On a rain interrupted, bitterly cold day at Lamphey, the Middlesex innings ended just before 8 pm on Wednesday when the visitors closed on a total of 277 for six.

After a long delay because of damp patches in the bowlers' run up at the Ridgeway end of the ground, history was made at 2.30 pm when David Towse of Wales bowled the first ball of this Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy match to Middlesex opener Paul Weekes.

Wales kept the runs in check initially, although Weekes kept one end going and Chad Keegan scored 26.

Left arm spinner Tony Smith, of Pentyrch, triggered a mini collapse by bowling Weekes for 66 and skpper Owais Shah for two. Both batsmen were bowled around their legs.

However, the late fireworks provided by Jamie Dalrymple in a brilliantly paced innings of 104 not out, supported by the talented left-hander Ed Joyce in a fifth wicket partnership of 72, combined with an unbroken seventh wicket partnership of 50 between Dalrymple and Simon Cook, has probably taken the game out of reach of the Welsh batsmen.

Wales started their reply on Thursday morning, requiring 278 to win, and much will depend on the form of the early order batsmen such as Alun Evans, Andrew Jones and Gareth Rees.

Play was due to start at 10.45 am and ticket holders from Wednesday were admitted free of charge with free car parking.

Play was only possible on Wednesday because of the tremendous efforts of the Lamphey ground staff volunteers, under the supervision of Andrew Skeels and with the help of cricketers from neighbouring clubs.

The players and umpires also contributed by expressing their keeness to play and Pembrokeshire cricketing enthusiasts were treated to an intriguing contest.

The Middlesex batsmen soon adapted to the conditions and the combination of their foot movements and timing drew gasps of admiration from the spectators who had braved the elements.

What a pity that the weather reduced the size of the crowd. If the weather had been good, in view of the interest that the match had attracted, a crowd of around 1.500 might have been expected.

Stop press: As we were going to press yesterday, news was received that Wales had lost the match by 174 runs. Chasing the target of 277, they were bowled out for just 103.