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ScorecardMeg Lanning steered Australia’s chase, scoring 64•Getty Images

Australia Women leveled the Twenty20 series against New Zealand with a close, five-wicket win in Melbourne on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, New Zealand Women had beaten Australia by six wickets.Chasing a target of 132, Australia’s innings revolved largely around opener Meg Lanning – who was their batting mainstay in the first T20 too – whose knock of 64 included seven fours. Although the New Zealand bowlers picked up wickets regularly, the target was too small for them to defend and Australia knocked off the runs with a ball to spare.Having chosen to bat, the New Zealand batsmen got off to a solid start and looked set to rattle up a big total. However, the Australia bowling unit managed to peg them back, as New Zealand went from being 2 for 121 to 6 for 130. Medium-pacer Megan Schutt and offspinner Erin Osborne were the most effective bowlers for Australia.

Thilan Samaraweera has indicated he would like to retire from international cricket in a letter to Sri Lanka Cricket, but the board is yet to accept his retirement.”He has sent a letter saying he would like to retire from all three segments of the game, but we have told him to have a talk with the selectors before we make a final call,” SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said. Samaraweera is expected to meet with the selectors on Wednesday.Samaraweera was one of 22 players who signed their national contracts on Monday after a 24-hour lock out over the weekend, but he was not named in Sri Lanka’s squad for the first Test against Bangladesh, which begins on Friday.At 36, Samaraweera was the oldest member of Sri Lanka’s touring party to Australia, where he was woeful with the bat, making 79 runs in six Test innings. He reclaimed form in Sri Lanka’s first class competition, hitting 464 runs at an average of 92.80 in four matches.Samaraweera was originally left out of Sri Lanka’s preliminary Test squad for the Bangladesh series, but was later called up when Mahela Jayawardene’s finger injury ruled him out of the series. He could not find a place in the final 16, however.Samaraweera’s decision was likely brought on as much by a lack of Tests for Sri Lanka in 2013, as his non-selection. Apart from the two home Tests in March against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka have only one away tour to Zimbabwe – which it is understood Samaraweera was unlikely to attend – before a scheduled year-end tour to Pakistan. He has also signed for a full county season with Worcestershire for 2013.Though he had received a central contract from SLC, the selectors had expressed a desire to build a youthful Test side in 2013, and Samaraweera was unlikely to play a major role in what little Test cricket Sri Lanka had scheduled.

As Shahid Afridi flayed the South African attack, memories of their last two, perhaps even three ODIs at the Wanderers came flooding back.South Africa have not won at the Bullring since February 2008, losing to Australia, India and Sri Lanka in the process. The last two were close defeats in matches which underlined South Africa’s problems with pressure. Against India, South Africa were bowled out for 189, chasing 191 and against Sri Lanka, they could not defend 312 despite having them eight down.Every time Afridi breached the boundary, he provided another flashback to those fixtures. It was possible that, once again, South Africa would be beaten even though they should have been doing the beating.What made this time different, according to AB de Villiers, is that South Africa did not panic. “I always felt we were in the game,” he said. “Shahid Afridi played really well but I felt like we were in control I always felt our bowlers always had the skill to get him out.”He was not wrong because soon after Ryan McLaren’s almost yorker-length low full toss had Afridi driving and playing on. Had McLaren not overstepped, Afridi would have been out for 73.That ended up being just 15 runs short of what he eventually scored, but the shot Afridi followed that escape with would have sent alarm bells off in any captain’s mind. De Villiers did his best to hit the snooze button after Afridi sent a ball over the Golf Course End stand.”There was a bit of a breeze coming in and I when I looked at the shot I just didn’t how he hit the ball that far,” de Villiers admitted. “I forced myself to think, ‘he is playing a great knock, there is no reason to get emotional, he is playing out of skin here. It’s not as though we are bowling badly, but this guy is playing an amazing knock’. We’ve seen it all over the world, one guy can come in and take the game away, there is nothing you can do about that.”Eventually Lonwabo Tsotsobe managed to do something. Another full toss tempted Afridi but he holed out to long-off. South Africa still had to toil to remove the tail and a lack of yorkers made the job harder.De Villiers explained it was not the plan to aim the toes, even though Allan Donald had earlier said it was. “That wasn’t the plan. We wanted to go length and try and nick him off,” he said of their plans to Afridi. “The rest of the time the bowlers hit their lengths well and bowled bouncers well, especially the slower ball bouncer.”That is exactly the delivery Donald said anyone could come up with and although change of pace got South Africa the first five wickets, they still needed something more potent at the end. For the three days between this match and the next one, that will be one of the things they will work on as they look to wrap up the series and string two consecutive wins together.De Villiers believed the batsmen showed the right approach to becoming more consistent. In saying that, he was talking mostly about himself and Hashim Amla, who shared a world-record third wicket stand of 238. “In our body language, we showed that we are here to play,” de Villiers said. “When we got a gut feel when a bowler is feeling a bit weak, we sensed it was time to take them on. That happened a few times.”While South Africa feel they have made a statement of intent, so do Pakistan. Despite defeat, they showed their ability and for Misbah, that was good enough. “Everybody believed that Pakistan can’t play well while they are chasing, especially such a huge total. Today we showed that we can do that,” he said. “It’s all about the mind, you need to be positive.”Afridi also announced himself and both captains hope that is a sign of things to come in the remaining two matches. “He was also under tremendous pressure but we know he can be really dangerous at No. 7,” Misbah said. “He has really good confidence and he will be good for us in the next matches.”De Villiers said it was “good to see Afridi back” but joked that he wouldn’t like him to keep being back as the series heads into its decisive week.

