MIDDLESEX went into today's Frizzell County Championship Division Two game against local rivals Essex today sitting proudly at the head of the table.

Southgate will again play host to a game between two of the promotion favourites after Middlesex chased a tempting target against Gloucestershire to win by five wickets.

However, while their four-day form has been good, their one-day performances have left plenty of room for improvement, and the Crusaders served up a very poor show to lose their Norwich Union Division Two game against Gloucestershire Gladiators by 78 runs at the same venue on Sunday.

Mark Alleyne's declaration to give Middlesex their chance of victory in the championship game raised a few eyebrows but time lost to weather persuaded him it was worth the try.

Earlier, Gloucestershire had been on top, Kim Barnett scoring an undefeated 182 and carrying his bat through the innings of 388. Middlesex were struggling to avoid the follow-on at one stage at 232-8, despite the fine start given them by skipper Andrew Strauss (82) and Sven Koenig (59), who led off with 142.

However, a good stand of 65 for the ninth wicket between Simon Cook and Ian Jones took them to a last-day declaration at 301-9. Gloucestershire then rattled up 152-2 and set the home side 240 to win in what turned out to be 55 overs.

They got home with five wickets and three overs in hand thanks to another decent start and the promotion of all-rounder Aaron Laraman to number four in the order. Owais Shah (63) gave the innings impetus and Laraman stayed until the end, his winning boundary taking his personal score to 82 not out.

Crusaders are still bottom of the pile in the one-day league after losing to Gladiators, who top the section, and there did look to be a huge gap between the two sides on Sunday.

Crusaders allowed their visitors to recover from 9-2 to make an imposing 272-7 from their 45 overs. Alleyne made a sparkling 92 and Craig Spearman profited from one of many errors in the outcricket to make 78.

The most disappointing feature of the Middlesex display was the fielding. Overthrows, fumbles, missed catches and woeful throwing all featured - and this is primarily a young side.

In contrast, Gladiators caught everything and one effort from Ian Harvey to dismiss Shah bordered on the physically impossible as he flung himself backwards on the long leg boundary to clutch a powerful hook.

Paul Weekes made an undefeated 53, but it did no more than postpone the inevitable on a lovely summer's day. After the excitement of the Saturday, this was a poor effort to set before a large crowd.

The Essex game runs through to Sunday and then the same two teams go off to Chelmsford for a floodlit Norwich Union League game on Monday. The next four-dayer starts at Cheltenham against Gloucestershire, the College Ground one of the most popular and attractive on the circuit.

July 18, 2002 09:00