Roland-Jones Shines

Toby Roland-Jones took centre stage as Middlesex gained the upper hand on a rain-affected first day against Northamptonshire in their County Championship Division Two match at Merchant Taylors' School.

Roland-Jones, Middlesex’s leading wicket-taker in red-ball cricket this season, capitalised on overcast conditions after opting to bowl first, securing figures of 3-34. Tom Helm also delivered a fiery opening spell, claiming 2-41 as Northamptonshire struggled to 167-7.

Emilio Gay stood as the primary resistance for Northamptonshire, top-scoring with 42 runs.

Indian Test opener Prithvi Shaw began brightly, but his attempt to pull off Roland-Jones ended in disaster, with Mark Stoneman taking the catch at point. Helm soon followed up by enticing Ricardo Vasconcelos into a mistimed pull, which ballooned to Roland-Jones at wide mid-on.

Helm then bowled a dream delivery to dismiss Northamptonshire captain Luke Proctor, bringing the ball back from outside off-stump to rattle the stumps. George Bartlett edged one to Sam Robson at slip, who would go on to take three catches during the innings. Rob Keogh attempted to counter-attack with back-to-back boundaries but soon edged Henry Brookes to Robson as well.

Gay, having witnessed the collapse from the other end, finally fell to a sharp delivery from Roland-Jones just before tea, edging to Robson at slip. Roland-Jones struck again after the break, removing Justin Broad for a duck, but Northamptonshire’s Lewis McManus and Ben Sanderson managed to steady the ship before rain forced an early close to the day's play.

Middlesex earned two points from their efforts, while Northamptonshire ended the day without any, leaving them with work to do as the match progressed.