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Lancashire will be captained by Liam Livingstone when the 2018 season gets underway, after Steven Croft’s two-year tenure was brought to an end by the club.Livingstone, 24, is one of the most highly rated young batsmen in the country, and enjoyed a prolific season for Lancashire in 2017, averaging more than 50 in the County Championship with a match-winning double-hundred against Warwickshire at Old Trafford.In addition, he made his international debut in June, and though he did not take his initial opportunities with scores of 16 and 0 in two T20s against South Africa, he is widely regarded as one of the obvious contenders for a middle-order berth in all formats for England.After coming through the ranks at Lancashire, where he first played for the club aged 15, Livingstone stepped in as captain during the early part of the 2017 season when Croft was absent through injury.”Liam has been seen as a potential leader as he has developed through the Lancashire Cricket system,” Glen Chapple, Lancashire’s head coach, said. “He showed maturity in the role, without it affecting his form when he captained the side earlier in the season, and he commands the respect of the dressing room.””It is a huge honour to be named Lancashire captain,” said Livingstone. “I feel privileged, humbled, and most of all, hugely excited by this opportunity.”I thoroughly enjoyed captaining the side for a short period earlier this year and I can’t wait to lead the Red Rose out again. The vision for the club is incredibly exciting and we’ve got a very talented group of players in the changing room.”The news, however, came as less of a thrill to Croft, who himself stepped in as leader in 2015 when Tom Smith was injured, and led the club to both that year’s NatWest T20 title and promotion to the first division of the Championship.”Being Captain of one of the biggest cricket clubs in the world has been amazing,” said Croft. “It is something I wanted to continue to do, but I totally respect the decision that has been made.”Leading the Red Rose out onto the field for over 100 matches is something I have loved doing and will always cherish.”Next season I can fully concentrate on the playing side of my game which I’m really looking forward to. I wish Liam the very best of luck and I will always be here to support him and give my all for this great club.”Chapple paid tribute to his outgoing captain while unveiling his replacement. “In congratulating Liam on his appointment, I’d like to acknowledge Steven’s leadership as captain since 2015,” he said.”He has led the side with purpose and character over the last three years and will continue to play a key role as a senior player in the future.”

AB de Villiers is expected to play in a three-day match for the South African Invitation XI against the touring Zimbabweans next month, in a bid to make a Test comeback. South Africa take on their neighbours in the inaugural four-day day-night Test starting Boxing Day, and to prepare for the fixture, Zimbabwe will play a three-day practice match in Paarl from December 20 to 22 where de Villiers may play.”We’d like to get him back in whites as soon as possible and we have some plans in place. There’s the practice match which will be good for him,” Linda Zondi, South Africa’s convener of selectors told ESPNcricinfo.Zondi has kept an eye on de Villiers’ performances in the Ram Slam T20 matches – he has scored 130 runs with a half-century in three innings – and is satisfied that de Villiers has sufficient match fitness. “The manner in which he has played has shown that he is ready. It was never a case of him being rusty but just about getting him match fitness,” Zondi said.De Villiers has not played a Test since January last year because injuries kept him out of series against New Zealand and Australia in 2016 and a self-imposed sabbatical from the longest format has seen him sidelined throughout 2017. As a result, it was widely speculated de Villiers would retire from the format, something even former captain Graeme Smith confirmed he had heard, but in August de Villiers stepped down as ODI captain and committed to play across all formats. This week, he explained to reporters in Centurion that the long break had done him good.”I’ve had time at home to get fresh, time to work on my body, and time to work on skills I’ve not worked on in many years.,” de Villiers said. “I’ve sort of rediscovered that love of the game. I’ve not had an off-season where I’ve gone to nets to work on my skills and technique for ages. Last year, in the peak of the season, I was less ready for Test cricket than I am now.”Though de Villiers has played international cricket this year – he was part of the ODIs in New Zealand and the limited-overs matches in England – he has had most of the year, especially the winter, off. On comeback this summer, he struck 176 in an ODI against Bangladesh in Paarl and has since been back to his aggressive best. Since his last Test, de Villiers has only played one first-class game, for Titans, but still feels he is ready for a longer stint and the warm-up match will help.”It will be nice to go out there and spend some time on my legs. Form-wise I feel ready, but it’s important to stand in the field for a while and hopefully get a long knock,” he said.The only question that remains is how (not if – because coach Ottis Gibson made it clear de Villiers and Dale Steyn would play as soon as they were available) de Villiers will slot back into the Test XI. Not even Zondi has a proper answer yet. “For us as selectors, it’s about getting him into the squad and then it will be worked out from there. It’s a nice problem to have,” Zondi said.South Africa’s Test team composition has shifted from seven batsmen, three seamers and a spinner to six batsmen, two allrounders, two frontline quicks and a spinner in recent months which has complicated the case for de Villiers’ return. The six incumbents are Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock, and of those, only Bavuma did not score a century against Bangladesh. Bavuma also occupies the No. 4 position that used to belong to de Villiers, so it would seem he is the likeliest to go. But Bavuma had only recently been promoted to the position and dug South Africa out of several holes and is seen as someone to invest in for the future, leaving South Africa with a conundrum.A possible solution could present itself if du Plessis is not declared fit for the start of the Test summer. Du Plessis suffered a lower-back injury during the third ODI against Bangladesh in late October and was ruled out of action for six weeks, which puts his comeback sometime in December. He has since also had surgery on a troublesome shoulder and is not expected to participate in the Ram Slam at all. Though Zondi is hopeful du Plessis will be available to lead the Test team against Zimbabwe, some of South Africa’s de Villiers puzzle may be solved if he is not. And then it remains to be seen how South Africa will line-up for the three Tests against India in January.

