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Lancashire 102 for 5 (Roland-Jones 4-29) trail Middlesex 327 (Robson 77, Gubbins 69, Compton 56, Kerrigan 4-80, Jarvis 3-70) by 225 runsScorecard As Roald Dahl suggested, tales of the unexpected come in many forms. Behind the mundane, lurk both the remarkable and the macabre. One of the domestic games oddities is that Middlesex, a well-resourced club, have not won the County Championship since 1993; another is that Somerset did not win the title when they boasted some of the best cricketers in the world.At lunchtime in this game, when Middlesex had been bowled out for 327, it seemed that Somersets chances were improving with every run they scored in Leeds. Barely an hour later, though, James Franklins men were jubilant as they reduced Lancashire to 32 for 5 before some stubborn resistance from the home side left them on 102 without further loss at the close.Yet this was still a fine afternoon for Middlesex and they have two days to confirm their superiority and collect the 22 points that might leave them the length of a seaxe from glory. Somerset end a day of wonderful fluctuation needing to seal their win over Yorkshire and pray that Lancashire are stirred to break their habit of being relegated every other year.Some supporters at Old Trafford are reconciled to such biennial disappointment. So it was difficult to know whether Lancashire supporters travelling to Old Trafford from Wigan or Westhoughton for a 10.30 start on the second day of this game were more surprised to get a seat on the early train or to see their bowlers take seven wickets in a session. Probably the former.After all, it seemed unlikely that Steven Crofts bowlers would be as ineffective or their fielding as fatigued as it had been on the first day. For them to those wickets for 65 runs in 27 overs during a slightly extended morning session was within possibilitys bounds; especially so once Tom Bailey and Kyle Jarvis had removed three recognised batsmen wickets in the first ten overs with a ball that was still quite new.On the other hand, some of the morning trains from the west are so crowded and their progress so pedestrian that any suggestion of comfort is greeted with astonishment. Indeed, the locomotive has been christened the Parbold Flyer by commuters whose capacity for irony seems only to have been sharpened by the sensory delights of close proximity to their fellow passengers. Other despondent travellers are more choleric: Gathurst, Wigan Wallgate, Westhoughton, Bolton: the stations of the bloody cross.Yet once they had recovered feeling in their limbs, travellers on what seems slowest loco in the land may have raised their arms in triumph as Bailey and Jarvis bowled both Dawid Malan and Stevie Eskinazi off the inside edge in the opening quarter-hour of play. Those dismissals changed the temperature of the game and revealed this Manchester pitch as one responsive to accurate bowling, not least because the bounce is increasingly variable.Early success emboldened Lancashire and James Franklins men found the spinners no easier to play than the seamers. Only the Middlesex captain, who took 112 minutes over his careful 31 not out, survived for long as Simon Kerrigan took three wickets from the Pavilion End and Croft removed Tim Murtagh, courtesy of Rob Jones sharp diving catch at short leg. So instead of knowing they needed to bat for the rest of the game to save it, Lancashires batsmen were faced with a total they had a hope of reaching in one dig.For 13 overs or so, it seemed to make not a brass farthing of difference to them. Unlike the train journey to Deansgate, Lancastrian delight didnt last for ever. More significantly, the marvellous potency of this Middlesex attack was revealed as they dismantled Crofts top order, reducing the home team to 6 for 4 in the eighth over.They needed a drop of luck, mind, although one could argue that bowlers of the quality of Toby Roland-Jones deserve all the good fortune going. Certainly there was no great twist of fate about the dismissal of Haseeb Hameed, who pushed pretty blamelessly forward at the ninth ball he received but only edged it to Ollie Rayner at second slip.Middlesexs bowlers were encouraged by this early success and they soon had more wickets to celebrate. Luke Procters careless fence to Tim Murtagh only gave a catch to Stevie Eskinazi in the gully and Roland-Jones then took two wickets in three balls. Alviro Petersen was caught down the leg side off a ball which seemed to touch only his thigh and Croft lost his off stump when failing to cover late movement.Suddenly the cricket acquired a new tension. Both Lancashires future in the First Division and Middlesexs hopes of the title hinged on what might happen in the next hour. Meanwhile Somerset were building a big lead at Headingley and you did not need to be born in Glastonbury to wonder wistfully if this was going to be their year at last.Jos Buttler, as if batting for both Lancashire and the county of his birth, hit three pedigree fours off a Murtagh over but then fell for 16 when his leg side nick off Roland-Jones was brilliantly caught one-handed by John Simpson diving to his left. It was a catch to help win a title. Gloom in Weston-super-Mare. Talk in Taunton of another meek Lancastrian capitulation. Remember 2010? They do.The hopes of the home side now rested on Rob Jones, who was playing his fourth first-class innings and Liam Livingstone, whose style is more suited to the cavalry charge than the cautious advance under enemy fire.Only 45 minutes earlier Jones had opened the batting with Hameed; he had already enjoyed the company of more flighty partners than a botoxed Floridian billionaire; Livingstone, for his part found batting at No7 was getting him to the wicket more quickly than going in first drop. In Lancashires previous home match against Somerset he had tramped out at No3 in the 31st over; now here he was, facing a new ball with the score on 32 for 5. Do you fancy dropping down the order and going in earlier? must be a strange question for a young cricketer to answer.The atmosphere grew heavy and close as if to intensify the importance of the