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Luke Sutton in action for Derbyshire today. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images
1.18pm: Marcus Trescothick has registered his first fifty of the summer, a restrained, responsible innings so far, in what promises to be an interesting match,
writes Vic Marks. The Hampshire bowlers found more life in the pitch than Somerset managed yesterday morning.
Arul Suppiah was caught behind, Nick Compton bowled. I'm told that Geoff Miller has progressed along the south coast and is here, but I haven't seen him yet. After an evening with our cricket correspondent I assume he will be wearing his shades.
As for the Desert Island book: well, I'd go for the Odyssey ahead of the Iliad. But should I go with EV Rieu's translation or take the original? Or should I stick with Hick 'n' Dilley Circus?
1.04pm: Gareth Batty has emerged with 5-76 for Surrey as Middlesex's first innings has ended on 445,
writes David Hopps. The return equals his best figures in 2010, although they slightly flatter him. He took four of the last five wickets to fall and although Surrey will be grateful for a solid morning's work, it was nothing more than that.
John Simpson was among his victims, lbw for a career-best 143, his second first-class hundred. He is not a flamboyant batsman, more of a puncher and a nudger, but he looked an improving batsman and could be an important component in Middlesex's promotion challenge. He joined Middlesex after a spell with MCC Young Cricketers after leaving his first county, Lancashire, in frustration. He has a comparable first-class batting average to the man in possession at Lancashire, Gareth Cross. It will be interested to see whether Simpson proves Lancashire wrong.
Batty's most painful wicket was that of Ollie Rayner, who blazed a return catch, causing Batty to celebrate his wicket with a cry of pain and a wringing of his hand. At least Surrey have Batty to bowl some spin. Middlesex have Rayner on loan until mid-May at which point he will return to Sussex. A lack of a proven spin bowler could be Middlesex's most glaring weakness later in the summer.
It's a sunny day at Lord's and no sign yet of the Pilates class that was exercising beyond the boundary rope during yesterday's morning session.
12.36pm: Things have settled down again here as Murray Goodwin and Luke Wright build a recovery,
writes Mike Selvey. Gary Keedy has finished his spell and been replaced by Luke Procter who, Procter by name Procter by nature, has a quirky action which involves a change of feet just as he approaches his delivery stride. There the resemblance ends. The real Proc was a phenomenon, who contrary to common belief did not bowl off the wrong foot as in the transfer from back foot to front. He did not leave a mark on the front crease.
We were talking about Proc over the curry last night. He was amazing. Like Shoaib, he was 30 mph even if he had just run to the other end without letting go. And the further he ran the faster he bowled (and he was seriously fast). Above all though was the incredible inswing he got, so that he spent a lot of time bowling round the wicket. Facing him in those circumstances was like a left-armer coming over. He got countless lbws that way, including of course a hat-trick of them, as well as his televised hat-trick against Hampshire which (and I haven't checked) may be on YouTube.
11.44am: Greetings from the sun-drenched Rose Bowl, where Arul Suppiah has just departed, caught behind,
writes Vic Marks.
Do we have to give a rundown of our social activities? We are not in twittering territory here are we?
I'm with Anna Kessel on twitter.
However I can report that I've just had a chat with Graham Thorpe, here in his ECB batting guru capacity. He spent six of the nine weeks the Lions were in the Caribbean with our young charges. Indeed I wonder whether our young players were not so over-extended in the winter - many were in Australia as well - that they may be starting this season a bit jaded. Several of the Lions have struggled so far.
Thorpe added that there may be a technical issue here as well. The Lions became conditioned to batting on the grassless, slow tracks that sadly predominate in the Caribbean. It is quite a different matter batting in England in April. More movement in the air and off the pitch from the ball may require more movement of the feet. All part of the learning process, I suppose.
As for last night I had some fine pub grub with Brian Rose, Somerset's Cricket Director, while keeping an eye on the football. I don't imagine Selve would have been too bothered with the football. As a consequence I contend that as darkness descended on the south coast less bullshit was dispensed in Southampton (well, Botley actually) than in Brighton (well, Hove actually).