Conditions in Nagpur will not assist seam-bowling to the extent they did in Kolkata, according to Dinesh Chandimal, the Sri Lanka captain. There is a fair amount of grass on the VCA Stadium pitch as well, in line with India’s desire to test themselves in pace-friendly conditions ahead of their tour of South Africa. Chandimal, however, felt there would be a more even contest between bat and ball here.”We saw so much grass at Eden Gardens,” he said. “This is much less. This looks a good Test pitch. It’s a challenge for us as a team. We are looking forward to the game.”He went on to explain what he meant by a “good Test pitch”: “The first few days will be good for batters. Then it might turn. That’s the kind of wicket I think that is.”Sri Lanka were the dominant side for most of the first Test – until the last innings in which they slipped to 75 for 7 before bad light saved them – and Chandimal felt it was the result of their changed attitude since a 0-3 home series defeat to India in July-August. Sri Lanka, he said, are now looking to win Test matches and series, and are prepared to play a fifth bowler or allrounder to be able to do this.”We learned a lot from the last Indian series in Sri Lanka,” he said. “The most important thing is we came here to win the series. Our attitude has changed. As I said every time our fielding also has made a huge difference – there’s a lot of energy.”We have looked at a six-five combination or six-four – plus [an] all-rounder. That’s the combination we are looking at. Most importantly we have come here with a mindset to win a Test match.”Despite all the help for the quicks in Kolkata, Lahiru Gamage did not enjoy a hugely productive Test, only picking up three wickets in 40.3 overs. Chandimal, however, backed Gamage to come good through the rest of the series.”Calcutta was his second game [in Test cricket],” he said. “His first game was in Dubai and he did well against Pakistan. You can have a bad day and you can have a bad game. He is a really good player. He has a lot of experience, having played quite a bit of domestic cricket. I am sure he will be a good asset, especially when bowling on a wicket like this. We will make a call on the side tomorrow morning.”

Allrounder Washington Sundar’s maiden first-class hundred – 156* off 223 balls – underpinned Tamil Nadu‘s dominance against Tripura in Chennai. Opening the batting in the absence of M Vijay – who is suffering from a neck spasm – Sundar struck 14 fours and a six to give his team a 74-run first-innings lead at stumps on the second day.He first added 162 for the opening stand with his captain Abhinav Mukund before combining with B Indrajith for an unbroken 152-run stand for the third wicket. Abhinav made 76 off 130 balls – his second successive first-class fifty – while Indrajith stayed unbeaten on 73 off 121 balls. Tripura used seven bowlers with only Joydeep Bhattacharjee and Gurinder Singh finding success. The hosts, ultimately, closed the day at 332 for 2, scoring at over four runs per over.Earlier, seamer K Vignesh’s 4 for 41 helped Tamil Nadu dismiss Tripura for 258 from an overnight 244 for 7. The visitors had lost their last seven wickets for just 55 runs. R Ashwin finished with figures of 25.1-6-64-2.Wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha completed his 21st first-class hundred – 180 off 410 balls – to propel Madhya Pradesh to 409 against a depleted Mumbai side in Indore. In reply, Mumbai ended the day at 130 for 1 with opener Jay Bista punching 89 of those in only 96 balls.Resuming from an overnight 250 for 5, MP lost Ankit Sharma early on the second day, but Ankit Kushwah and Mihir Hirwani made 34 and 31 respectively to assist Ojha and help take the total past 400. Debutant Akash Parkar was the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai, finishing with 4 for 70.Kushwah then struck with the ball to have Akhil Herwadkar caught behind for 17, but Bista’s counterattack and Siddhesh Lad’s stickability helped Mumbai trim the deficit to 279.A 139-run partnership for the eighth wicket between Swapnil Singh and Atit Sheth lifted Baroda from 203 for 7 to an eventual score of 373 against Andhra in Vadodara. Andhra’s batting line-up, which had given Tamil Nadu a scare in the first round, mounted a strong reply with captain Hanuma Vihari and Ricky Bhui scoring unbeaten half-centuries. The two batsmen helped Andhra end the day at 190 for 2.Sheth followed his 70 not out with the wicket of opener Prasanth Kumar. Left-arm spinner Swapnil, who was the top-scorer for Baroda with 88, went wicketless in five overs.

