Nottinghamshire reached 132-1 when the wet weather curtailed play during the opening afternoon of the LV= County Championship match against Middlesex at Trent Bridge.
Alex Hales was unbeaten on 71 and Michael Lumb was on 51 when the rain set in, with the pair having begun their partnership in just the second over of the day.
During the luncheon interval Andre Adams was presented with his award for being the FTI MVP of April and he was understandably proud of his start to the season.
“It’s nice to be back here at Trent Bridge," he said.
“Alex Hales is a fantastically talented young batsman and Michael Lumb is a proven player who enjoys digging in." Andre Adams
"Some warmer temperatures would be nice but I love it here and I thank Mick Newell for giving me the opportunity to play my cricket at Trent Bridge. We’ve made a decent start, I think. Three wins out of five matches.”
At 36 years of age Andre is showing no sign of losing his powers and laughed at the suggestion he’s maturing like a fine wine.
“You have two choices – you either get better with age or you get corked!
“It’s been good today for our batsmen who have put some runs on the board,” he added.
“Alex Hales is a fantastically talented young batsman and Michael Lumb is a proven player who enjoys digging in. He is really enjoying his time here and we’re glad to have got him.”
The home side showed three changes from the eleven that had played in the last championship fixture, at Manchester.
With Samit Patel and James Taylor away on England Lions duty, there was a recall for Riki Wessels, happily recovered from his broken finger, plus a return for Steven Mullaney. Ben Phillips, with a stiff back, was a late omission with Harry Gurney taking his place.
The Middlesex side included the England Test duo of Andrew Strauss and Steven Finn and it was the latter that got the match off to a sensational start for his side.
After Alex Hales had played a maiden against the bowling of Tim Murtagh, Finn’s first delivery found the inside edge of Edwards’ (0) bat and trickled back to dislodge a bail.
Finn then had a huge lbw shout against Michael Lumb turned down but he and Hales managed to negotiate the next hour of play bringing the fifty stand up in the 15th over.
Neil Dexter’s arrival into the attack brought a flurry of runs, seventeen coming from his first two overs as Hales found the ropes on four occasions, twice through the covers and twice down to third man.
For only the second time this season Hales reached fifty (96 mins 70 balls 9x4), bringing up the milestone with a gentle push and run from the bowling of Gareth Berg.
Just before lunch Hales opened the face of his bat to guide the returning Finn down to the third man ropes once more, to take the total beyond 100 and seal his highest individual score of the season so far.
The interval was reached with the two batsmen still enjoying each other’s company on 109-1.
Finn and Murtagh each bowled tidy wicket-to-wicket lines after the break, offering precious few opportunities to score until Lumb broke the shackles driving each bowler down the ground to bring up his third half-century for Notts (116 mins 133 balls 8x4).
The floodlights had already been on for fifteen minutes or so when light drizzle turned a little heavier around 2.20pm and the umpires decided play couldn’t continue any longer.