New Zealand allrounder Amy Satterthwaite has turned down a semi-professional contract from New Zealand Cricket (NZC). Satterthwaite, who has played 55 ODIs and 48 Twenty20 internationals for New Zealand since her debut in July 2007, said she was open to the idea of signing the contract in the future.”I definitely deliberated back and forth,” Satterthwaite told . “It’s a great new initiative and I gave it some serious thought before I decided it wasn’t for me at this time. That’s not to say I would not look at it again in future, if I was offered.”Satterthwaite was among the team’s senior players to be offered new contracts. Captain Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine, Sian Ruck and Sara McGlashan accepted NZC’s offer, while Nicola Brown declined. Satterthwaite said she was happy for her team-mates who had accepted the contracts.The contracts – part of a deal between NZC and the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association – allow women cricketers to train and play as professionals. Contracted players work with a major association and are involved at the grassroots level, helping with female coaching development and mentoring young women cricketers.

Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh allrounder, has been fined 75% of his match fee after pleading guilty to showing serious dissent at the umpire’s decision in the second ODI against Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe team was also fined, for maintaining a slow over rate.Shakib had been adjudged lbw for 34 though the ball seemed heading down the leg side, and there was a hint of an inside-edge as well. Shakib reacted by violently slamming the bat on his pads, accidentally brushing the Zimbabwe wicketkeeper Brendan Taylor’s pad as he ran in to celebrate the wicket. Shakib immediately apologised to Taylor. He later agreed that he had shown dissent at the umpire’s decision.The match referee Chris Broad deemed it to be a Level 2 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct. “This type of a reaction from a senior player and a former captain is unacceptable,” Broad said. “When the umpire’s finger goes up, the batsman must leave the crease without showing his emotions regardless of what he thinks of the decision.”The other fine levied in the match was for Zimbabwe’s slow over rate, deemed to have been one over short in their allotted time. Taylor, the captain, was fined 20% of his match fee, and the rest of the side was penalised 10%.The one-day series is tied 1-1, and will be decided by the final match on May 8.

ScorecardMarcus North, seen here for Perth, made his ninth List A hundred•Getty Images

