He reached 100 from 139 balls with 12 fours, and looked even less likely to give way thereafter, surviving the departures of John Batty and Martin Bicknell to thwart Leicestershire's ambitions, almost single-handedly, raising his boundary count to 18 fours and a six as he passed 150 off 203 deliveries.. Middlesex v Worcestershire Middlesex v Worcestershire There was as much interest in the Middlesex batting order here yesterday as there was in the progress of one of their young hopefuls, the left-handed opener Andrew Strauss.But since Middlesex's batting, full stop, has had its problems, shifts of emphasis and shuffling around is only to be expected. And as preparation for his promotion up the England order, Mark Ramprakash has been opening the innings for Middlesex, but after the first four Tests ended in perceived failure his county decided to put him back where he belongs.Their captain Justin Langer had also had a major thrashing-out of the various glitches and hitches with his batters after they lost to Derbyshire at Lord's in the middle of last month. Since then, according to the Western Australian, the work-rate has increased exponentially and the results are beginning to trickle in.There was their first Championship victory over Essex last week and then the thrashing of Somerset in the NatWest Trophy on Thursday. So it was that their wicketkeeper David Nash became Strauss' fifth opening partner of the season, with Ramprakash appearing only at the fall of the second wicket, a position from which he demonstrated his ability.Langer, watching from the sidelines after his innings was brought to a premature close on the stroke of lunch, used the adjective awesome to describe Ramprakash's mastery as he strode down a track that is already showing signs of turning and dispatched Matthew Rawnsley to the boundary with superlative flowing off-drives. And there is no doubt that as a strokeplayer - arguably the most stylish in this country on his day - Ramprakash looks the part when batting at No 4.He had a marvellous partner in Strauss as well. The 23-year-old, who was born in South Africa but has spent his formative years in this country, looks absolutely tremendous.

He has confidence, timing and great shot selection - except for the top-edged sweep which wiped the chance of a second Championship hundred of his career and the season. His placement of the ball would do a precision engineer proud and at around 6ft he has leverage and power - witness the savage cut when he was on 85. Strauss may have a mere 37 first-class innings to his name but already he looks the part.He applied himself well and for four hours showed every intention of reaching three figures. As it was he had to be content with 90 - only the second time he passed 50 in the Championship, the first time being his maiden first-class hundred - in an innings which contained 10 boundaries, and, as proof of his fitness, an all-run four.. Durham v Yorkshire Durham v Yorkshire Yorkshire escaped a points deduction by the skin of their teeth after their Championship victory over Kent, so what was more natural than that another pitch inspector should turn up for this fixture, no less than a former Lancashire captain, David Hughes? He could have stayed at home.If groundsman Andy Fogarty's pitch for the fourth Test next month, a likely sell-out, is as flat as this one, then even a West Indies' innings could stretch into three sessions.David Byas, the Yorkshire captain, may well rue a few hf his decisions come the autumn, and to send in Durham in near perfect batting conditions will rank very highly. For the first time this season the members were able to take a nap without worrying about missing much.Up until tea Durham pretty well made hay.

Their best opening stand of the summer was followed by their second best third-wicket stand and, after Chris Silverwood's opening burst, they ambled along in unfamiliar sunshine without much hindrance. In his first two overs, Silverwood had two appeals for leg before and another for a catch behind rejected by the umpire Roy Palmer.Not until the 24th over did Yorkshire break through when Michael Gough, the former young England man, played on after an innings that contained two handsome drives off Matthew Hoggard, not the first bowler to look less impressive after playing for England. There followed a stand of 107 in 39 overs between a dogged Jon Lewis and Simon Katich, a partnership that was threatening to add more records until James Middlebrook intervened.His off-spinners had been treated with just respect but two catches, one at midwicket and the other at cover, brought Yorkshire back into the match; the first came from Katich's full-blooded pull off Silverwood, the second a slashing cut by Lewis off the sixth bowler, Michael Vaughan.The weekend weather forecast is rather grim and it may be that this is the round of fixtures that will bring an end to Yorkshire's leadership of the First Division.The batting has taken much of the blame for Yorkshire's now almost traditional mid-summer slump, four defeats in five matches, but the figures suggest the bowlers are as culpable. Their regiment of seam bowlers - and there are more of them than at any time in the club's history - should be lined up in Fred Trueman's garden and be made to listen to the great man on when, and when not, to bowl fast.

Darren Gough can be excepted: he has taught himself control.It is in one-day matches that this weakness of Yorkshire's is most apparent, when the priority is not to take wickets, it is to stop runs. They should be told to watch videos of the role models in this instance: Gloucestershire.. Louis Van Gaal was named as the new Dutch national coach yesterday, succeeding Frank Rijkaard who quit after his team were knocked out by Italy in the semi-finals of the European Championship. Louis Van Gaal was named as the new Dutch national coach yesterday, succeeding Frank Rijkaard who quit after his team were knocked out by Italy in the semi-finals of the European Championship. "You see before you a very happy person," the former Barcelona coach said after the Dutch Football Association announced it was giving him a six-year contract. "At first I wanted to take a sabbatical year, but I've always thought that if the opportunity came for me to become national coach I would grab it with both hands."The Amsterdam-born Van Gaal, 48, is regarded as more abrasive than Rijkaard and has been without a job since resigning from Barcelona at the end of last season He had made no secret of his desire to become Dutch coach. During the six years of his contract, the Dutch FA will assess Van Gaal's performance every two years, he said.In a low-profile playing career, Van Gaal had spells at Ajax (primarily in the reserves), Antwerp, Telstar, Sparta Rotterdam and AZ Alkmaar.