Alex Doolan’s maiden first-class half-century is unlikely to save Tasmania from defeat at the Gabba, where Ben Cutting’s three wickets put Queensland within sight of victory at stumps on the third day

Cricinfo staff04-Nov-2009Queensland 382 beat Tasmania 156 and 219 (Doolan 59, Marsh 49, Cutting 6-37) by an innings and 7 runs

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Ben Cutting picked up 6 for 37 and finished with eight wickets for the match•Getty Images

Ben Cutting scythed through Tasmania’s tail to deliver Queensland victory by an innings and seven runs within the first hour of the fourth day at the Gabba. Tasmania began the morning at 6 for 209, needing a miracle to avoid defeat, but the speed of their capitulation was surprising all the same.It took the Bulls 45 minutes to pick off the final four wickets and Cutting grabbed three of them to finish with his best first-class figures of 6 for 37. First he had Brett Geeves caught behind for 17, having added one to his overnight total, and then Cutting removed Brady Jones and Brendan Drew for ducks.Chris Swan finished the task when Daniel Marsh was caught behind for 49 and the Tasmania collapse was so sudden that they had only added 10 runs to their overnight score. It meant Queensland did not have to bat again and consigned the Tigers to their second defeat from their opening two matches.Queensland have one win and one draw, having taken first-innings points against Western Australia last month. The Bulls now travel to Adelaide to begin a match with South Australia on Sunday, while Tasmania have a fortnight off before their next game against New South Wales in Sydney.

Brydon Coverdale presents the Plays of the Day from the opening day of the WACA Test

Brydon Coverdale at the WACA16-Dec-2009Missed it by much
Simon Katich posted his second 99 in a Test match and continued the theme of no Australian batsmen reaching a century in the series. After Katich swept Sulieman Benn to square leg and was caught, he trudged off the field with a blank expression. There was one man in the dressing room who could offer some sympathy: his opening partner Shane Watson was earlier out for 89, again denying him a maiden Test hundred after he was bowled for 96 in Adelaide. Katich’s first Test 99 came in Nagpur in 2004.The Roach approach
West Indies were talking up Kemar Roach as their big weapon for the WACA Test and he didn’t disappoint with his aggressive manner. Ricky Ponting’s second ball was a bouncer that hit him just above the left elbow and the next delivery thumped Australia’s captain in the midriff. The blow to the arm caused some serious pain for the batsman, who needed four visits from the physio Alex Kountouris before he eventually retired hurt 40 minutes later. Scans revealed no bone damage and Ponting was expected to bat again later in the innings.Windies drop the ball
Watson and Katich both demoralised West Indies on the opening day and both survived dropped chances that should have been taken. Watson was put down on 7 when Roach found an outside edge that was probably the wicketkeeper’s catch, but Ramdin left it for the first slip Chris Gayle, who couldn’t hold on. Katich’s life came much later when he was on 82 and prodded Sulieman Benn to short leg, where Travis Dowlin fumbled and failed to snare the opportunity.Debut, times two
There was always going to be one debutant in the match with Clint McKay confirmed on Tuesday as the replacement for the injured Peter Siddle. Australia could also have had a second cap presented with Steven Smith and Brett Geeves in the squad waiting to see if Nathan Hauritz recovered from a finger injury, which he did. But what wasn’t expected was a West Indies debutant, with the fast man Gavin Tonge introduced to Test cricket at the expense of the allrounder Darren Sammy.Tonge lashing
Tonge found that Test cricket can be a tough business, when his first spell of seven overs cost 35 runs. He was unfortunate to be on the wrong end of some fine strokes from Shane Watson, who pulled short deliveries to the boundary and drove hard and straight if the bowler overpitched. When Tonge returned for a second spell he didn’t fare much better, once again going at five an over without success.A flying trip
Smith’s time in the Australian Test squad lasted less than 24 hours after he was called in as a cover player for Hauritz. Smith joined the team late on Tuesday night and spent the night wondering if he would make his Test debut in the morning, but Hauritz woke up with no ill effects from a knock to the finger he received at training on the day before the game. It meant there was no need for Smith to stay with the side and he was duly sent home to New South Wales so he could take part in the Sheffield Shield match against Victoria starting on Friday.A hazy shade of summer
It’s bushfire season in Australia and the players were greeted at the WACA by a smoky haze caused by two blazes in the south-west of Western Australia. However, the hazy covering wasn’t enough to cause any problems to the match and it soon cleared to reveal a beautiful Perth day.