Marcus North hit a brilliant 137 not out as Glamorgan made it two wins from two matches in this season’s Yorkshire Bank 40 by overpowering a below-par Middlesex by 26 runs at Lord’s.Glamorgan skipper and former Australia batsman North led from the front. He hit 16 fours and three sixes in his 98-ball innings and featured in an unbroken stand of 156 in just 16.3 overs with Jim Allenby, who scored 69 not out from 50 balls.Opener Will Bragg also contributed a 72-ball 62, riding some early luck against the new ball after Middlesex had decided to bowl first on an excellent surface.Bragg’s partnership of 86 in 16 overs with North got the Glamorgan innings going again after they slid to 38 for 2 when Mark Wallace was caught at first slip and Chris Cooke, later in the same over, was run out by Joe Denly’s direct hit from cover.Dawid Malan, Chris Rogers and Paul Stirling all briefly threatened to do something spectacular at the top of the Middlesex batting order but Will Owen took three wickets in 18 balls from the Pavilion End, after Allenby had initially removed Rogers.And, with slow left-arm spinner Dean Cosker also putting in a tight spell, it was only a matter of time from 110 for 4 – despite Berg’s late hitting – before Glamorgan’s victory was confirmed. Berg made a brave 75 from 57 balls but it only served to reduce the margin of victory.It was a fine effort by Glamorgan, who had totalled 285 for 7 from their 40 overs in the previous day’s 28-run win against Yorkshire at Colwyn Bay but then had to endure a near five-hour journey to London from north Wales before waking up to prepare for this match.Rogers, fresh from his match-saving County Championship double hundred against Surrey, produced some eye-catching strokes in his 22 before being caught off a leading edge at cover, but Malan had already survived a stumping chance on 35 when he fell at the same score, lifting a catch to point off Owen.Denly went for 11, caught at the wicket driving loosely at a wider ball from Owen, who then struck a crucial blow for his team by bowling the hard-hitting Stirling for 36 through an ugly legside heave.Neil Dexter drove one six over long on against Michael Hogan in his 24, but Hogan soon had him caught at deep cover and Berg was then left with only the tail for company. He hit Owen for two defiant sixes but saw wickets continue to tumble as John Simpson was caught at deep mid-off, Josh Davey was held at deep midwicket and Toby Roland-Jones also hit a catch into the deep. Berg was finally ninth out, bowled by Hogan after hitting six fours besides his two sixes.The North-Allenby partnership was far too much for Middlesex. Hardly anything got past the bat, once they both got their eye in, as they took full advantage of a superb batting pitch and Middlesex’s attack was beginning to look very ragged by the time the overs ran out.The last five overs of the innings brought 60 runs and, in all, 180 runs were plundered from the last 20.3 overs only for the loss of Bragg, who was athletically held by a diving Tom Smith at backward point off Davey.North’s first six was swung over midwicket off a Dexter full toss, just before Glamorgan’s 200 arrived in the 34th over, and he later added a powerful hit into the grandstand off Roland-Jones’s penultimate ball of the innings.Allenby, too, produced some meaty blows as he went past 50 from 39 balls, including a full-blooded club over wide long on from a couple of steps down the pitch against an astonished Corey Collymore.

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke has conceded the actions of David Warner and other team-mates in Birmingham have constituted a serious blow to his leadership. And the coach Mickey Arthur has said that Shane Watson remains to some extent at odds with the team’s management, despite the camp’s furious denials it was the allrounder who pushed for Warner’s punishment after the matter at first appeared likely to be kept in-house.The lack of strong examples and leaders around the team, both in England and earlier this year in India when four players were suspended for failing to follow team instructions, have pushed the Australian tourists into an embarrassing corner as they teeter on the edge of Champions Trophy elimination and also creep closer to the Ashes. Clarke, who was absent from the team in its important early days on tour due to another flair in his chronic back condition, admitted his captaincy had been damaged by the episodes.”It certainly has an impact on the leadership. There’s no doubt about it,” Clarke told AAP. “I think we as a leadership group need to continue to try and improve. I do believe we have come a long way in regards to the culture of this team and setting up our behaviour standards and what we feel is acceptable and non-acceptable. As captain of this team I don’t shy away from any accountability.”No less an authority on captaincy than the former England leader Michael Atherton has observed that Clarke’s absence from the early days of the tour were particularly ruinous to a young team, whatever the circumstances, for it left them without the man tasked with setting markers for what he expects on tour. The vacuum was illustrated by the fact that Warner was arguably the most senior of the group of players – also including Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade, Phillip Hughes and Clint McKay – who found themselves out drinking at Birmingham’s Walkabout pub at 2.30am following their loss to England.”To be out at that hour … carrying on like we were celebrating [after a loss] – especially with the opposition – is not the right time or place to be having a few drinks,” Clarke said. “I know that I need to continue to work on my leadership and make sure I’m doing everything I can in my power for things like this not to happen.”Because it not only has an impact on Dave, it has an impact on the team, it has an impact on our supporters. The people that come and watch and support our great game. We don’t want to be letting anyone down. We’ve got enough to focus on on the field to become the best team we can be. And we definitely don’t need these distractions off the field.”Arthur, meanwhile, has said the former vice-captain Watson still had some way to go to regain the full trust of the team’s leaders. Nonetheless, he reiterated Clarke’s denials of a television report that suggested Watson had protested at the initial lack of action over Warner’s misadventures after the suspensions of four players in India for nothing quite so outlandish as punching an opposition player in a pub.”We are continually working at that. And Shane is unbelievably professional and gets on with his business in a very professional way,” Arthur said. “I don’t see it as anything particularly bad or anything that’s not fixable. Shane obviously lost a little bit of trust after India and we work on that every day.”And Shane has been fantastic in the way he’s come back into the environment and approached that. I chat to Shane every day and we’ve been through it all. Guys know exactly what the punishments are. And like I said, we have a very solid process in place now.”Australia must defeat Sri Lanka at The Oval on Monday to have any chance of reaching the Champions Trophy semi-finals.

