ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss was dismissed for a second-ball duck as Middlesex suffered a dismal start to their Division One match against Durham on another rain-affected day in the LV= County Championship The opening day at Lord’s was washed out and there were only 39.3 overs bowled on day two, but Durham wasted little time in making major in-roads into the Middlesex’s battling line-up after winning the toss, reducing their opponents to 28 for four.
Strauss, following a disappointing winter with the bat on international duty, was the first to go as he was bowled by England colleague Graham Onions in the opening over.
Joe Denly (one), Sam Robson (nought) and skipper Chris Rogers (nine) were also early casualties before Neil Dexter led a fightback.
Dexter, who this week temporarily stepped down as captain in a bid to find some form, scored an unbeaten 65 – including 13 fours – to help Middlesex close on 132 for five.
There was a superb captain’s innings from Chris Read for Nottinghamshire but Somerset still held the upper hand at Trent Bridge on another truncated day.
Read finished unbeaten on 104 after putting on 56 with last man Harry Gurney (six) to help his side total 162. Putting Read’s knock into context, Steven Mullaney was the only other home player to reach double figures with 10.
Peter Trego finished with figures of five for 53 for Somerset, who then reached 78 for one before stumps in reply with Arul Suppiah unbeaten on 50.
It was not all good news for Somerset, though, with captain Marcus Trescothick unable to take his spot at the top of the order after hobbling off holding his right ankle before going for a scan.
The bowlers were also on top in the Division One games at Liverpool and The Oval.
Reigning champions Lancashire, having been 125 for five overnight, were bowled out for 250 by Warwickshire, for whom Darren Maddy took four for 39.
The visitors then had their own struggles with the bat as they found themselves 68 for five at the close.
In London, Surrey limped their way to 123 for seven in the 35 overs possible on day two against Worcestershire. The in-form Alan Richardson was the tormentor in chief for the visitors with five for 42, while Richard Jones picked up the other two wickets.
In Division Two, Yorkshire’s Australian batsman Phil Jaques, who was just cleared to be registered as a non-overseas player, shone at Headingley with a superb century before witnessing a dramatic collapse from his side against Essex.
No play was possible on day one but Jacques was quickly in the runs and his ton helped put Yorkshire in a dominant position at 203 for three.
However, the home side lost their last seven wickets – including Jacques for 126 – for just 43 runs as they were dismissed for 246.
Essex batsmen were not able to build on that momentum though, as they slumped to 72 for five in reply, Steven Patterson taking three for 12 off his eight overs.
There were also wickets aplenty in Cardiff, where Hampshire were dismissed for 156 in reply to Glamorgan’s 103 for nine declared.
The Welsh county then reached 73 for three in their second innings.
Also in Division Two, Gloucestershire had Kent in trouble at Canterbury thanks to an impressive performance with bat and ball from Will Gidman.
Gidman (56), with the aid of Ed Young (55 not out), helped Gloucestershire recover from 73 for five to 255, and then the all-rounder took three wickets as Kent were reduced to 119 for six in reply.
In contrast to elsewhere around the grounds, it was the batsmen who had the better of it at Derby as Leicestershire, for whom Ramnaresh Sarwan and Josh Cobb both scored 105 each, made 318 for seven against leaders Derbyshire.  (PA Sport).