Australia’s states have all named their 14-man squads for the the JLT Cup, domestic one-day tournament, which begins in Brisbane next week. The Cricket Australia XI, to be made up of players who failed to win selection in their respective state squads, is yet to be named, but that youth side is scheduled to open the tournament in a match against South Australia next Wednesday.The Redbacks will be captained by Callum Ferguson in the absence of Travis Head, who is part of Australia’s one-day squad in the ongoing series against India. They may also be without swing bowler Chadd Sayers, who hurt a finger in the weekend while playing, and could be replaced in the squad by fast bowler Spencer Johnson.New South Wales will be captained by Moises Henriques in their first game against Western Australia in Perth next Friday, before he flies to India to join Australia’s Twenty20 squad. There is a possibility of Mitchell Starc returning late in the tournament as he recovers from a foot injury, while uncapped fast bowler Mickey Edwards, who fielded for Australia in last summer’s Sydney Test, could make his debut.Victoria will be led by Cameron White, with their new captain Peter Handscomb travelling with the national side in India as part of the one-day team. Fast bowler Wes Agar, has been picked in the squad, having spent the past two seasons with South Australia before returning home to Victoria this year. Like Starc, James Pattinson may enter the tournament in its later stages as he continues to recover from a back problem.Western Australia will be led by their new captain Mitchell Marsh, with spin-bowling allrounder Ashton Turner as his deputy. George Bailey will captain Tasmania, who have overlooked wicketkeeper Tim Paine, and will also be without Matthew Wade, who has returned home to Tasmania this season but is with Australia in India.Queensland have selected fast bowler Brendan Doggett, who could become the first indigenous male player to represent the state since fast bowler Michael Mainhardt did so 30 years ago. The tournament will be played in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney and Hobart, with the elimination final and final both to be held at Bellerive Oval.New South Wales squad: Sean Abbott, Doug Bollinger, Harry Conway, Ed Cowan, Mickey Edwards, Ryan Gibson, Daniel Hughes, Jay Lenton, Nathan Lyon, Nic Maddinson, Arjun Nair, Peter Nevill, Kurtis Patterson, Gurinder Sandhu.Queensland squad: Usman Khawaja (capt), Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Brendan Doggett, Jason Floros, Cameron Gannon, Sam Heazlett, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, James Peirson, Matt Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Swepson, Jack Wildermuth.South Australia squad: Callum Ferguson (capt), Tom Andrews, Alex Carey, Tom Cooper, Michael Cormack, Jake Lehmann, Joe Mennie, Alex Ross, Chadd Sayers (Spencer Johnson), Kelvin Smith, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Nick Winter, Daniel Worrall.Tasmania squad: George Bailey (capt), Jackson Bird, Cameron Boyce, Alex Doolan, Jake Doran, Ben Dunk, Andrew Fekete, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Simon Milenko, Sam Rainbird, Tom Rogers, Jordan Silk, Charlie Wakim.Victoria squad: Cameron White (capt), Wes Agar, Scott Boland, Travis Dean, Seb Gotch, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, John Hastings, Jon Holland, Will Pucovski, Matt Short, Peter Siddle, Blake Thomson, Chris Tremain.Western Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (capt), Ashton Turner, Cameron Bancroft, Will Bosisto, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Michael Klinger, Simon Mackin, Shaun Marsh, David Moody, Jhye Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Andrew Tye, Jonathan Wells.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive David White’s hints that the domestic first-class tournament, the Plunket Shield, may be trimmed has been criticised by Players’ Association CEO Heath Mills. Mills said that such statements on how “competitions are going to be cut” raised questions as the board and the players’ association prepare to meet to negotiate pay over the coming months.”We’re still hopeful that’s it [the negotiations] is a positive, constructive process. But when players hear the competitions are going to be cut, it raises the antenna as to how the negotiations are going to go,” Mills told . “The players believe very strongly in the domestic competitions and their value to New Zealand Cricket.”White had said last week that the domestic structure for 2018-19 was up for review – no changes will be made in 2017-18. He said the Plunket Shield specifically would need to be reviewed – perhaps cut from ten rounds to five – given the ICC’s push to make Test cricket more meaningful and profitable.”If we’ve got in a four-year period of two World T20s and a 50-over World Cup and two Test-match competitions, what is the right mix of cricket domestically to ensure we’re competitive at international level? That is something we’re absolutely looking at right now,” White said, adding more A-team cricket might be the way to go.”Maybe [reducing the length of the Plunket Shield]. Also more A cricket… Is there some more cricket that can bridge the gap from first-class to international cricket a little bit more? They’re all the kinds of things we’re discussing.”With the pay talks looming, Mills said cutting domestic long-format cricket could not be the answer to financial questions, if any, especially as the board’s “revenue has increased significantly” over the past few years, and the first-class system is the backbone of international cricket.”My view is we ought not to be cutting cricket programmes for the sake of it, and we need to ask ourselves why they’re being cut, when we know that New Zealand Cricket’s revenue has increased significantly over the last four-five years,” Mills said. “We don’t mind having a conversation about the structure of domestic cricket but it is absolutely the heartbeat of our high-performance programme, the bedrock of cricket in New Zealand. We think it is very important and we would like to ask questions about where the spending priority is? Domestic competitions are costing no more than they did five years ago.”