ScorecardJames Foster’s innings turned the match around•PA Photos

James Foster struck his first century of the season to put Essex in control ona rain-affected third day at Grace Road. The Essex captain and wicketkeeper hit a masterful 143 to lead his side to a total of 356 and a first-innings lead of 54.And, despite the loss of 35 overs in the day, Essex were looking in an evenbetter position at the close, with Leicestershire on 91 for 4 in their secondinnings, leading by only 37 runs.Niall O’Brien was the first to go, edging a catch to Foster as he fenced at adelivery from David Masters. That was in the seventh over, and in the next ReeceTopley had Greg Smith lbw leaving Leicestershire 27 for 2.Joe Burns and Ned Eckersley staged a brief recovery putting on 46, until Ryanten Doeschate turned things round again by dismissing both batsmen in the spaceof six overs. He had Eckersley lbw attempting a pull shot and then bowled Burns, when theAustralian, trying to cut, chopped the ball back into the stumps.Shiv Thakor and Matt Boyce added five more runs before bad light brought an endto play with eight overs still to go.Earlier Foster had hit his fourth century in five years against Leicestershireand his chanceless innings contained 21 fours and a six and came off 190 balls. In the end he became Matthew Hoggard’s sixth victim when he skied a catch tomid on after taking Essex past the 350 mark to earn them a fourth batting bonuspoint.Foster set the tone in the first over of the day when he took 12 runs off OllieFreckingham to race from his overnight 45 to 57. He continued in the same fashion and was quick to punish some wayward bowling from the home attack. Foster posted his century with a neat late cut to third man earning him his 14th four in addition to the six off Jigan Naik.His seventh-wicket partner, Graham Napier, was no slouch either, reaching 52off 80 balls with seven fours, before falling lbw to Freckingham to end a standof 114. But Foster skilfully marshalled the tail through another 11 overs until he wasninth man out at 355.Hoggard, in his first game since April, finished with impressive figures of sixfor 66 in 29 overs and Alex Wyatt took three for 80.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJoe Root struck twice before tea adding to his memorable Test after his 180•AFP