11.23am: There is something about Surrey that means they attract the headlines while Middlesex get on with business more quietly,
writes David Hopps. But if the debates, the ambitions and the glamour tend to exist south of the river, it is Middlesex who dominated the first day of the London derby, and Middlesex who top the Second Division table.
Neil Dexter, their unprepossessing, gently spoken captain, seems to like it that way. "If nobody much notices us, I'm relaxed about that," he said. "The quieter we get along the better. We don't want to make too much of a big thing. If we finish at the top at the end of the season then I wouldn't mind a few headlines."
Dexter, whose 145, one short of his CB, assured Middlesex of a dominant first day, credits a pre-season fitness regime, four days a week for seven weeks, for bringing his side closer together. Middlesex's MD of cricket, Angus Fraser, doesn't go in much for luxury tours of the Caribbean, especially after a season in which Middlesex finished second bottom and at a time when money is tight. "We didn't deserve a pre-season tour," Dexter concurred. "Instead we had seven weeks of fitness work, four days a week, in and around north London. It brought us all closer together and gelled us as a team and that has been the big difference at the start of the season."
Training with a cage fighter attracted most attention, but Middlesex managed to avoid injury, seemingly not possessing their own version of Jimmy Anderson, who is more or less guaranteed to have a mishap whenever England get physical. "It was less fighting than conditioning really," Dexter said. "My Dad was black-belt karate, and South African champion at one stage, although I wouldn't claim I've got his genes."
Middlesex, organised and united, are just the sort of county that could take advantage of a weak Second Division in which squads have been pared to the bone because of economic necessity and the two relegated sides, Essex and Kent, have so far flattered to deceive. Middlesex, astutely rebuilt under Fraser, also have a squad bigger than most and that could keep them going in midsummer. "This division looks wide open," Dexter agreed. "It's been a brilliant start but it's only a start. It's a hell of a long season. The Tiflex ball is doing more than it did last year and most teams seem to be winning and losing."
Dexter, despite repeated claims to the contrary, is not a Kolpak-qualified player. He has learned to live with the misconception, but if anything slightly irks this laid-back character, this does. "I still have family in South Africa and I go back at the end of the season to see them but I have been in the country for eight years now and I'm English qualified," he said. "It's been a bit frustrating because I am still put down as a South African Kolpak and I am not a Kolpak player. I have always had a British passport and I have always played over here as a British cricketer. I was just not English qualified and I had to do a four-year qualification which I completed about two years ago."
Captaincy seems to sit easily on him. He is no breast-beater, but just gets on with the job quietly. "When I was at Kent it was never on my mind that I might be captain of a county team. But I was given a few weeks' notice that if anything did happen to Shaun Udal, who was captain at the time, that I would take over. I was a bit shocked at first because I had captained at Under-19 level in South Africa and a few 2nd XI games and that is about it, but so far this season it's going as well as we could have hoped."
11.11am: Morning all. Sunny old Hoveactually again, with the same nippy wind,
writes Mike Selvey.
Lancashire in the ascendant and looking to make Sussex follow-on, which would seem to be the path to a third victory. The pitch is still playing well enough but this is an example of scoreboard pressure. Key to it looks like being Gary Keedy, who began to exploit some rough last evening, and looks certain to bottle up one end while the seamers plug away. First wicket of the day just gone, with Amjad Khan caught at first slip from Glenn Chapple's bowling.
A convivial evening last night, with Dusty Miller, Weaves of this parish, and the men from the Thunderer and Five Live respectively (Kevin Howell's hairstyle makes my own seem like Brian May's). Get two old pros together over a curry and it is hard to get a word in. Great fun.
10.15am: The latest round of County Championship games continues today. Mike Selvey is on duty at Sussex v Lancashire, David Hopps will bring you news of Middlesex v Surrey and Vic Marks at Hampshire v Somerset.
A preview of all the counties can be found
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