England's past, present and future collide as Lancashire resist Middlesex

NICK HOWSON AT LORD'S: If this is to be the English cricket's last great summer then it offered something for everyone on day one

Lord's (first day of four): Middlesex 236 for 9 v Lancashire

Scorecard

James Anderson has the new ball. The Pavilion End at Lord's sits behind him, containing a smattering of MCC members on tenterhooks. Ahead of the Lancastrian sits a green-topped deck. Above, clouds are sprayed across the sky.

With a number nine on his back, he sets off on his now regulated and shortened run-up, bounding to the crease. His first delivery could have been drawn directly from any of his 17 years at the top.

Angled in, well pitched, it leaves Sam Robson to start what would be a testing maiden over. 

Squint a little through the stunted St Johns Wood sunshine, allow yourself to overlook the freshness of a spring morning, and you could be forgiven for thinking you had arrived in mid-August, when the second Ashes Test will engulf the home of cricket.

County cricket may not be a format which everyone watches, but on this particular day it offered something that everyone could enjoy.

^{The first cricket at Lord's this summer provided something for everyone}

Anderson's opening nine-over spell offered encouragement that after a winter wrapped in cotton wool, ring rust has not yet set in. Whether it will be the last in which he starts an England played remains to be seen.

Such is the blank canvass that is the higher echelons of the England batting line-up, every contribution of importance is likely to be scrutinised and celebrated until Ireland come to this venue in July.

On this occasion, Nick Gubbins and Stevie Eskinazi's half-centuries and three-figure second-wicket stand thrust them into the conversation - both were given a second life off Graham Onions - to give onlookers more international context to proceedings.

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It was somewhat ironic that from a bowling line-up that included Anderson and Onions, that Tom Bailey emerged as the pick of the seamers; an underdog story to warm hearts and minds.

Middlesex allowed the dismissal of the aforementioned pair at the hands of Bailey to spark a dismal collapse, another English trait. Dawid Malan was unable to back-up his second innings century against Northamptonshire before Eoin Morgan's attempts to force his way back into the Test fold resumed with an awkward slash to gully.

The England one-day captain will hope his next outing at Lord's will prove more fruitful. Indeed, it may not even be in Middlesex white.

^{The reassuring sight of an Australian spinner taking a wicket in England}

Glenn Maxwell marked his debut with a wicket of his own, to give an inevitable Australian tinge to the start of a summer which will of course end with the Ashes, while Max Holden became Anderson's third victim of an afternoon which by this point had dramatically turned.

By the end of the day, Middlesex had lost 6 for 55, and Lancashire had their first points of a campaign where promotion isn't so much expected as it is demanded. But with Toby Roland-Jones and Steven Finn to call upon, those runs on the board could be key for the hosts. 

A masterclass from the most successful seam bowler around, a batting clinic, a wicket for a spinner, a substantial collapse and even a positive overate for the purists. County cricket is still the gift that keeps on giving. Don't give up on it, like so many seem to have.