and batted with unstinting application to contribute half of a priceless 104 run stand for the eighth wicket, that the formidable right hander finally attained the support that he deserved.