Vinyl Robson still a hit for Middlesex

Middlesex 139 for 0 (Robson 67*, Gubbins 65*) trail Somerset 376 (Rogers 109, Hildreth 68, Trego 65, Murtagh 5-53) by 237 runsScorecard

No Middlesex supporter would have been surprised by Chris Rogers’ century on the opening day. In recent years runs for Rogers at Lord’s, whether wearing a Middlesex helmet or an Australia one, have been a constant. This time, though, his contribution came against Middlesex rather than for them.

When he partnered Sam Robson at the top of the order for Middlesex, the club had a claim to having the pre-eminent opening pair in the land. Yet even with Rogers departed, Middlesex’s top-order strength remains.

Robson is amiable off the field and unobtrusive on it. He has a small selection of shots – the extra cover drive, the cut, and the languid flick to leg of anything straight – which he hones relentlessly, always remembering that it is on stolid defence that all else is built. To see Robson at Lord’s is to be transported to an age in which there exists no one like Brendon McCullum, his soon-to-be team-mate. Not that the two are likely to be on the field together for Middlesex: it has been a full five years since Robson played the last of his four T20s innings.

In an age of T20 specialism, Robson is proving that there can be another way. You could call it last-mover advantage: while all else try to move to the T20 beat, Robson is left as the vinyl record in a digital age. Just as vinyls are thriving for their nostalgic quality, so the same is true of Robson’s batting. At one point in this innings, as Somerset suffered for drifting on to his pads too often, Robson had 40 from …

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