County Championship: Middlesex relegated after dramatic defeat by Notts

Middlesex’s desperate bid for a dramatic final-day victory just fell short at Trent Bridge as they lost narrowly to Nottinghamshire by two wickets to be relegated back to Division Two of the County Championship.

Kent were forced to settle for a draw with Lancashire, to give Middlesex an outside chance if they could force victory.

There were tense scenes in Nottingham and Canterbury when Notts lost their eighth wicket with five runs still needed, but they just about kept their heads to get over the line and send Middlesex down, while Kent survived.

There had looked to be only one outcome when Middlesex skipper Toby Roland-Jones set Notts a target of just 207 in a generous 58 overs.

But on a dry, turning pitch on a beautifully sunny last afternoon of the season, the Middlesex spinners made a real fight of it.

Frontline spinners Jayant Yadav (2-68) and Josh de Caires (1-24) were upstaged, however, by former England opener and occasional leg-spinner Sam Robson, who followed up his earlier century to finish with a career-best 4-46.

The visitors gave the hosts a real scare as they slipped to 157-7 before Matt Montgomery (34 not out) held the tail together to drag Notts across the line.

Brett Hutton, who had earlier edging ahead of Simon Harmer on 62 scalps to finish as the County Championship’s top wicket taker, weighed in with a quickfire 17, before holing out attempting to hit a second six.

But, fittingly, it was Notts number 10 Jake Ball – in the former England paceman’s final appearance – who swept Robson for the winning boundary, to move his side one place up the table to sixth.

Earlier, as Nottinghamshire set fields that allowed Middlesex to set the game up, Robson hit a 109-ball unbeaten 105 – his third of the paltry total of four red-ball hundreds that his side have managed this season.

This is Middlesex’s third relegation since two-division cricket began in 2000, having also gone down in 2006 and 2017.

And, although they managed one more win than Kent over the course of the season, they paid the price for some poor batting displays.

Their bowling attack plundered 39 bowling points, just two less than champions Surrey who, along with Warwickshire, racked up a near maximum 41 points out of a possible 42.

But Middlesex managed just five batting points in 14 games, their only other red-ball centurion in 2023 aside from Robson having been Ryan Higgins in the first innings of this match.

Nottinghamshire skipper Steven Mullaney:

“I would like to pay tribute to Middlesex for the way they played. There were no conversations about setting up the game. It was played in the right spirit. Integrity was really important. For them to go out this morning and get a 200-run lead and settle for that was really gutsy.

“Our thinking with the fields we set was, even if they scored at six an over and batted for 30 or 40 overs it was only going to be about 200 that we would be chasing.

“It could have gone either way at certain points. The pitch was taking spin and it was tough work. Robson bowled absolutely brilliantly, Yadav is an international player and de Caires has had a decent season.

“For Jake Ball to hit the winning runs, he was saying earlier he’d like whoever writes Stuart Broad’s scripts to write a few for him. It was so fitting it should be him that got us over the line in the end. It was important to end the season with a win.”

Middlesex captain Toby Roland-Jones:

“We knew coming into this game that we had to try to force a result and we had a pretty clear picture. We asked the guys to give it everything and to truly believe every result was possible.

“We took it right down to the wire. I’m definitely proud of the guys. On other occasions in close games where we’ve been outwrestled, we were not able to compete as we have done over four days here.

“The frustration is that on a wearing wicket on the last day we were in a good position but, fundamentally as a group over the course of a 14-game season we have not found our true form and found ourselves in a situation with which you can’t really argue.”

Middlesex head coach Richard Johnson:

“We had a figure in mind that we were comfortable defending and that would leave ourselves enough time to get 10 wickets. That worked out perfectly.

“Sam Robson anchored the innings beautifully while everyone played around him and that set up the game for our bowlers to put them as much under pressure as they could. When we had them seven down I felt there was a real opportunity but their guys dug in well.

“It has taken up until these last three or four games to start to perform and put our best foot forward. It has come too late but what it means is that we can start next season with positivity.”