Ricky Ponting is starting to recognise the limitations of his team and realises that pushing on too long can result in a nasty hangover

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG27-Dec-2009On the second morning at the MCG, Cricket Australia launched a “Know When to Declare” campaign aimed at responsible drinking and understanding when you’ve had enough. The message was flashed up on the big screen throughout the day and the wording was appropriate for Ricky Ponting, who is starting to recognise the limitations of his team and realises that pushing on too long can result in a nasty hangover.Ponting closed Australia’s effort at 5 for 454, which was the smallest total he had ever declared on in the first innings of a Test and the lowest for any Australian team in nearly 30 years, excluding rain-affected matches. A flat, unhelpful surface labelled as Faisalabad-like by Mohammad Asif certainly affected Ponting’s decision to declare earlier than most onlookers expected.But it has also started to dawn on the captain that he can no longer rely on his bowlers to skittle a side in a matter of hours, as he could during the Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath years. Australia’s young attack has potential but for now needs time to bowl teams out, although they started well with four wickets before stumps on the second day.Since the retirement of Warne and McGrath, Australia have played 29 Tests and they’ve dismissed teams in fewer than 70 overs on nine occasions. In the same number of matches leading up to the stars’ farewell, Australia achieved that 19 times. During the West Indies series, Ponting said that he sometimes expects too much of his bowlers and gets grumpy when they fail to deliver the wickets that he demands.That contributed to his decision here, as did his dislike of enforcing the follow-on. When he did it at the Gabba last month his strike bowler Ben Hilfenhaus was ruled out for the rest of the summer and Australia’s long list of fast-bowling injuries will discourage him from doing it again in the near future. His bold, attacking move was commended by many at the MCG, including the Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam.”I thought it was a very positive declaration,” Intikhab said. “I think it was very wise that he declared. He needed more time. Those days have gone of getting other people to follow-on. You need to give some rest to your bowlers also. I think it was a very positive, very exciting declaration.”Ponting has had plenty of learning opportunities. In Cardiff, he let Australia’s innings drag on for 181 overs. It gave Australia just over a day to dismiss England and win the match, but they couldn’t do it. Two summers ago, only a last-minute gamble on Michael Clarke rescued Australia from a similar result against India at the SCG.Australia’s prime minister Kevin Rudd was at the MCG to help launch the Know When to Declare campaign and during a stint in the commentary box he told Warne that it was his national duty to make a comeback. Ponting’s responsibility is to have realistic expectations of a Warne-less attack still learning about Test cricket.

Rahul Dravid has called for greater space between games in India’s domestic season in order to enable players to give their best, and increase the possibility of more outright results

Cricinfo staff16-Jan-2010Rahul Dravid has called for greater space between games in India’s domestic season in order to enable players to give their best, and increase the possibility of more outright results. Dravid, who is currently in Bangladesh for the two-Test series, said the frequency of matches and consequently, the lack of breathing space, was a reason for the numerous draws the Ranji Trophy witnessed.”Since the domestic season is very cramped, the teams don’t want to tire their bowlers by trying to go for an outright win,” Dravid was quoted as saying by Outlook. “The amount of cricket we play at the domestic level needs to be looked into. It might mean cancelling one or two tournaments, so that there’s a proper gap between the Ranji Trophy games.”Maybe the spacing of the Ranji Trophy games could be a bit better to give the players a bit more rest between the games.”Karnataka would have missed Dravid in the nail-biting final against Mumbai, as they lost by six runs while chasing 338. Dravid had to join the Indian team in Bangladesh for the Test series. He said though the Ranji Trophy was missing national players, they too needed a break, given the hectic schedule. “Some are playing all the year for India, it’s not easy. You need a break,” he said.Dravid backed the concept of neutral curators to encourage more outright results in the competition and said it was also beneficial for the long-term development of first-class cricketers. “Some people may play safe because they don’t want to lose outright,” he said. But local associations must understand that if they want to develop good cricketers, they need their state players to play on good wickets. They might lose some matches, but in the long run they’ll benefit.”I like the concept of neutral curators and the board is giving them a direction. And, to be fair, the quality of the wickets is improving.”The thrilling final was received brilliantly in Mysore where crowds flocked in big numbers for each of the four days. On the final day, given the tense encounter, those who couldn’t get tickets were seen sitting on terraces and trees outside the venue. The lack of time, Dravid said, could have been a reason for poor attendances in the previous games.”It’s not that people are not interested,” he said. “They still follow the scores religiously; it’s just that they don’t have the time, which is understandable.”It’ll be a good idea to have AIR [All India Radio] do live radio coverage of the games. They’d be surprised to see how many follow the games, especially their own state teams.”

