JACK BROOKS has hailed James Middlebrook’s contribution to Yorkshire’s LV= County Championship title success and admitted “we don’t want him to finish playing”.

The 38-year-old off-spinner was drafted into the White Rose squad as cover for Adil Rashid midway through the season, and has taken 14 wickets in four and a half matches.

Two of those came yesterday during the second day of their ongoing clash with Middlesex at Lord’s.

Yorkshire head into today’s third day in the driving seat, and should complete a three-day win given Middlesex, at 274-5 in their second innings, are only 81 runs ahead.

Middlebrook, who started the season playing league cricket in Bradford for New Farnley having been released last year by Northamptonshire, has now won two Championship titles in his last two campaigns at Headingley given he left after 2001.

He bowled Paul Stirling and trapped Dawid Malan lbw in the 25th over as Middlesex lost three afternoon wickets in 12 balls to slip from 87-0 to 87-3 before an evening recovery led by Nick Compton, 86 not out.

“Midders has done a fantastic job, and it shows that age isn't a problem,” said Brooks, the spinner’s ex-Northants team-mate.

“If you look at him and Ryan Sidebottom, the skills they've still got, the bodies may be old, but the mind's not.

“There’s less pressure on him because he's not had a pre-season, he's come in to fill in with nothing really expected of him. But he's a fine cricketer, and he's a good friend of mine from our time at Northants. It's good to see a smile on his face.

"I'm not sure what he’s going to do next year, but we don't want him to finish playing.”

All of Middlesex’s second-innings wickets fell in the afternoon after Brooks had completed a morning half-century as part of a tenth-wicket partnership of 78 with Ryan Sidebottom.

They advanced from 238-9 overnight to 299 all out, with Brooks’s 50 not out signalling his first fifty in Yorkshire colours and the third of his first-class career.

Brooks smashed ten fours in his 69-ball knock to follow a fifty he scored during his Northants days and one for the England Lions on tour in South Africa earlier this year.

Unfortunately, his bowling in this match has not quite lived up to his batting, with his only wicket coming in the over before tea yesterday when he had Neil Dexter caught and bowled, leaving the score at 143-5.

Yorkshire then endured a wicketless evening as Compton and captain James Franklin, 60 not out, shared an unbroken stand of 131 inside 33 overs to avoid an innings defeat.

"The wicket's flattened out a bit, and they probably gave too much width to me and Siddy,” added Brooks.

“But we dug and in took advantage. We also gave the lads some time off after a long time in the dirt recently. To be fair, Middlesex batted well, but we're only one or two wickets away from cracking it open.

“They are second in the league for a reason, and they aren't going to roll over. Given the amount of time left in the game, they will want to beat us. But we’re pretty positive we’ve had a good day there.”