Chris Rogers digs in with double century to save match against Somerset and ease Middlesex's relegation worries

                 Somerset (523-9 dec) drew with Middlesex (223 & 328-4 dec)

In a cricketing world enthralled by strike rates and T20 sixes, the art of stubborn, endurance batting, accumulating hundreds to frustrate the opposition, has perhaps gone out of fashion.

But to the greats of that old genre – the Wall, the Barnacle, and of course, Sir Geoffrey – should be added the name of Chris Rogers, the immovable Australian nugget.

On a day made for him to rivet himself to the Taunton pitch, Rogers did not disappoint. An unbeaten 203 sucked the life out of a game Middlesex seemed destined to lose and almost single-handedly ensured the visitors held firm against the relegation jitters on this final day.

In seven-and-a-half hours, facing 386 balls, the 37-year-old nudged, glanced and drove the Somerset bowlers to submission – using his feet to dead bat the spinners with particular skill – in making his 11th double hundred. It was also the 70th century of his career; making him, with West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the most prolific century-maker still playing the game.

“It’s something I never expected when I was younger,” said the bespectacled Rogers, as understated off the pitch as he is on it. “I guess I’m not as fluent or talented as other players in many respects, so I’ve got to rely upon other things like decision making, intelligence, and the willingness to fight. I play my best innings when I’m up against it – and I was starting to feel the heat here.”

After Somerset had amassed 523 in the first innings, Middlesex capitulated to 67 for seven by the close of the second day.

“That was probably rock bottom,” Rogers said. “There was a lot of criticism flying around and as a captain you have to throw some of that criticism to the players. But to be able to do that you also have to stand up yourself. That is something I can be proud of.”

The draw puts Middlesex 19 points ahead of Lancashire, their final opponents, in the fight against relegation. They are now favourites to stay up, despite being open to the elements of a pitch tailored for a result at Old Trafford next week.

“We couldn’t afford a loss,” Rogers said. “If we hadn’t got anything out of this game, and then gone to Manchester next week, it would have been wide open. This has changed things a bit.”

For Somerset fans, watching their team toil in the field for more than 200 overs as Middlesex followed on, it was the kind of situation which made them thankful for the snooze-accommodating cinema seats in the Old Pavilion.

They will be sorely missed, and a crowd of 250 supporters stayed to mark the official demise of the building, constructed in 1881, which is being torn down as of next week to be replaced by a £3.8 million building.

There was a noticeable lack of ceremony, by comparison, to bid farewell at his last home game to Dave Nosworthy, Somerset’s director of cricket, who is departing 18 months into a three-year contract. Ashley Giles is understood to be leading a three-horse race to replace him against former Somerset captain Jamie Cox and Matthew Maynard.

Trott and Hain punish Northants

Jonathan Trott reached a new milestone in his rehabilitation as Warwickshire stepped up their challenge for LV= County Championship prize money on the second day against Division One stragglers Northamptonshire at Edgbaston.

A typically proficient innings took the England batsman to his first hundred on his home ground since he was forced to leave the Ashes tour last winter through a stress-related illness.

Sam Hain, Warwickshire's 19-year-old batting discovery, also completed a near-flawless fourth Championship century in his debut season and at the halfway stage in the contest the most likely outcome is an 11th defeat for Northamptonshire.

For the 11th match out of 14 this season they conceded at least one individual century as Warwickshire cruised past the visitors' total of 273 and opened up a lead of 140 on closing at 413 for 3.

With the fourth-wicket stand so far worth 271, Trott has collected 17 fours and a six in his 128 not out and Hain, who made his maiden century against Northants in June, accelerated in the final session to an unbeaten 148 having hit 20 fours and a six.

In a matter of weeks Trott has again become the run-hungry batsman who took county attacks apart until his move into the international arena curtailed his service to Warwickshire.

Having scored two one-day hundreds in a season for the first time since 2008, he has now hit two Championship centuries in a summer for the first time since making his Test debut against Australia five years ago.

In many ways the day was the story of Northants' unhappy season in the top-flight. Having been reasonably competitive in restricting Warwickshire to 76 for 2 in the morning session, they inevitably felt the pressure of being a bowler down.

A back problem kept David Willey off the field all day and in his absence the attack was gradually ripped apart by a team chasing a performance-related pot of cash.

The difference between third, their position now, and second, currently occupied by Nottinghamshire, is more than £100,000.

When Warwickshire resumed at 79 for 1, Varun Chopra got to 53 with his ninth four but this proved to be his last scoring shot before Neil Wagner got one to bounce and leave the home skipper for a routine catch by Adam Rossington.

William Porterfield, meanwhile, was almost becalmed, contributing only 17 in 21 overs before he was lbw for 46, a deserved success for offspinner James Middlebrook in a 20-over stint.

From that point, the closest Northants came to a wicket was when Trott, on 48, chanced a single to mid-on and received the benefit in a close call when Kyle Coetzer's throw hit the stumps.

In a sign of maturity, Hain was content to take 34 balls to get off the mark, but once under way he matched his partner - they are lookalikes in their style and mannerisms - in setting a new fourth-wicket record for this fixture.

Their hundreds came up in successive overs. Trott pinged his 13th four through midwicket from the 173rd ball he faced and Hain got there in two fewer deliveries when quietly pushing a single to mid-on.

CRICINFO