Nick Compton solidly edged his way to a score of 85 off 217 balls to help Middlesex salvage a draw against Nottinghamshire in the English county league on Wednesday.

Forty of those runs came from 10 strokes to the boundary; but for the rest the Durban-born grandson of Denis Compton and nephew of Natal’s Patrick Compton, stood like a rock. Adam Voges contributed 72 in the rearguard defence after Middlesex were offered a target of 519.

Vernon Philander bowled 23.5 overs in the day, giving up 55 runs without reward as Middlesex ended on 300-7.

Hampshire went down to Sussex by 92 runs, despite the efforts of the Zimbabwe’s Sean Ervine , who scored 42, putting on 35 with Gareth Berg for the sixth wicket. But defending 377 was far too much.

In Division Two, Leicestershire held out for a draw after being offered a target of 306 late in the day. Glamorgan batted on too long, with Colin Ingram adding 17 to their total of 227-7 declared. Without really trying, Leicester closed on 141-3 after losing their first three wickets for 42. It was a disappointing start to Jacques Rudolph’s captaincy, on the day that he announced he was cutting all ties with South African cricket to concentrate on ending his career with Glamorgan.

It was a similar story in Northampton where Gloucester, needing 454 to win, meandered to 267-2, taking 60 off Rory Kleinveldt’s 15 overs.