Cameon Delport shows aggressive frame of mind•Getty Images

A century from Cameron Delport led Leicestershire Foxes to victory over their near-neighbours and a place in the quarter finals of the NatWest T20 Blast competition.Delport made an unbeaten 109 as the Foxes inflicted a narrow two-run victory over Notts Outlaws at Trent Bridge.The opener scored his runs from just 59 balls, hitting nine fours and six sixes as the Foxes scored 203 for five, after being asked to bat first.Notts, who had already secured top spot in the North Group and a home match in the knock-out phase, lost both Alex Hales and Riki Wessels inside the first five overs of their chase but were powered back into contention by a scintillating blitz from Dan Christian, who made 73 from 32 balls, with five fours and five sixes.His departure left the Outlaws needing eight from the final over but Matt Pillans held his nerve and finished with the plaudits and figures of three for 24 as the home side closed on 203 for eight, taking the Foxes into the quarter finals for the first time since 2011.With runs on the board Leicestershire struck two significant blows as Hales fell to Aadil Ali for 17, having hit the spinner for four consecutive fours previously. Wessels hit Clint McKay to cover and when Tom Moores fell to Pillans, the hosts slipped to 44 for three.Samit Patel, playing his 150th T20 match for the Outlaws was reprieved on 13 when given run out; keeper Luke Ronchi admitted to not having removed the bails cleanly as he gathered a return from the deep. Delport picked up the wicket of Brendan Taylor and when Patel fell for 39, half the side had fallen for 100.Christian swung the bat, to good effect, and put his side in with a real chance when he took 20 off the 17th over but it was Delport who ended his fun, taking a juggling catch on the midwicket boundary.Earlier, Notts restricted the visitors to just 48 for one in the opening powerplay, with Ronchi falling cheaply to a fine boundary catch by Hales off Harry Gurney.Ish Sodhi ended a second wicket stand of 60 by bamboozling Mark Cosgrove into miscuing to short third man for 37. The New Zealand leg spinner then persuaded Colin Ackermann to chip a simple return catch straight back to him.Delport reached his 50 in the thirteenth over, getting to the landmark from 36 balls and he celebrated by hitting Sodhi for two sixes and a four in the next over.His hundred, the second of his T20 career came from 59 deliveries and the left-hander went past the 103 he scored for Dolphins against Knights in 2013.Ned Eckersley helped the 28-year old South African add 99 for the fourth wicket and the pair remained together until the penultimate over when Jake Ball speared one through Eckersley’s defences and into the off stump.Tom Wells trod on his own stumps as he looked to work Gurney to leg, leaving Delport to walk off to the applause from the appreciative Foxes’ following.Almost 11,000 saw the contest and the Trent Bridge administrators can look forward to another huge gate when the Outlaws host their seventh quarter final in eight seasons, next week.Leicestershire Foxes, three times T20 winners, must travel to face the winners of the South Group.

