Middlesex captain Toby Roland-Jones will not remember this match fondly. Credit: Getty Images/Benjamin Gilbert
Middlesex captain Toby Roland – Jones endured one of the strangest layoffs of the season on the first day of the County Championship Division One match against Warwickshire in Edgbaston.
Hitting the ball in the stands on six, he stepped back to admire his work, but carelessly swung the bat behind his back and did not hit the gate. The six was struck out of the Middlesex total.
It was one of 22 gates that fell during an eventful day.
The gate didn't hit?!
Toby Roland-Jones thinks he hit six but knocks down bail in his sequel #LVCountyChamp pic.twitter.com/c0tJoutjr3
— LV= Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) ) 25 July 2023
Warwickshire, caught in the fight, lost just 60 points, their lowest in the Championship since 1982 when they could only manage 43 against Sussex at Edgbaston.
Ethan Bamber took five wickets in 20 runs , and Roland-Jones three. by 27, as the Middlesex seamstresses made good use of favorable conditions and were helped by a few false defensive throws.
The away team responded with 199 points, with Ryan Higgins scoring 53 and Ed Barnard and Mir Hamza each scoring 3 points out of 49. This gave them a 139-point lead in the first inning and the home side still had time to lose on a chaotic day. . two wickets in the second round, reaching 53 on two by the end.
When Roland-Jones won the toss, he was hoping his seam attack would invade early – and the home side fell to 17 on five after 23 minutes.
Both Warwickshire rookies hit their first ball in four, but Roland-Jones started the collapse with an overhead serve Alex Davies passed the wickets to John Simpson. Two balls later, the skipper sent the ball full length into Will Rhodes's stump.
Bamber then found Sam Haine's lead and Sam Robson caught the ball on the second miss. An easier chance offered by Roland-Jones' Rob Yates was also taken by Robson before Bamber had the entire 44-ball average order. castling due to a serve that remained low and Ed Barnard's stump clipped by an impressive outswinger.
As Henry Brooks overtook Higgins to a third miss, No. 11 Mir Hamza found himself advancing at 12:20. Soon he was coming back after beating Higgins.
10 minutes before lunch, Middlesex lost to Robson, who got ahead of Ollie Hannon-Dalby on the first miss and beat Steve Eskinazi shortly after that break. Hannon-Dalby behind and Mark Stoneman dropped in weight to Hamza, who then eliminated Max Holden through another open net.
After hard-hitting 18 pitches (66 and 54 respectively) from Jack Davis and John Simpson ended up taking advantage, Higgins and Josh DeCaires counterattacked. The bowlers were first put under pressure when the seventh wicket pair added 71 over 18 overs.
Higgins has hit the ball for Warwickshire in the past, notably with 11 of 96 for Gloucestershire in the Bob Willis Trophy in Bristol in 2020. This time around, he hit seven fours and a six en route to his 18th half-century in first grade before becoming the first of three wickets for Barnard.
Higgins was potted; how he scored 37 points and Roland-Jones hit the ball into the crowd at long range, but cut off the bail with his after-hit and went 21 points off the wicket.
When Bamber dropped in weight to Hannon-Dalby, Middlesex had a significant lead of 139 and Warwickshire were again down another 13 overs.
Their troubles continued when Davies rammed Bamber into the cordon to add a first ball duck to his morning second. -baller and Rhodes carelessly swung at Tom Helm.
It was careless on the part of the captain, but the morning of chaos in Warwickshire caused a lot of damage, which got them into trouble.
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