There is no challenge too daunting for Afghanistan cricket at the moment. Riding on the momentum that won the World Twenty20 Qualifier they pulled off a sensational chase of 494 to beat Canada in the Intercontinental Cup

Cricinfo staff23-Feb-2010
Scorecard
Mohammad Shahzad was Afghanistan’s hero with an unbeaten 214 as they pulled of a monumental chase•International Cricket Council

There is no challenge too daunting for Afghanistan at the moment. Riding the momentum that led their charge to qualification for the World Twenty20, Mohammmad Shahzad’s unbeaten 214 helped them pull off a sensational chase of 494 to beat Canada by six wickets in the Intercontinental Cup at Sharjah.It was the ninth highest fourth-innings run chase in first-class cricket, which means Afghanistan now top the Intercontinental Cup table and can credibly lay claim to being one of the strongest Associate nations. That they would even be in a position to draw this match seemed unlikely after Canada racked up 566 batting first before rolling Afghanistan over for 264. It left Afghanistan facing a 302-run first-innings deficit, which, it turned out is the highest ever in a first-class game by a side batting second who went on to win.A more likely prospect at the beginning of the day was survival, but 18-year-old Shahzad shared two century stands, first with captain Nowroz Mangal and then Mohammad Nabi, that set up and all-but sealed the victory which came with 2.2 overs to spare.Having watched the openers lay a solid foundation, Shahzad and Mangal patiently constructed a third-wicket stand of 163, taking few risks, running hard and picking off the occasional boundary to keep the target, still unlikely, at least in sight.When Mangal was eventually dismissed, caught and bowled by Ramesh David, there was still 212 needed, with approximately 37 overs left in the day. Yet such is the confidence running through the veins of Afghanistan cricket that they promoted the big-hitting allrounder Nabi up from No.8 to No.5.Following on from his lusty, unbeaten 48 in the first innings, Nabi was slightly more dexterous to begin with on this occasion. Working the ball around and running hard to start with he then crashed successive boundaries off Khurram Chohan to bring up his 50 and signal Afghanistan’s intent for the mammoth chase.Together with Shahzad the pair added 178 in a little under 30 overs, with Nabi smiting Hiral Patel for a six over long on and a four to deep square-leg to take him into the 90s before he was smartly caught on the long off boundary two balls later.His replacement, Asghar Stanikzai, only hastened the chase, clubbing his second ball out of the ground. With Shahzad continuing serenely to pass his double century from 242 balls, Stanikzai hit another six before sealing the victory by smashing Nitish Kumar through point for four. Yet again, Afghanistan have proved inspirational and the celebrations will reverberate all the way back to Kabul.

A round-up of the second day’s action in the fifth round of matches of the 2009-10 Regional Four-Day Competition