cricket. Each run was greeted with a relieved rattle of applause before spectators contemplated its significance. Jones played with a maturity far beyond his years and his 42 not out was the sort of innings that is worth a months cricket to a young player; Livingstone, having batted poorly in the previous match, showed that he is learning what this professional game is all about and was unbeaten on 31.Either side of break for bad light and hints of rain, the pair added an unbroken 70 in 25 overs before bad light arrived as a prelude to some serious weather. Storms From Stoke said a colleague and it could have been the title of an Arnold Bennett novel.No matter. When play was called off, Lancashires hopes were still alive and Middlesexs optimism had been dampened a touch by more than a thunderstorm. It had been a great days cricket. Spectators donned their helmets and crash pads and made for the rush hour chuff-chuff home. adidas ultra boost schuhe . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. günstig adidas schweiz . -- James Young couldnt wait to apply those tweaks to his jump shot, and the first one he made against UT Arlington told him it could be a good night. http://www.ultraboostsale.ch/ . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. günstig adidas ultra boost schweiz . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. ultra boost schuhe online . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. It is one of crickets curiosities that the oldest international rivalry is not, as many assume, England against Australia. That started in 1877, some 33 years after a side representing USA met a team from Canada at Bloomingdale Park in Manhattan. It is believed that it is the worlds oldest international sporting rivalry, pre-dating the Americas Cup by seven years.There are some who dispute the validity of the claim that the game was an international. It was advertised locally as a meeting between USA and Canada even though the players were, in the main, drawn from two clubs. While the first contemporary reference to the sides being from USA and Canada did not come until 1853, it is generally acknowledged to have been an international.The encounter could actually have happened four years earlier. The St Georges Club received an invitation from a Mr Phillpotts to travel to play a game against Toronto at a ground on the shores of Lake Ontario. A squad of 18 New Yorkers made a gruelling journey only to find on arrival on August 28 that the bemused Toronto club knew nothing about the proposal. St Georges had been the victim of a hoax. Nevertheless, Toronto raised a side to play for a stake of $250 a side, and in front of a decent crowd, St Georges won by ten wickets.The relationship had been established and four years later a genuine invitation was sent to Toronto, who accepted. The stake had been upped to $1000 and the venue was to be the grounds of the St Georges Club (around East 31 Street and First Avenue, at the time a rural setting) with two days - September 24 and 25 - put aside for the game.The trip south for the Canadians was exhausting. They travelled by boat up the St Lawrence and across Lake Ontario before boarding a train on the burgeoning rail network on the American side. The trains had no buffet cars and so food had to be snatched at the irregular stops.A large crowd, around 5000, was present on the first day and, as was customary, betting was to the fore. It is estimated that as much as $100,000 was bet on the match, close to $2 million in modern money. The game was scheduled to start at 10am but the teams were in no hurry and it eventually got underway at 11.40am.Canada batted and were bowled out midway through the afternoon for 82. Given the state of pitches at the time, it was a respectable score, although contemporary accounts refer to the poor fielding of the USA. David Winckworth jjoint top-scored with 12, while Yorkshire-born Sam Wright and Harry Groom shared the wickets between them.ddddddddddddWinckworth is an interesting character and he can claim to be the first dual international. He appeared for Canada in the first three games against USA (there were two in 1845) and then, on moving to Detroit, he turned out for USA in 1846. After an hours break for a late lunch, USA batted, and although their innings extended into a second day, they conceded a first-innings lead of 18. What should have been the second day was in fact washed out and it was agreed that the match would resume on September 26. When Canada batted again Winckworth, who had taken four wickets with some quick bowling, again top-scored with 14 as Canada made 63.USA were set a target of 82, although they had an immediate problem in that their No. 3, George Wheatcroft, had not turned up. James Turner and John Syme gave them a good start, but from 25 for 0 they lost six wickets for 11 runs once George Sharpe came on. The tail wagged slightly but USA only managed 58, losing by 23 runs. Earlier in the year Turner had scored 120 in a club match, believed to be the first three-figure score on US soil.Some 20 minutes after the last wicket fell, Wheatcroft arrived. A heated but brief argument ensued as USA tried to insist he was entitled to bat, but the Canadians were having none of it.In 1845 the sides met again home and away - Canada winning by 61 runs in Montreal at the end of July and by two wickets in New York a month later - and then in Harlem, New York in August 1846. USA finally broke their duck at the fourth time of asking, but in highly controversial circumstances and the fixture was suspended for seven years.Cricket was by far the biggest sport [in the USA] in this period, Tim Lockley, an expert in American history at Warwick University, told the Guardian in 1999. Then the civil war started in 1861, just when it was reaching its peak of popularity. The sport became a victim of that war.The USA-Canada contest continued intermittently. They last met in 2004 in the ICC Intercontinental Cup in Florida, the only occasion that the two have faced off in a first-class match.Is there an incident from the past you would like to know more about? Email us with your comments and suggestions. ' ' '