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123 Jul 23 '19
Middlesex 249 for 5 (Gubbins 82) trail Surrey 415 (Roy 110, Burns 88, Foakes 63*) by 166 runsScorecard At 4. Nathaniel Clyne Liverpool Jersey .36pm on June 11 on a sun-drenched Lords day, Nick Compton trudged back through the Long Room at Lords. Compton had hit a trio of boundaries but, he knew, his 19 was nothing like sufficient to maintain the tenuous hold on his international career.A few days after, Compton announced that he was taking a break from all cricket. The reaction was understandable. Few cricketers have devoted so much of themselves to getting a chance in Test cricket. Having been dropped for the first time, in 2013, Compton struggled for motivation at having his dream taken from him, on the brink of an Ashes series.Yet he reoriented himself to returning to county cricket, moved back to Middlesex and, several thousand hours of hard work later, was recalled to the England side. A fine 85 in Durban helped to set up Englands series triumph in South Africa, but Comptons Test returns deteriorated rapidly thereafter and, by the end of the series with Sri Lanka, to drop him from the side almost seemed an act of mercy.Compton earned himself a second act in Test cricket but, given his age and an often painstaking style at the crease, there will surely be no third act. So if he is to find fulfilment in the shires, it will not come through rekindling his England ambitions. It will have to come, instead, from taking pleasure in county cricket for its own sake: thinking not about what he has lost, but what he still has.And for all Comptons anguish about the curtailment of his international career, he has still returned to a position of remarkable privilege: batting at No. 3, on his home ground of Lords, for the county best-placed to win the County Championship. It is not such a bad lot.So at 12.37pm Compton entered Lords by the very steps he had walked up disconsolately 55 days ago. He emerged with Middlesex having lost an early wicket in reply to Surreys 415, and Tom Curran bowling a zesty new-ball spell. There are exactly the conditions in which Comptons defensive fortitude is so prized.If Compton felt any vulnerability, Surrey were determined to pry on it. He was greeted by a short leg and three slips and, perhaps, a chirp or two. It might not be Test cricket, but Division One of the County Championship is still a ruthless place.Comptons first ball was a good length delivery outside off stump which implored him to play. That he did, defending the ball to third slip. Two balls later Compton pushed a ball into the covers and ran a single that was sharp without quite being one of Kevin Pietersens famed Red Bull runs.When he returned from the lunch interval, it was Comptons ill-fortune to be stuck facing Tom Curran. A couple of times he played and missed, a couple of times Compton held his bat inside the line of the ball. When Curran dropped short, Compton rocked back and pulled him to the square leg boundary. But the illusion of release was deceptive: Stuart Meaker located extra pace, and Compton dragged the ball on. His off stump was left isolated and alone, and perhaps Compton felt the same as he walked back for 11 runs off 43 balls, the sort of innings that explained why he was here, rather than at Edgbaston, in the first place.Some at Lords believe that, in time, Nick Gubbins might go on to emulate Compton in playing for England. Unusually for an English opener, he seems particularly proficient against spin, and some sumptuous shots against Zafar Ansari demonstrated as much. One stood out: Gubbins took a step-down the wicket to meet the ball, flicked his wrists like he was playing a top-spin forehand, and stood to admire the ball clearing long-on for six.The shot also spoke of Middlesexs determination not to allow Ansari to settle into a rhythm. But within three overs Ansari had snared two wickets: Dawid Malan, caught at short leg, and then Gubbins, bowled round his leg sweeping. Both wickets were vindication for Ansari bowling with more pace at the start of his spell, and the adjustment spoke of his shrewd cricketing brain and nurturing by Gareth Batty.Batty himself bowled with typical guile, adjusting his pace subtly, gesticulating to his fielders to move an inch here or an inch there, and giving off the air of a man relishing the tussle. George Baileys hard hands created an acute sense of vulnerability. On 2, Bailey edged to short leg but a sharp chance was put down; three runs later, Bailey inside-edged Meaker for four.On a day in which 11 Australian wickets fell for 77 runs in a Test in Sri Lanka, Bailey could not restore the reputation of Australian batsmanship. Indeed, against spin he inspired scarcely more confidence than Australias motley crew in Galle. After a few isolated glimpses of his assertive best, Bailey succumbed lbw, sweeping, Battys exhortations to the umpire answered.Now, at 204 for 5, Surrey could sense a hefty first innings lead, but John Simpsons adhesive half-century was infused with the grit that has lifted Middlesex to the summit of the Championship table. Yet this Lords pitch is showing modest signs that it will deteriorate over the final two days, and Surreys spin twins will believe they can take the bulk of the 15 Middlesex wickets that remain in this match. For all Middlesexs resolve, spectacular fielding from Rory Burns, flicking the ball back from the ropes to save two from the days penultimate ball, was a testament to Surreys spirit. Caoimhin Kelleher Liverpool Jersey . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. Simon Mignolet Jersey . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. http:///...ld-Liverpool-Jersey/ . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long.BALTIMORE -- Mild-mannered Manny Machado felt he let his team down by losing his temper. Instead, the second-year third basemans first career ejection might have been the spark the Baltimore Orioles needed. Chris Davis drove in the tiebreaking run on a fielders choice grounder in a wild five-run fifth inning, and the Orioles rallied for a 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night. Baltimore used six hits and two errors to erase a 3-2 deficit in the fifth, salvaging a split in the four-game series. The inning also saw Machado get tossed by home plate umpire Will Little and Adam Jones called out on the go-ahead grounder for sliding wide of second base to break up a potential double play that wound up plating the decisive run. Machado wasnt around to see the completion of the rally, something he said he regrets. "I swung at a bad pitch (and) I thought I fouled it off," Machado said. "Obviously, I looked back on the replay, and I didnt. Something that I said wrong to the umpire, and I have to pay the consequences for it. Let my team down -- obviously, something that wont happen again." Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Machado would learn from his youthful transgression. "Ive seen 10-, 15-year veterans get frustrated with some calls," Showalter said. "Its all lessons learned. Hes 20 years old." Nick Markakis, Matt Wieters and J.J. Hardy also had RBIs during the comeback, which prevented the Indians from a fifth straight series victory for the first time since 2006. "When you play teams like that, when you make a mistake or two, they can make you pay for it," said Cleveland manager Terry Francona. "And thats what happened. Miguel Gonzalez (6-3) won for the fourth time in five decisions. He allowed three runs on nine hits over 6 2-3 innings, walking none and matching a career high with nine strikeouts. Lonnie Chisenhall and Mike Aviles homered for the Indians. Chisenhall had three hits. Ryan Flaherty drove in two runs for Baltimore. Chisenhall homered to right with two outs in the second, a 430-foot shot that landed on Eutaw Street and gave the Indians a 1-0 lead. Baltimore went ahead 2-1 on Flahertys two-run single in the bottom of the inning. Davis drew a leadoff walk, Wieters singled and Hardy moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt before Flahertys two-out single up the middle. The Indians tied it at 2 on Chisenhalls double in the fourth. Michael Brantley doubled to lead off the inning and Chisenhall sent a ball off the right-field wall to plate him. Aviles led off the fifth with a line-drive homer to left, his fifth of the season. Clevelands lead, however, was short-lived. "It happened so fast, same thing last night," said Chisenhall. "Its the way the AL East plays. Runs just show up on the board." The Orioles went ahead 7-3 with the five-run fifth, but lost Machado, who waas ejected by Little for arguing a third-strike call, ending a streak of 1,206 innings played, the longest active streak in the majors. Alberto Moreno Liverpool Jersey. "When I heard about it, the streak I had going, obviously its devastating," Machado said. "But I just caused that on myself. Thats something that ... that I just have to pay the consequences for, and I did." Singles by Flaherty and Nate McLouth put runners at the corners for Machado, who struck out swinging and was tossed when he argued that he foul-tipped the ball. Markakis followed with an RBI single to centre for a 3-3 tie and Jones broken-bat single to right loaded the bases. Davis then beat shortstop Aviles relay to first after Jones was called out for abandoning the baseline, allowing McLouth to score for a 4-3 lead. Aviles was charged with an error for coming off the bag early on a throw from second baseman Jason Kipnis that would have forced Jones. Wieters then cracked a run-scoring double into the right-field corner, with Davis scoring and Wieters reaching third when Drew Stubbs bobbled the ball. Hardys infield single, a tapper to the left of the mound, made it 7-3 and chased Corey Kluber. Kluber (6-5) yielded seven runs -- six earned -- in 4 2/3 innings, ending a steak of three straight wins. He allowed 11 hits, walked one and struck out four. "I think there were just some crucial situations there in that fifth inning where I didnt execute pitches, and theyre obviously a very good offensive team and they put good swings on them," Kluber said. NOTES: The game was delayed by rain for 78 minutes in the bottom of the seventh inning. ... With his first-inning single, Kipnis has reached base in 29 consecutive games. ... The Orioles re-signed RHP Freddy Garcia to a minor league deal and he will report to Triple-A Norfolk. Garcia was optioned to Norfolk on Monday, and because he is a veteran had the option of declining the assignment and becoming a free agent. ... Before the game, the Indians activated RHP Chris Perez (right shoulder soreness) from the 15-day disabled list and optioned LHP T.J. House to Triple-A Columbus. They also traded IF John McDonald, who was designated for assignment Wednesday, to the Phillies for cash or a player to be named. ... Francona said RHP Trevor Bauer will start the first game of Fridays doubleheader and RHP Carlos Carrasco would start the nightcap. Bauer will be recalled from Triple-A and Carrasco will be added as the teams 26th man. ... Brian Roberts (right hamstring) will return from the DL this weekend and become the Orioles starting second baseman, Showalter said. ... RHP Dylan Bundy, the Orioles prized pitching prospect, underwent Tommy John ligament replacement surgery Thursday. The procedure was performed by Dr. James Andrews in Gulf Breeze, Fla. ... Showalter said rookie LHP T.J. McFarland would start Fridays series opener against the Yankees. ' ' ' 
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