Cricinfo staff14-Feb-2010A career-best eight wickets from the legspinner Odean Brown secured Jamaica a first-innings lead over Combined Campuses and Colleges at the Guyana National Stadium. Today it was CCC’s turn to struggle against spin – on day one Jamaica collapsed to Ryan Austin – and their failure allowed Jamaica turn the tables around on day two. Brown snared 8 for 54 from 28.4 overs to send CCC crashing to 161 in reply to Jamaica’s 202; the main contributors to that poor total were Kjorn Ottley (44) and the opener Kyle Corbin (34). Tamar Lambert, the Jamaican captain, backed up Brown with 2 for 21 from 13 overs of offspin. At stumps Jamaica were 37 for 2 with a lead of 78.Brown’s star turn triggered CCC’s collapse from 48 for 0 at lunch. He began the second session by bowling Corbin, 19, with a sharp legbreak and dismissed Omar Phillips via a return catch. Jamal Smith soon followed when he snicked one to Carlton Baugh jnr behind the stumps, and after a 48-run stand Ottley and Floyd Reifer fell in succession before tea. From 115 for 5, CCC folded for 161.At the Bourda, former West Indies allrounder Omari Banks snatched career-best figures to put Leeward Islands in a strong position against <b<Windward Islands. Banks ran through the Windwards’ line-up to finish with 7 for 41 as they fell to 204 in reply to Leewards’ 325, and that stellar performance gave his team the first-innings points and a lead of 121. That was extended to 143 runs at
the close, without any loss.Windwards had begun the day well, taking the last five Leewards wickets for 71, and were well placed at 81 for 1. Then came a dramatic collapse that saw eight wickets go down for 123 runs. Leading their demise was Banks and his tidy spin, which flummoxed the batsmen for flight and variation. Shane Shillingford’s 52 contained eight fours and a pair of big sixes and after that the other contribution was Andre Fletcher’s stroke-filled 50 off 82 balls. Banks struck after Windwards were 81 for 2. First he had Liam Sebastian held at slip and then sent back Donwell Hector for 1 as the scoreline became 92 for 4. Lyndon James survived the hat-trick but became Banks’ third victim at 102 for 5 when he was snapped up by Mali Richards at short mid-off for 10. The rest came and went without much conviction.Tino Best and Ryan Hinds combined to leave Guyana on the ropes at 189 for 7 against Barbados at the Albion Sports Complex. Best picked up four wickets and Hinds three – following a half-century on day one – and Guyana were 214 runs behind Barbados at stumps. The visitors had extended their score from an overnight 326 for 5 to 403, with Devendra Bishoo taking four wickets on day two, and Best and Hinds combined to shut Guyana out. Only the No. 3 Gajanand Singh, with 66, offered any resistance..

Cricinfo previews the 14th match of the IPL, between Mumbai and Bangalore at Brabourne Stadium

The Preview by Sriram Veera19-Mar-2010

Match facts

Mumbai v Bangalore in Mumbai
Saturday, March 20
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)

Big picture

Watch out for former India U-19 captain Ambati Rayudu to impress (file photo)•Getty Images

Sachin Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians have been the team to beat so far. Even a stunning hundred by Yusuf Pathan wasn’t enough to derail them. Neither could Virender Sehwag’s Delhi Daredevils rein them in. Tendulkar has been playing like a dream and unlike last year, the Indian youngsters, such as Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu, have begun to respond. They have two fast bowlers of quality in Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga, two canny medium-pacers in the West Indians, Dwayne Bravo and Keiron Pollard, and they have Harbhajan Singh and Sanath Jayasuriya for spin.Royal Challengers Bangalore had a false start to their campaign when their batting collapsed in the first game, but have since gone from strength to strength. Their bowlers have shown a tendency to try and bounce out the opposition, especially the domestic Indian batsmen, and their batting too has grown more potent once they got their order right. In their first game, they had Shreevats Goswami to open, and it messed up the whole order. Goswami tried to slog every ball, Manish Pandey didn’t look settled and once Virat Kohli too perished early, their batting just fizzled out. They corrected it in the second game, promoting Pandey to the opening slot but what must have given them a real boost is Robin Uthappa’s return to form with a whirlwind fifty against Punjab.That both the teams look the most settled of the units should make it an interesting match.

Team talk

Tendulkar constantly backed the Indian youngsters and they are beginning to repay his trust this year. Expect no major changes in either team, for both look to possess well-settled combinations.

Previously…

Both teams have won two games apiece, sharing fortunes in both seasons. In 2008, Bangalore won the first match at the Wankhede Stadium by five wickets, and Mumbai crushed Bangalore in the return leg by nine wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. In 2009, Bangalore won the first encounter easily in Johannesburg, and Mumbai came back to clinch a 16-run win in Port Elizabeth.

In the spotlight

Dale Steyn starred in the last game against Rajasthan Royals. He was consistently pacy and cramped the batsmen with short-pitched deliveries. In the past, his speed has been his enemy in the Twenty20 format, and it would be interesting to see how he shapes up against Tendulkar and Jayasuriya. Expect him to test Jayasuriya with bouncers.Ambati Rayudu has made a good start to the competition, and has looked the part in the middle order. Ever since his return from ICL, he has been really ambitious and hungry to make a name for himself and try to get into the reckoning for the Indian team. This IPL is as good as platform as any for him to come back into public imagination.

Prime numbers

• Jacques Kallis is yet to be dismissed in this IPL. He has scored 198 runs at a strike-rate of 140.42 and has been the pillar of Bangalore’s batting.
• Mumbai’s R Sathish has the unflattering record for conceding the most number of runs in an innings – he went for 51 runs from three overs against Rajasthan Royals.