South Africa’s Global T20 league is the best way to keep players from leaving the country in search of opportunity elsewhere, according to Test and T20 captain Faf du Plessis. A former Kolpak player himself, du Plessis returned to South Africa in 2010-11 after two years at Lancashire and has since become a regular across all formats and in T20 leagues around the world. He hopes the new tournament will afford other players similar opportunity.”I spoke about it when the Kolpak thing started happening in South Africa – it was probably important that South Africa looked at different ways to try and keep players in the country. I think this is a huge step towards that,” du Plessis said at league’s formal launch in London. “Players don’t have to look outside anymore, from an opportunity point of view and from a financial point of view – they don’t need to go overseas and look for other stuff. This is going to be really important to keeping most of the players in the country.”Last season, several recently capped internationals including Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw, Dane Vilas, David Wiese, Simon Harmer, Hardus Viljoen and Stiaan van Zyl signed Kolpak deals, prompting fears of a player exodus. All of them cited financial security as a primary reason for their move, but there were also undertones that the strict transformation targets may have influenced their decision. The new Global League is expected to solve both issues.It is largely foreign-owned – with six of the eight franchises bought by non-South Africans – with players set to be paid in US dollars. CSA have confirmed there will be no targets besides the local-foreign quota imposed on teams, which should provide an incentive for players to stay. But for du Plessis, it’s not just the top tier who will benefit. He explained that South Africa’s domestic players could be the biggest beneficiaries of the new tournament, because it will provide them with exposure to a larger audience and open doors at other competitions.”I feel the domestic have been under-looked at sometimes,” he said. “You always just get your international players getting good opportunities everywhere around the world, but this will be a great opportunity for the domestic players to put their names out there to the world and somehow try and get into the IPLs and those kinds of tournaments. If you look at the Australian system, there is a lot more players that get picked up from there into the IPLs and that is because of the TV exposure from the Big Bash. This will be exactly the same.”AB de Villiers will represent the Pretoria franchise•BCCI

But the biggest attraction of the new South African league will remain the big South African names. For the first time in South African cricket history, the internationals will be available for an entire domestic T20 tournament. Du Plessis believes that will make be crucial for the profile of this tournament. “We’ve always come back from long tours and there was a lot of important cricket coming up so we haven’t always been around to play as much domestic cricket as was needed,” he said. ” For the whole South African team to be available to play in this tournament is the most important thing.”Eight marquee South African players have each been assigned, one to each team, nearest to where they are based. Du Plessis will play for the Stellenbosch/Paarl side following his recent move to Cape Town. Hashim Amla, who has moved domestic franchises from Durban to Cape Town will return to Kingsmead. JP Duminy will play in Cape Town, where he is from, Kagiso Rabada in Johannesburg, AB de Villiers in Pretoria and Quinton de Kock in Benoni, though he lives in Pretoria. David Miller has committed to his new home in Bloemfontein and Imran Tahir, who has played at three different South African franchises, will make his debut for the Warriors in Port Elizabeth.In addition to those players, eight internationals – Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Jason Roy, Lasith Malinga and Brendon McCullum – have been confirmed to play, though they’re yet to be allocated to teams. Du Plessis was confident South Africans fans will have their interest piqued by these well-known T20 journeymen.”You are starting to see different T20 leagues taking up different gaps during the year and current international players can’t participate in all of them – it’s just not possible. What that does is bring in your ex-players, as Brendon talked about, your ‘mercenaries’. South Africa is no different to any other place. The fans would love to see Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and all those players,” he said, adding that the foreign ownership will also increase awareness around the event. “It will create much more emphasis on cricket in South Africa especially for domestic players.”

