91Èȱ¬

Steven Crook and Tim Murtagh shared seven wickets as Middlesex left Leicestershire facing the prospect of an innings defeat at Lord's.

England captain Andrew Strauss completed his maiden first-class double century and finished 241 not out as Middlesex declared on 496-2.

Crook (4-45) and Murtagh (3-41) then took centre stage as Leicestershire were bowled out for 193 in reply.

And, trailing by 303, they look certain to be asked to follow-on.

Strauss took 40 minutes of the morning session to convert his unbeaten 184 overnight into a first double century, bringing up the landmark with a crisply pulled four off Nathan Buck.

By the time his side declared at lunch he had made the highest score by a Middlesex batsman at Lord's for 12 years.

91Èȱ¬ London 94.9's Kevin Hand:

"Middlesex look close to promotion back to Division One of the County Championship after a strong second day put them in complete control of the match and set to take maximum point from the game.

"Andrew Strauss saw off a terrific spell from Matthew Hoggard to move past 200 and looked set for even more than 241 but was denied by the declaration at lunch.

"It was an aggressive move from Chris Rogers and left a few disappointed as the prospect of a Strauss triple century, with plenty of time left in the match, appeared on the cards.

"Leicestershire made a solid start to their innings but three wickets just after tea from Steven Crook, including that of James Taylor, ripped the heart out of the middle order."