The chatter

“It is a way of working together. I would like to help the youngsters in the team. It’s not that only the senior players can help. Even a junior player’s view is important. I’ve learnt that the more you talk cricket, the more you learn about the game.”
“Mumbai have done very well and we will be playing at their home ground, but our confidence is high and we are in great shape. The middle order has not spent significant time at the crease, but we have experienced players there in Rahul Dravid and Mark Boucher.”

Kyle Mills, the New Zealand fast bowler, has said he is eager to return to international cricket following a lengthy lay-off due to injuries on his knee and shoulder

Cricinfo staff23-Apr-2010Kyle Mills, the New Zealand fast bowler, has said he is eager to return to international cricket following a lengthy lay-off due to injuries to his knee and shoulder. Mills is one of five New Zealand players in the World Twenty20 squad to make a comeback after sustaining injuries that had threatened to affect their participation in the tournament.”It’s been quite hard to rehab the knee and shoulder at the same time,” Mills, who just completed a training camp in Brisbane with the rest of the squad, said. “It’s been good to get bowling again and get back into the team environment.”Mills last played an international game in November 2009 but had to return home to attend to a persistent knee problem and a shoulder injury he suffered while fielding. Mills attributed his recovery to an “aggressive” rehabilitation process, which has enabled him to make a return a month earlier than anticipated. “If I just had shoulder surgery I could keep running but I had to lay off because of my leg. Then I couldn’t do a lot of weights,” he said. “It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride because we’ve pushed it (rehab) pretty hard.”Mills admitted the demand to bowl shorter spells in Twenty20 cricket made his return possible, and that if it had been a 50-over tournament a comeback would have been unlikely. “It will take a wee bit of time to get back into the rhythm of playing international cricket,” Mills said. “If it was a one-day World Cup I probably wouldn’t be ready. It’s only four overs but it’s an intense sort of game. They (batsmen) come after you and you have to be on your toes with every ball.”Hopefully I can cope with all that and repay the team with some good performances.”Mills was bracing for a high-scoring tournament on pitches that he felt would be of little assistance to fast bowlers. “You read all the books from the ’80s and they’re hard, fast bouncy wickets. That’s a bygone area,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll be pretty flat and they’ll bring the boundaries in a bit to make it a big spectacle for the fans to watch.”New Zealand have warm-up games against Ireland and West Indies, and then play last year’s runners-up Sri Lanka in Georgetown next Friday.

Group D in the World Twenty20 is resembling Friends Reunited. Ottis Gibson and Phil Simmons, former West Indies team-mates, have already gone head-to-head as the coaches of the hosts and Ireland while Eoin Morgan will also face his former colleagues on Tu

