NOTTINGHAMSHIRE presented a trio of players with their county caps before a ball was bowled, but Chris Rogers and Eoin Morgan spoiled the celebrations with a record breaking partnership.
Riki Wessels, Luke Fletcher and Harry Gurney were the proud recipients from captain Chris Read, who is playing his 300th First Class game.
Read won the toss and chose to bowl against a Middlesex side who would go on to be a massive 417 for five at the close of day one – a total featuring 65 boundaries.
Rogers made 180 and Morgan 174 not out as they put on 272 for the third wicket. They cashed in on some pretty mediocre bowling in the second session before Notts mounted a slight fightback after tea as Peter Siddle took two wickets with the new ball.
Siddle (two for 87) was expensive though and it was Gurney (one for 57) who was the pick of the bowlers on a disappointing day for the hosts. Australian Test opener Rogers has become a scourge of Mick Newell's side having now scored 526 in his last seven innings against them.
With a bit more luck Rogers could have gone to the second ball of the day as he edged Siddle wide of third slip in a strong first over from Rogers' Australia team-mate.
Middlesex reached 50 off just 52 balls but Notts hit back through Andre Adams (two for 84) when they were on 60. He sent Dawid Malan's off stump tumbling as he bowled him for 17.
The change bowlers – Gurney and Adams – were bowling well and Gurney got a deserved wicket with just one more run on the board.
Neil Dexter was yet to score when he edged to Wessels to take a good low catch at first slip. He promptly ran off the pitch nursing his hand and that would come in to play in key fashion.
Wessels really should have sent Morgan back to the pavilion when he was on 20. Gurney was the man to miss out on the wicket of his England team-mate as Wessels shelled an edge when Morgan was trying to cut.
There was mitigation for the Notts man as he had sustained a bruised hand taking an incredible catch the night before in the T20 Blast defeat to Warwickshire.
There was another chance in the next over, but this was far tougher as Samit Patel got fingers on a flashing Rogers edge at second slip. He was on 89 at the time with Siddle the bowler.
From there the landmarks flowed. First came the 100 partnership and then Rogers' century.
He was fortunate in the way he got there as an inside edge to Luke Fletcher (nought for 98) flashed past the stumps to the boundary, but it was still the innings of a fine player.
Morgan was racing towards his hundred as he hit Patel (nought for 80) for a pair of sixes. Rogers might have had another shade of luck on 146 when he edged Fletcher but it was not clear if the ball carried to Read or not. It probably had not.
Rogers brought up his 150 and shortly after Morgan had reached a deserved century.
On the eve of tea they passed the club record partnership for the third wicket against Notts of 225, set in 2005 by Owais Shah and Ed Joyce.
They resumed after the interval on 288 for two but finally the wicket fell on 333, James Taylor taking a good low catch at deep point to remove Rogers and give Adams his second wicket to fairly muted celebrations.
A reverse sweep four off Patel took Morgan to 150 with Notts waiting on the second new ball. It brought a wicket in the 82nd over as Joe Denly went for 18 to make it 381 for four.
Siddle was the wicket taker as Denly got a thickish edge to send the ball into the safe hands of Patel at second slip.
The Australian had another wicket when he removed John Simpson's off stump for 10 to make it 403 for five.
THE game was preceded by a minute's silence for former Middlesex player and coach Don Bennett, who died at the age of 80 this week.
