set aside for JT Rawlin’s benefit. They repeated this success at Hove but only after a desperate struggle. Needing 184, John Douglas and Frank Tarrant led off with 54 in 40 minutes but by the close of Tuesday’s play, seven wickets were down for 157. Warner was still there, however, and on the final day his undefeated 71 got his side home without further loss. Warner was back with a century at Lord’s in 1912, Middlesex winning by an innings, and the Hove return was ruined by rain, no play being possible on the second day. Middlesex’s visit to Hove in 1920 came at the end of a spell of wet weather which left the skies overcast and the pitch soft and puddingy. Apart from the obvious holiday attraction, the match appeared to have little significance. Yorkshire, Surrey, Kent and Lancashire had set the pace in the Championship, Middlesex and Sussex enjoying respectable seasons without having anything other than an outside chance of mounting a bid for the title. Surrey headed the table in the week prior to August Bank Holiday but suffered a devastating defeat by Kent at Blackheath and were surprisingly beaten by Nottinghamshire in the holiday fixture. Middlesex were sixth in the table going into the Hove match, having lost narrowly at Leyton and nobody in the side held any serious hopes of winning the competition. Warner lost the toss and Herbert Wilson, a popular and successful captain between 1919 and 1921, decided to bat, mainly on the basis that there might be runs to be had on an unresponsive pitch. At first Vallance Jupp and the experienced Joe Vine encountered few difficulties but things changed when the sun broke through. Stevens fully exploited what became a vicious, drying turf, taking seven for 17 in 47 balls. By mid-afternoon Sussex were all out for 92 and although Arthur Gilligan bowled Warner for a duck, Lee and Hearne dug in. The Sussex attack looks strong on paper but Gilligan and Maurice Tate were not what they would become four years hence and Albert Relf and George Cox were well into the veteran stage. Lee and Hearne added 144 in two hours and on the Monday Lee carried his score to 132, Hendren made 88, Mann hit three consecutive sixes off Tate and Warner was able to declare at 369 for nine, a lead of 277 with a day and a half to spare. Only the half was needed as Sussex were all out in two hours, Durston taking three relatively expensive wickets with Stevens cleaning up to the extent of six for 43 in 13 overs: match figures of 20.5- 5- 60-13. Modestly he was to say 50 years later that even if he hadn’t bowled a single ball, Middlesex would still have won. As it was, their victory by an innings and 123 runs was the launch pad for nine consecutive victories. They scraped home against Kent in the second match of Canterbury Week, the closing run culminating in a memorable win over Surrey at Lord’s which brought them the Championship. Middlesex were champions again under Frank Mann in 1921, attendances of 10,701 on the Saturday and 18,275 on Whit Monday seeing them gain a comfortable victory over Sussex. Lee and Hendren each made hundreds in adding 210 for the third wicket in two hours during the second innings. These were heady days for the county and it was reflected in crowds such as 21,057 on Whit Monday 1922. They enjoyed a run of seven consecutive victories over Sussex but, as Tate and Gilligan approached their best seasons, the gap narrowed. The margin was only three wickets at Lord’s in 1923, Hearne standing firm against some fine bowling from the Sussex pair, and the home side won emphatically at Hove in August. Middlesex made another strong bid for the title in 1924. Tate and Gilligan bowled them to defeat at Lord’s (41 all out in the second innings, Gilligan eight for 25) but they won at Hove and seemed certain to Lord’s and the Seaside 64