Andrew McGlashan in Guyana02-May-2010Group D in the World Twenty20 is resembling Friends Reunited. Ottis Gibson and Phil Simmons, former West Indies team-mates, have already gone head-to-head as the coaches of the hosts and Ireland while Eoin Morgan will also face his former colleagues on Tuesday. However, the most intriguing match-up will be when Gibson is brought up against England little more than three months after leaving the role of bowling coach.It was a rapid turnaround between jobs for Gibson who was given permission to speak to West Indies just a week after finishing England’s tour of South Africa. A few days later it was confirmed he would return home to take on the head coach role, but he still keeps in close contact with a number of the England squad which will create an added edge to the contest at Providence.”I speak to Colly [Paul Collingwood] a lot and also Broady [Stuart Broad],” he said. “We [West Indies] are excited and there’s a bit of banter going around about that game, but I don’t play cricket anymore so can pretty much say what I want. It’s up to the players in the middle to produce and it will be fun seeing those guys again. It was only two or three months ago that I was spending a lot of time with them. Somebody reminded me that West Indies have a good record against England in T20 so we’ll look forward to the game.”There are some new guys in there I don’t know much about. Craig Kieswetter is one, Michael Lumb another and Yardy I haven’t been involved with much. In T20 plans can change every day so what I knew about them three months ago could have gone full circle now so we just have to make sure we are well prepared.”Gibson’s appointment as West Indies coach was generally viewed as a positive move, bringing in someone who understands the culture and can relate to the players. However, Viv Richards’ recent outburst, relating to a Test against South Africa in 1998-99, has been the loudest descenting voice and took many people by surprise.”I saw the now present coach Ottis Gibson with his two feet on the balcony, earphones in,” Richards said. “West Indies were just about to go down the chute – and he was having fun, where the music was concerned. That has left an impression on me, seeing him in the present position he is now.”That is not saying he will not be a good coach, but I doubt he would like to see one of his players [behaving as he did] at that particular time, with him being in the position he is now.”Comparing Gibson 11 years ago to the coach he now is forgets the prolific form in the closing stages of his first-class career with Durham and the work he has done to gain his coaching credentials with England. Gibson, speaking before Richards’ comments were made, said he was settling into his new role and felt confident about the future.”I have a passion for West Indies cricket and now the challenge is to bring people together which slowly is happening,” he said. “The signs are very good and the guys are getting used to how I operate. This tournament will give us a good indicator of where we actually are.”With his bowling background that remains the area where most of Gibson’s hands-on coaching continues. He has brought in Jimmy Adams to help on the batting front for the World Twenty20 and is eyeing a permanent batting coach in the future. He admits that moving from working with just one part of a team to oversee a whole operation has been a challenging experience.”When I was bowling coach I generally only had four or five people to look after on a tour or a net session and now I’m in charge of the whole team,” he said. “You have to make sure they are getting what they need in training and when people are left out you have to make sure people are okay about that as well. Then you are scouring the internet at time trying to get stats and information on opposition teams so it keeps me up at night I can tell you that.”However, Gibson’s remit extends beyond the West Indies side. He has been charged with looking at all levels of the game and he has already implement new systems including a High Performance Centre in Barbados which is headed by Toby Radford, the former Middlesex batsman, who played a key role in Andrew Strauss’s return to form two years ago.Radford has also worked closely with Morgan so should be able to pass on some useful advice about England’s new Twenty20 star. “He will try and instil the right attitude into those people who have been picked for the HPC and hopefully when they get into the senior team they will know what is required and can make a contribution to international cricket,” Gibson explained of Radford’s role.He also emphasised what he said when he first took the role, that it’s vital West Indies cricket only looks forward. “We want to stay away from the glory days and start a new era of glory. They are long gone and we have to start again. We should never forget the past but we can’t keep looking back. We want to get players from that era to come in and share their experiences, but it is about this group of players to set new standards for themselves and start a new page.”

Stephen Peters and Alex Wakely scored a century apiece as they shared a third-wicket partnership of 182 to take Northamptonshire to 280 for 4

05-Jun-2010

ScorecardStephen Peters and Alex Wakely scored a century apiece as they shared a third-wicket partnership of 182 to take Northamptonshire to 280 for 4 in reply to Middlesex’s 347 all out in their County Championship Division Two clash at Lord’s. Peters, who scored a career-best 183 not out in leading Northamptonshire to a six-wicket victory over Middlesex at Wantage Road in April, simply carried on where he left off to make an unbeaten 115 off 231 balls with 13 fours.Wakely was more enterprising on the way to only his second hundred in 26 first-class matches, hitting 15 fours in his 108 off 193 balls. They were together for 54 overs and Middlesex captain Shaun Udal, who had just been off the field for repairs to his left hand after stopping a fierce drive, was wondering where their next wicket was coming from when Wakely chipped him to mid-on to offer Gareth Berg a simple catch.Six overs later, Rob White gave Udal a second wicket when he lofted him to Danny Evans at mid-off but it had been a dispiriting afternoon for Middlesex after they had made a promising start with the ball. Pedro Collins, the former West Indies left-armer, was rewarded for a demanding opening spell when he had Ben Howgego leg-before and Berg, the South Africa-born allrounder who was presented with his county cap at teatime, put Mal Loye out of his misery by having him caught at second slip for a 22-ball duck.Middlesex then ran into an immovable object in Peters, who had scored only 65 runs in his previous seven innings at Lord’s at an average of 9.28 and was obviously determined to put the record straight.Now 31, he has never quite fulfilled the potential he showed when he scored a century on his first-class debut for Essex at 17 and won the Man-of-the-Match award with a hundred in the Under-19 World Cup final in South Africa, but he has become one of the most consistent opening batsmen in the championship with three centuries and three fifties this season.Wakely, 21, has found runs harder to come by since making his maiden hundred against Glamorgan at Cardiff last summer but there were signs of real promise in some of his strokeplay.Earlier, Middlesex added six to their overnight 341 for 9 before Chaminda Vaas, the Sri Lanka left-arm seamer, had Collins caught behind to finish with the excellent figures of 4 for 49 in 21.2 overs against one of his former counties.