Day 2: No play due to rain.
Day 3: Loye hits high spot with his home runs
By Charles Randall at Northampton
Third day of four: Northants 366 v Middlesex
MAL LOYE is the local boy made good - locally, at any rate. A fluent 78 yesterday brought his championship aggregate here this season to 681 runs, an extraordinary achievement.
When he nicked a lovely outswinger from James Hewitt, his home batting average became 113.5, and the fact that, away from Wantage Road, he had scored only 83 runs in his two proper innings, added to the bizarre start to his summer.
Loye, 25, played to his peak form against Middlesex, scoring heavily with swivelling pulls off his hips and those clean cover drives that brought him national awards in 1993 and an England A tour to South Africa. That was before his reputation declined, owing mainly to injury.
As Middlesex's threat subsided on this placid pitch, Tony Penberthy reached a chanceless maiden championship hundred at 7.36pm - late in the day and late in his career, in its 10th season.
Northamptonshire hit trouble soon after the noon start - both openers having their off-stump flipped out by swinging yorkers from Tim Bloomfield - and the same suffering off-stump hit the turf again when Rob Bailey bungled a no-stroke.
Kevin Curran and Loye staged a scintillating recovery with full swings of the bat.
Day 4: Striking entries in Langer's diary
By Charles Randall at Northampton
JUSTIN Langer's regular diary column for the Australian Cricket Board on the Internet blends the insights of a stranger in town with his cricketing experiences at Middlesex.
For example, he had not been in London for long when he found himself sitting opposite Jonty Rhodes on the Underground, a coincidence that delighted him.
Middlesex's match at Northampton has provided some sharp material for his next entry. Yesterday's Langer events included an innings of 55 in 15 balls and a visit to Northampton General Hospital after being struck on the side of his batting helmet.
The previous day the Australian put his scuttling seamers on show for the first time in the championship, taking a wicket to raise his first-class tally to three thanks to Keith Brown's leg-side stumping.
Rain obliterated yesterday morning's session and it needed four overs of gift bowling by Northamptonshire, for 88 runs, to give some semblance of a contest to the rest of the day, Middlesex requiring 286 to win off a minimum 54 overs. This was a tall order, even though the pitch gave little hope to the bowlers once the shine had disappeared. Owais Shah played some flamboyant shots, more in hope than expectation.
Northamptonshire's runs donation was a new experience for Langer. His second innings lasted one ball less, for 52 fewer runs, and ended when the left-hander was struck on the left temple aiming a hesitant hook at Franklyn Rose.
Though he never lost consciousness, Langer was first 'out' and Richard Kettleborough followed him next over, leg-before playing no stroke to just about Devon Malcolm's first delivery near the target. Mike Gatting snicked an outswinger to wicketkeeper Russell Warren, replacing David Ripley who had strained his back while batting.