ScorecardRob Newton brought more gloom for Derbyshire•Getty Images

Rob Newton made his first century of the season in the Specsavers County Championship as Northamptonshire took control against Derbyshire at Wantage Road, reaching 247 for 4 and a lead of 289 by the close of day two.Newton, who was awarded his county cap before the game, followed up a first-innings 67 with a century in 189 balls, his 12th in first-class cricket, reaching three figures by flicking Jeevan Mendis past midwicket for his tenth boundary.The second fifty was quite hard work on a fairly slow wicket against the older ball, taking 123 balls and scoring just two further fours, as the boundaries that flowed before and just after lunch dried up and Northants ground Derbyshire down with steady accumulation.Northants are not accustomed to playing in such a manner – Newton’s century was just the second they have made in the Championship this season and the century stand he shared with Alex Wakely was just the fifth of the year.Wakely was also forced to play carefully and struck just a six – heaving a Mendis full toss over midwicket – and one four in his half-century from 100 balls. He fell for 79 in the final over of the old ball, driving at Tony Palladino and getting an edge to wicketkeeper Daryn Smit who took a good low catch. And when Conor McKerr sent a full ball into the stumps of Rob Keogh Derbyshire opened a route back into the game.But until those late wickets, their hopes of a first four-day victory for two years were fading with just one wicket in the first 65 overs of the Northants second innings – that of Max Holden – pinned lbw by a McKerr yorker for 31.Their attack was very ill-disciplined in the morning session where Northants raced past 50 in just the 11th over. The regained a little control of the run-rate after lunch with Alex Hughes bowling wicket-to-wicket and a good second spell from Tom Taylor.Coming in from the Wantage Road end, Taylor provided some hope in his seven overs where he found a little movement to beat the bat several times. But it was the only period of concerted pressure Newton and Wakely faced as they grew the lead.Their second effort with the bat ensured a great day for Northamptonshire after Ben Sanderson completed his first five-wicket haul of the season in the morning session to bowl Derbyshire out for 176 and handing Northants a handy first-innings lead of 42.Sanderson struck in the eighth over of the morning to end a seventh-wicket stand of 59 that had frustrated Northants on the first evening. But Taylor, who survived 48 balls to the close of day one, added only three runs before shouldering arms and losing his off stump.And Sanderson’s five-for came when Tony Palladino tried to pull and got a thin edge to wicketkeeper Ben Duckett.Hughes, who was dropped in the gully to the second ball of the morning, was left to try and farm the bowling from No. 11 Conor McKerr but calling him back for a second run that was most certainly available, McKerr simply didn’t respond and was run-out without facing a ball. It left Hughes stranded on 62.

ScorecardBen Foakes continued his run-making streak•Getty Images

An unbroken fourth wicket stand of 117 in 19 overs between Rory Burns and Ben Foakes took Surrey to victory by seven wickets in their Royal London One-Day Cup match against Middlesex at the Oval. Middlesex, with just one victory in four matches, are now facing an uphill struggle to progress.Surrey were chasing a slightly under-par Middlesex total of 243 for 9. Middlesex made the urgent breakthrough they needed when Toby Roland-Jones bowled Mark Stoneman for ten in the fifth over.But Surrey responded well, as Scott Borthwick flicked Tom Helm over square-leg for six. And Kumar Sangakkara got into his stride when he hit Helm for successive fours, on-driving and then lofting over mid-on.This pair put Surrey firmly in control with a second wicket partnership of 91. But Borthwick then chipped Dawid Malan to long-off and Sangakkara, who had been untroubled throughout his innings, suddenly drove Malan straight to cover for a 68-ball 59 to leave the game in the balance at 127 for 3. But then Burns and Foakes took charge.When Middlesex batted they only looked capable of a formidable total when first Nick Gubbins and then John Simpson were at the wicket, but neither player survived to play the much-needed major innings.They were already depleted without their England and Ireland representatives, and then they decided to play Nick Compton ahead of the impressively in form Stevie Eskinazi.Tom Curran broke through for Surrey with the last ball of the ninth over when Malan pulled to Stoneman at deep square-leg for just 14.That brought Compton to the wicket but the former England batsman’s innings lasted just five deliveries. He was caught behind nibbling outside his off stump, and that meant Middlesex were 42 for 2 after ten overs.Gubbins kept swashbuckling away at one end but at the other Adam Voges soon perished when he was caught down the leg-side for nine. Gubbins, it seemed, would need to make a century, and he looked well capable of it until he swiped Ravi Rampaul to Stuart Meaker for an 86-ball 65.Simpson then took responsibility for the Middlesex innings. He was almost caught at long leg when he had made 51 but the missed half-chance didn’t cost Surrey too dearly because he was lbw to Gareth Batty for 75, attempting to shovel the ball to leg. Batty’s ten overs cost just 38 runs, while Rampaul took 4 for 40After Gubbins and Simpson the highest Middlesex scorer was James Franklin, with 35, and they needed ten wides from the Surrey bowlers to get as many as they did.