Irishman helps defending champions lay strong foundation

Paul Stirling was delighted to score his first County Championship century for Middlesex on day one of their match with Yorkshire.

Promoted to bat at number four in the absence of the injured Adam Voges, with Nick Gubbins away on England Lions duty, Stirling hit 111 off 136 balls as the home side reached 337-4 at Lord’s.

Irishman Stirling shared 187 for the third wicket with Sam Robson, who starts day two on 152, and said: “It’s about time I did this and also about time I started to score more consistently.

“That said, I don’t want to take away my natural instinct to play attacking cricket. That’s the balance I have to find.

“Our skipper James Franklin has given me freedom to go in and play at the same sort of tempo as I would in one-day cricket and transfer that into the red-ball game. When the pitches are as flat as they have been at Lord’s it’s a little easier to do that and I’m glad it came off today.”

Defending champions Middlesex, without a win in their first five matches this season, will be looking to go on and build a big score on Tuesday and Yorkshire head coach Martyn Moxon said his side will need to bounce back strongly.

He said: “It was a tough day, what with the weather and a pitch that’s pretty benign.

“The lads stuck to their task really well, a few nicks fell short and some very close lbw decisions didn’t go out way. It was a frustrating day but I can’t fault the lads for their efforts.

“We started this game trying to win it and we will pick up by making sure we don’t lose it.

“It’s a big day, we’ll try and get early wickets and get Middlesex out for as few as possible.

“We’ll then need to bat well in reply and see where the game takes us after that.”