First Use:

In terms of glove-work James Foster is one of the best wicket-keepers England have, but his batting was thought to be his weakness, which put Matt Prior in possession of the top job. Prior has taken his chance and Foster accepts that, although many consider him unfortunate to be completely ignored for the one-day international series against Australia.

Foster is concentrating on his county and gave us an exclusive interview that will be featured in future issues of the magazine. But first there was the small matter of Middlesex's match against Essex, coming hot on the hells of Middlesex's first win last week. There were others desperately seeking form, especially the under fire Ravi Bopara. Essex won the toss.

Ignored:

By far the pick of Essex's attack in that period was Graham Napier. He featured in England's Twenty 20 World Cup campaign and is in the squad for the forthcoming Champion's Trophy, but his bowling either side of lunch suggested that he might be worth a look for the longer format too. “You'd probably say that one day cricket is his best chance of getting in the England squad,” said Foster, “but I thought he bowled beautifully. He bowled a good pace and swung it both ways, so I think it's one of his best performances of the season. I thought it was very encouraging.”

But what about Foster himself? He kept wicket for England in the recent Twenty20 World Cup and has played Test Matches too. Prior is more a batsman who can can keep wicket – a trend that succeeded with Alec Stewart, but wicket-keeping is the most important fielding position in the game. Mistakes can be costly. Kiran More once dropped Graham Gooch before he got going and Gooch went on to make 333 – his only triple-century in Test cricket.

Foster has never made a half-century in Test Matches, but he has a double century in First Class cricket. He is a genuine wicket-keeper, whose work behind the stumps is outstanding, but the current fad of putting batsmen behind the stumps, especially unnecessary on placid surfaces like the Oval, has cost him opportunities. There should be space for a specialist wicket-keeper, so does Foster have ambitions in that direction.

“To be honest I have no idea,” he said. “I'm not too worried about trying to play cricket for England; I just want to play well for Essex. What will be will be. At the moment you've got Matt Prior there doing exceptionally well, so if he goes through a lack of form or gets an injury, then ideally someone like myself would like to be knocking on the door, putting in good solid performances, but I know if I'm not doing that for Essex I've got a very small chance of playing for England.”

Blunder:

Many thought it an error for Mark Pettini to put Middlesex in to bat, but not Foster. The conditions favoured bowling in the first hour and one-day specialist, Graham Napier, exploited those conditions well removing Nick Compton, Owais Shah and Eoin Morgan cheaply. Pettini seemed vindicated, but during the afternoon the conditions changed and batting became far easier.

Nevertheless, Foster supported his captain's decision to field, even though many observers thought that it was a batting pitch that would help the bowlers later as atmospheric conditions changed.

“Yeah normally,” said Foster, “but this morning it was pretty cloudy. It was quite humid and the outfield had a lot of moisture. I would be surprised if they wouldn't have bowled first as well. It did swing a bit this [Tuesday] morning. At lunch they were sixty odd for two. Young [Sam] Robson played exceptionally well to get a hundred,” said Foster. “He pretty much batted through the day and then as the sun came out through the day it got easier to bat. I think we stuck at it pretty well, but I think probably we would have liked to have a few more down.”

Pakistani international leg-spinner Danish Kaneria disagreed with the decion to field first but made the most of it, clinching the important wicket of Dawid Malan for 73 – an innings that included eleven fours. His 143 run partnership with Robson was broken by Kaneria – a bowler that Foster credits for improving his wicket-keeping. “It's a challenge,” said Foster. “It's a lot of fun. It can be quite challenging, especially when he is bowling into footmarks. It can be quite tricky at times with a bit of rough. I think my keeping's improved standing up to the wicket and since he's arrived at the club, I stand up more often as he bowls a huge amount of overs.”

Kaneria bowled Essex into pole position in both innings, but he thought that Middlesex had the early advantage. “The wicket didn't do much,” said Kaneria. “It was a little like a batting wicket, but in the end we did pretty well to restrict them to 280 for 6 [on the opening day]. It was a little bit overcast conditions, because the wicket looked good if we had a chance of getting quick wickets, but things didn't go that way. We made a slight blunder of winning the toss and getting the opposition to bat.”

The Centurion:

The morning session belonged to Essex and at 64 for 3 Middlesex was in deep trouble. Bopara had taken a catch and his England colleague Alistair Cook dropped one. It was left to the young guns to steer Middlesex back into the match and end the day on top. Sam Robson had his eyes set on a century – his first in First Class cricket.

Robson was born in Australia, but could become eligible for England. He joined Middlesex last year and began this season in the second eleven with opportunities restricted as an opening batsman with the brief partnership of Phillip Hughes and Andrew Strauss at the start of the season. With their departure on Test duty Billy Godelman got his chance and Robson waited for an opportunity, which came as Godelman lost form. Robson seized his chance with a well-crafted century. “It is my first hundred in first team cricket here in only my second game here at Lord's,” said the twenty year-old. “Obviously it was very special and to get the team into a good position was pleasing.”

Robson hit eight fours making his century and another after reaching the land-mark. It was appreciated by players and the knowledgable but sparse crowd – it deserved to be seen by a bigger crowd. Robson was the sixth and final batsman to lose his wicket on a day that ultimately belonged to the home side. Robson left to a rapturous reception after falling leg-before-wicket to Anthony Palladino for 110. Meanwhile, Gareth Berg took on the role of senior batsman. Murali Kartik joined him at the crease and the pair negotiated the remaining overs without further mishap. Berg was closing in on his half-century at the close of play.

Kaneria summed up Essex's task. “The first thing we have to do is come out and get these four wickets remaining, so we are back in the game.”