Hampshire picked up three wickets in the first session of their
rain-delayed Specsavers County Championship first division clash with
Middlesex in Uxbridge.

The hosts limped in at 71 for three on day two with Adam Voges on six
together with Max Holden, who had just got off the mark with a single
before rain took the payers off for a second time in the morning
session.

Asked to bat first after an uncontested toss, Middlesex openers Sam
Robson and Nick Compton fared well in the opening exchanges to post 40
as Hampshire tended to bowl too short.

Fidel Edwards then switched to the Pavilion End to rush one past
Compton’s back-foot push and rearrange middle and off stumps with a
slingy, full-length delivery that seamed off the pitch.

Only 18 runs on and with 28 to his name, Robson – who had just moved
past the 8,000-run milestone in first-class cricket -also returned to
the pavilion after edging low to Jimmy Adams at second slip off the
bowling of Ian Holland.

The hosts lost their third wicket of the session when Stevie Eskinazi
(13) feathered one from Edwards to be superbly caught diving low to
his right by keeper Tom Alsop, which proved the pre-cursor to a
10-minute break for rain.

The additional sheeting shipped across on Tuesday afternoon from
Merchant Taylors School in Northwood ensured the pitch and surrounds
stayed drier overnight which, together with the benefit of using heat
lamps on the wicket ends, allowed the second day to start on time
despite a previously sodden outfield that had led to the first-day
washout.

Hampshire skipper James Vince was forced to miss the game after
picking up a hamstring niggle in the warm-ups, which led to a
first-class debut for Hampshire Academy graduate Felix Organ, an
18-year-old off-spinner and right-hand batsman originally from Sydney,
Australia.

Middlesex also gave a county debut to batsman Holden, who spent the
start of the season on loan with Northamptonshire. Holden, was
presented with his first-team cap ahead of the game.