England secured a 2-0 lead in the Investec Ashes series as they completed an inevitable victory against Australia with relentless efficiency at the fag-end of the fourth day at Lord’s. Australia were four balls away from taking the match into a fifth day, with England forced to take a second new ball, the extra half-hour and finally resorting to silent prayer before completing a 347-run win in the final over.Before an impatient Lord’s crowd, eager to tick a box marked victory and head home, Australia’s last pair, James Pattinson and Ryan Harris, established Australia’s second highest stand of the innings – 43 runs awash with defiance – before the offspin of Graeme Swann trapped Pattinson lbw.At Trent Bridge, Ashton Agar and Phil Hughes registered the highest last-wicket partnership in Test history, and Australia’s highest of the match. If only the batsmen could bat, they might make a fist of this series.But Australia have lost six Tests in a row. England are vastly superior. It all feels like a reverse of 20 years ago. England are now the side in a golden era, able to relish high-class players and sound planning; Australia are a basket case.Returning on Monday morning might have been a suitable mini-punishment for England after they self-indulgently batted on for 18 minutes on the fourth morning in a failed attempt to present Joe Root with a double century. He fell attempting a ramp shot with nine men on the boundary, leaving Ryan Harris with praiseworthy match figures of 7 for 103. Aside from his wonderful innings, the manner of Root’s dismissal was unique for an Ashes Test and is perhaps worthy of an Honours Board on its own.England have four Ashes victories in a row, the strategy of dry pitches is working like a dream and Root’s 180 emphasised the gulf between the sides. The youngest English player to make a Test hundred at Lord’s, unsurprisingly he took the man-of-the-match award. “I’ve loved every minute of it,” he said.They made skilful use of a wearing Lord’s surface, with Swann predictably to the fore, and with Root also making a cheery guest appearance to break the back of the Australia innings just before tea. Australia will be particularly disturbed that they have completed back-to-back wins without major contributions from the likes of Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen.Australia have only straws to clutch at – Usman Khawaja acquitted himself responsibly at No. 3 to make his second Test half-century and their bowlers are displaying commendable spirit with both bat and ball – but only one side in Ashes history has ever won a series 3-2 after losing the first two Tests. England can surely assume the Ashes are as good as retained.Only one Test side, also, has ever survived for 173 overs or more in the fourth innings to draw a match. That was England against South Africa in Durban in 1939 when a Timeless Test was abandoned after nine days so England could catch a boat home. Australia’s task was to show they were not on a slow boat to nowhere, to transform a humiliation into a defeat respectable enough to keep body and soul together for the rest of the series.That task will be made more difficult while the air remains thick with corporate emails. As Australia’s players sought consolation in another defeat, Cricket Australia and their sacked coach, Micky Arthur, exchanged public statements and David Warner’s manager felt obliged to distance Warner from his own brother after he made venomous comments about Shane Watson. It cannot get much worse.Australia, bundled out for 128 first time around, were in disarray at 48 for 3 at lunch as they faced an entirely notional 583 to win. Swann led England’s victory push. Expectation of turn was enough to befuddle Rogers, who left a straight one, and Hughes, who reviewed his lbw decision, only to be reminded that, in these days of DRS, lbws are possible for offspinners operating around the wicket even if they do not straighten the ball.Before then, Watson fell in accustomed manner, lbw, this time hunted down by James Anderson. It was not the embarrassing exit of the first innings, when he planted his front pad and whipped across one and then compounded the error by wasting a review when stone dead. This time he was more respectably beaten by a ball that nipped back and, aware that there was no chance of a reprieve, shook his head mournfully at his batting partner, Rogers, and walked off.Clarke, coming in at No 5, faced a familiar story: 36 for 3. The cricketing argument for him to bat at No. 4 is offset by the statistical evidence that when he does so it halves his average. He might have departed before lunch, too, when he came down the pitch to Swann, was beaten on the outside edge by one that did not turn, only for Matt Prior, equally deceived, to miss the stumping.Root’s memorable Lord’s Test continued apace when he conjured up the wickets of Clarke and Khawaja shortly before tea, breaking their composed 98-run stand in a spell of 7-3-9-2. Clarke, Khawaja and Steve Smith all fell within the space of 21 deliveries.Root, encouraging hopes that he could develop into the fifth bowler England need on spin-friendly surfaces, found extravagant turn out of the rough to dismiss Clarke, but his dismissal was a soft one as he tickled a ball down the leg side to be caught by Alastair Cook at leg slip. Khawaja put up staunch resistance but followed in Root’s next over when he pushed at a ball that turned and edged gently to James Anderson at gully.Nevertheless, there was enough in Khawaja’s approach to suggest that he intends to battle for the right to become Australia’s long-term No. 3. He carried the fight against some short bowling from Stuart Broad immediately after lunch, in contrast to Clarke, who was struck on the shoulder and helmet in quick succession by the same bowler. He also blocked Swann out of the footholds with determination.Swann was a touch hampered by a lower-back injury, caused when Khawaja accidentally collided with him when dashing a single to the bowler’s end, and although he regularly found pronounced turn out of the footholds, with the ball travelling more than once straight to slip or gully, he required painkillers and after 17 overs eventually gave way to Root.Smith’s departure to the last ball before tea – the batsman unsuccessfully reviewing after he had been caught at the wicket off a thin inside nick against Tim Bresnan – completed a deflating end to the session after Australia’s top-order batsmen had shown as much application as at any time in the series.Australia’s frustrations were compounded by further issues over DRS after tea. Brad Haddin was adjudged lbw to Swann as he padded up to one that turned from around the wicket and then Agar’s brief cut and thrust through point – the area where he lives or dies – was silenced when England successfully turned to the review system to win a catch at the wicket off Bresnan.The TV umpire, Tony Hill, upheld it on noise (and Snicko supported him) but there was no mark on Hot Spot, inviting more grumbles from traditionalists wedded to a simpler time when an on-field umpire’s decision was law. Simpler times have gone for ever. And, in Australian cricket, there are more pressing things to carp about.

