Middlesex captain Toby Roland-Jones rues batting performance in innings defeat by Somerset

SHUBI ARUN AT LORD’S: It all felt inevitable, really. Middlesex began the day needing 148 runs to avoid an innings defeat; a sizeable total for any team following on, a seismic one for a side that hasn’t scored more than 274 this season

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The conversation topics in the sparsely filled Lord’s press room told you all you needed to know about the day’s action. At best, it was attritional. At worst, agonising.

It all felt inevitable, really. Middlesex began the day needing 148 runs to avoid an innings defeat; a sizeable total for any team following on, a seismic one for a side that hasn’t scored more than 274 this season. Ultimately, they fell short by 13 runs to give Somerset their first win of the season.

To be fair to Middlesex, they stepped into the ring with their gloves raised, ready for the fight. Mark Stoneman (60) and Stephen Eskinazi (28) continued where they left off the previous evening and were solid without being spectacular in the first hour of the morning. For the briefest of periods, the faintest whiff of hope emanated through the Middlesex dressing room.

“The way the guys battled well last night and (then) gave us as good a start as you could hope in that scenario, there was reason to be optimistic,” said captain Toby Roland-Jones.

“There was a lot of confidence that if we could string together two good partnerships, we could make life difficult (for Somerset).”

Middlesex players celebrate a County Championship wicket [Getty Images]

But Middlesex’s defiance was halted by Peter Siddle, who clipped Eskinazi’s off bail in his first over of the day. Middlesex never really recovered after the first punch was landed. From 101 for 2 at the end of the 36th over, they fell to 140 for 6 by lunch. Siddle, who went wicketless in the first innings, took a couple more, including a peach to get the set Stoneman.

As was the case in the first innings for Middlesex, their batting didn’t collapse as much as it found itself gradually eroded. There were fleeting independent acts of defiance in the batting but none of them were able to string together any partnerships. It’s become a common theme of Middlesex’s season so far.

“Guys have played well but we’ve struggled to piece together a couple of partnerships which would have put pressure back on the opposition. We’ve always managed to lose wickets in clusters and it’s obviously going to be harder to control the game if that’s commonplace,” Roland-Jones said.

The conditions weren’t overcast, the wicket was relatively flat and the Somerset bowling wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Put together both of Middlesex’s totals in the game and it’s still three short of what the Cidermen managed in their first innings. So, is there a confidence issue plaguing the batting unit?

While Roland-Jones admits the team fell short at the pressure points to take the game deep, he believes it’s more an issue of intent.

“I know it’s not through any lack of effort and it’s probably a question of guys looking to impose themselves more in the game. Fundamentally, you look across six games and no one’s scored a hundred then you know that’s something which you would look to improve on,” he said.

Members applaud the Middlesex team back into the Lord’s pavilion [Getty Images]

Ryan Higgins and Luke Hollman, as they have so often this season, provided some late rearguard action but the boat was already half-sunk by the time they took over the oars. Roland-Jones sees the turgidity of the lower-order as a defect rather than a feature.

“It’s resilience because it’s a situation they’re in regularly. Ideally, we want those guys coming in, looking to drive and control a game. Backs to the wall, I’ve got no concerns and the fight people have down the order,” he said.

“But, it’s about trying to set a game up and often you find that there’s always going to be more moments, when the ball gets older and partnerships form and things like that, so we’ve got to try and get a hold of games much quicker.”

While this isn’t the note they’d have liked to have struck ahead of the break for the T20 Blast, it could allow for some much-needed reflection. Their next red-ball appointment at Lord’s comes in mid-July against Surrey. Perhaps by then, the Middlesex batters will have found their form, and the broccoli soup its label. 

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