By Charles Randall at Uxbridge
First day of four: Worcs 435-4 v Middlesex
THERE are days when Graeme Hick can treat bowlers as though they are machines adjusted for his convenience. This was the case yesterday, with half-volley mode utilised for off-drive practice and other switches flicked for his power-cutting and pulling.
He creamed 166 on this placid pitch, partnered much of the time by Tom Moody, who did as he pleased with a hundred of his own, and the only grim satisfaction that Middlesex were allowed was dismissing Hick short of the 168 he scored on Worcestershire's previous visit down the M40 six years ago.
Hick slashed a stinging catch to backward point to give Ian Blanchett a notable maiden scalp on his first-class debut. Nevertheless, the partnership was worth 222 at around five an over.
Blanchett, a tall leg-cutting seamer with a languid action, should have had Moody soon after, when a skied pull was put down by Richard Kettleborough at midwicket, a straightforward chance at 113. Worcestershire's captain quickly repeated the shot with more success, this time for a big six.
Middlesex enjoyed one morning success when Jamie Hewitt flattened Philip Weston's leg-stump. Later Vikram Solanki was bowled for an elegant 78 and Hick, if Blanchett's throw had hit the stumps, would have departed second ball, hesitating over a pushed single, but that was his last concession to vulnerability for almost five hours.
The onus will be on Middlesex's batsmen when Moody reluctantly vacates the crease some time this weekend.
Day 2: Middlesex run up a cul-de-sac
By Charles Randall at Uxbridge
Second day of four: Middlesex (154-1) trail Worcestershire (627-6) by 473 runs
TWO fine Middlesex cricketers have been honoured by road names next to the Uxbridge ground - Gatting Way and Brearley Close -and, judging by the farcical progress of this match, it is hardly surprising both players are best known as batsmen.
With Worcestershire clocking up runs almost at will, the most expensive bowler was Phil Tufnell, who finished with one for 136 as Middlesex conceded their highest score anywhere against all domestic opposition. The total surpassed Oxford University's record 612, which had stood for 122 years, and it marked the end of a proud boast - the only county never to have conceded 600 runs in a championship innings.
Mark Ramprakash and Justin Langer made the right sort of reply with undefeated sixties, when tumbling wickets would have been an embarrassment. Langer, the compact Australian left-hander, would be fancying his second successive double-hundred if the situation did not demand some captains' manipulation before then.
The new ball did provide the occasional scare but, with the shine quickly gone, the only worry for the batsman seemed to be which side of the wicket the ball could be dispatched and how far. An utterly sound, grassless strip showed little sign of breaking up.
Tom Moody did not add to his overnight 132, but David Leatherdale progressed pleasantly to his eighth championship hundred of an 11-season career.
Leatherdale once registered a comfortable all-run four when Ian Blanchett, in saving the boundary, launched himself over the picket fence.
Day 3: Teaser Solanki in his element
By Rob Steen at Uxbridge
Third day of four: Middlesex v Worcestershire
SHORTLY after lunch, this seemingly moribund contest took a decidedly odd turn. In the space of four balls, Middlesex lost two wickets, bringing the follow-on sharply into focus and causing the Worcestershire bowlers to approach their task with something akin to enthusiasm. Given that only nine men had been prised out in the previous 250 overs, the swing of the pendulum was as welcome as it was startling.
The relentless rumbling from the M40 may detract from the discreet charms of this intimate, tree-ringed ground, but there is a distinctly reassuring air about the names of the adjoining roads. If Brearley Close and Gatting Way already stand as fitting monuments to a pair of Lord's lairds, moreover, the advent of Ramprakash Drive cannot be far away. Yesterday's century by the Mid- dlesex captain, his seventh here and first of the season, was both assured and inevitable, the handiwork of a man at one with self and muse.
Mind you, when the local council come to honour him, they might well opt for Ramprakash Walk. Seldom if ever troubled throughout his 4.75-hour residence, Ramprakash had made 122, outstripping his previous highest first-class score of the summer by 97, when he advanced to Vikram Solanki, inside-edged, and turned to see the ball squirm from pad to the quicksilver gloves of Steve Rhodes, who whisked the bails off in a jiffy. That the dismayed Ramprakash took it upon himself to walk was as much a measure of the man as the mellifluous strokeplay that preceded it.
Deprived of their rudder, Middlesex ran aground. Fresh from a pair against Somerset, and apparently troubled by a crooked backlift, Owais Shah had taken 12 balls to break his duck before being surprised by a lifter from Gavin Haynes. Paul Weekes followed Ramprakash's unfortunate lead, and when Phil Newport's opening offering with the new ball pinned David Nash in front, Middlesex, at 328 for seven, were still the little matter of 299 adrift.
All this was a far cry indeed from the one-way traffic of the morning. Ramprakash and Justin Langer continued in the same serene vein as Friday evening, extending their second-wicket stand to 175 in 48 overs before Tom Moody ejected his fellow West Australian via the thinnest of leg-side tickles. Mike Gatting duly evoked memories of his bullying pomp, outscoring Ramprakash two to one, and was understandably miffed when Haynes gained a favourable lbw verdict. One pull off Solanki achieved the not inconsiderable feat of being both profoundly vicious and immensely elegant. Contrary to rumour, the old boy's tank has yet to run out of fuel.
For all that, it was Solanki who took the eye. Last season, this gifted young all-rounder's off-breaks were used sparingly in the championship - 44 overs, one for 152 - but here he was everything one longs to see in an aspiring spinner.
Not merely control and variation, but a willingness to toss the ball up, to invite the drive, to persist and tease. Impressively as he had kick-started Worcestershire's huge total, he would do well to consider a change of priorities.
Day 4: Ramprakash's twin retort
By Charles Randall at Uxbridge
Middlesex (389 & 373-5) drew with Worcestershire (627-6)
MIDDLESEX'S sound batting made nonsense of Tom Moody's attritional strategy against them, and a dead final day at Uxbridge became significant for Mark Ramprakash's second hundred of the match.
Ramprakash probably cemented his England place for the forthcoming first Test against South Africa after his wounding omission from the one-day series.
His third twin-hundreds game for Middlesex at the age of 28 - his second at Uxbridge - equalled Patsy Hendren's county record, and it will be surprising if he does not achieve a few more with his grooved method and clear, natural ability.
Moody hoped his spinners could bring Middlesex to their knees. This had to be optimistic because the benign pitch looked sound, was sound and remained exactly that until the final session. Nice batting practice, if you can get it.
Justin Langer was the first to use his opportunity, pulling with startling power in a hundred off 124 balls. Ramprakash, driving sumptuously, took 169 balls for his, the 42nd of his career.
Richard Kettleborough missed out again - there could hardly have been a more ideal batting opportunity for his new county - and Langer was frustrated too, because the Australian knew he had enough time to beat 274, his best score for Western Australia, and he looked distraught when Gavin Haynes bowled him behind his legs for a relatively modest 118.
Ramprakash was dismissed freakishly for the second time in the match, hooking at a ball wide of the leg-stump to be caught at slip via bottom edge and pad.