ScorecardWayne Madsen became the first batsman to score 1000 runs in the Championship this season•Getty Images

Derbyshire’s captain, Wayne Madsen, became the first batsmen to 1000 Championship runs this season as he compiled a brilliant century at the County Ground. He also became the fourth batsmen to reach 1000 first-class runs when he passed 31, on one of the few days where the home crowd were spoilt for reasons to cheer.Few would have expected Madsen to be the first to reach the landmark, as part of a newly promoted side tipped to go straight back down. Indeed, Derbyshire have been overly reliant on their captain’s runs, most of which have been futile – most notably 141 in an innings-and-113 run loss to Yorkshire at Chesterfield.But he followed that innings with 159 runs in the match against Sussex, steering his side to their first win of the season with an unbeaten 62 in their second-innings chase. Now, unbeaten on 105, he has the chance to effect similar success against Middlesex.Bowling first is certainly in vogue, but the visitors’ decision to start with the ball was peculiar given that there was a chance that they would be blessed with the return of Steven Finn, should he not be required for duty in the final Ashes Test at The Oval. When 91 runs were on the board after the first session, for the loss of just one wicket, Neil Dexter could be forgiven for feeling he had been duped by a track that promised more pace than it delivered.He brought himself on in the 22nd over – the fifth of six bowlers to be used before lunch – by which time the sun had come out to provide Madsen with optimum conditions to achieve his four-figure feat. Coming to the crease at 37 for 1, he needed 49 for the honour, while Sam Robson, the front-runner for much of this season, could only watch as he was usurped.

‘My primary role is to score runs’

On reaching 1,000 championship runs
Most people set targets as batters and the first thing you say is that a good season is getting to a thousand runs. That is something I reviewed halfway through because I was doing really nicely. I wanted to average 40 and get more than 1000. I’m delighted to have got there – hopefully I can get many more runs in contributing to us maybe staying up.
On getting there ahead of Sam Robson
I knew Sam was on 993 and the guys in the dressing room kept reminding me that it was a bit of a tussle, but if I bat first I’ve got a bit of a chance. We were going to have a bat anyway but fortunately they put us in and I was able to take the opportunity. I know he’s having a fantastic season for them but it is an honour to get there first time.
Leading from the front as captain
My primary role in the team is to score runs – if I’m not scoring runs then I don’t warrant a place. It’s obviously important that I contribute with the bat foremost. From the captaincy side, if I can continue to contribute then it sets an example to the other players and hopefully the guys will follow.
Resetting his goals
I would like to think I could make 1400 and if I can get up to that then that will contribute to the team and we can be successful in a few of the games coming up.

Madsen looked in control, aside from a couple of occasions that had him wincing; an uppish flick off his legs that Adam Voges did well to get a hand to when on 61, and a rap to his box on 96 from Toby Roland-Jones. But an over later, he stepped down the crease to Tim Murtagh to bring up his century off his 208th ball with an immaculate shot through midwicket for four.Young opening batsman Ben Slater, as he did in Hove, supported Madsen well with some crisp back foot punches, as Murtagh and Roland-Jones – in for Corey Collymore – struggled, initially, for an effective length on a flat, slowish pitch. Both performed better after lunch, as they restricted Derbyshire to just 15 from the first 10 overs of the afternoon session, before Murtagh took two wickets with the first new ball as the day drew to a close.Slater looked compact and organised, with a high back-lift and an appreciation of his duty at the top of the order. His movement at the crease was minimal. His sole false stroke, a thick but safe edge past second slip, took him to a second Championship half century, before James Harris got a short ball to duck across Slater and take the edge.Harris is the designated substitute if Finn makes the trip up the M1, and Middlesex certainly got value from him with 20 overs on the first day, as both he and Gareth Berg improved on the lengths of Murtagh and Roland-Jones. If he does make way, Harris can take solace from his work, particularly an aggressive seven-over spell in the afternoon that helped Middlesex wrestle back some initiative.