Roland-Jones Shines at Lord’s Finale
Toby Roland-Jones produced a stellar bowling display as Middlesex wrapped up their Rothesay County Championship campaign with an emphatic innings and 67-run victory over Gloucestershire at Lord’s.
The experienced seamer, aged 37, claimed 4 for 57 to dismiss Gloucestershire for 281 in their second innings, finishing the season as Division Two’s second-highest wicket-taker, just behind Derbyshire’s Luis Reece.
Former Gloucestershire pair Zafar Gohar and Ryan Higgins provided strong support, sharing five wickets between them as Middlesex sealed the win with 22 overs to spare.
“𝑹𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅-𝑱𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒙’𝒔 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌,” 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏.
The result confirmed Middlesex’s fourth-place finish in Division Two, narrowly missing out on promotion, while Gloucestershire ended in sixth.
Gloucestershire’s Resistance Broken
Starting the final day with nine wickets intact, Gloucestershire appeared steady in the early session. Ollie Price, who struck 61, played confidently alongside Joe Phillips. Price reached his half-century off 91 balls, dispatching Roland-Jones for early boundaries.
Teenage seamer Sebastian Morgan provided the breakthrough, removing Phillips with a sharp delivery to gully. Despite a few close calls, Price and Miles Hammond guided Gloucestershire to lunch without further damage.
But momentum shifted immediately after the break. Price fell first ball to a Roland-Jones delivery that stayed low and rattled his off stump. Soon after, James Bracey edged Higgins behind without scoring, leaving Gloucestershire wobbling.
“𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕,” 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝑴𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒙 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓, 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔’ 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆.
Hammond added quick runs but eventually fell to Higgins. Graeme van Buuren briefly counterattacked with a brisk 46, but Gohar struck to remove him before the Taylor brothers offered late resistance.
The new ball turned the game decisively as Roland-Jones dismissed both Taylor brothers in quick succession. Gohar then trapped Ajeet Singh Dale, before Marchant de Lange’s brief cameo of 14 runs ended with another Gohar breakthrough, sealing the win for Middlesex.
