TON-up Graeme Hick spearheaded Worcestershire's spirited fight to avoid the follow-on in the Frizzell County Championship Division Two match against table-topping Middlesex at New Road.

The County skipper resumed on 101 not out in a total of 231-2 off 60 overs, but failed to add to his overnight score when he was caught off the bowling of Ashley Knoffke.

His promotion-chasing side needed 382 to steer clear of the follow-on after Middlesex had stacked up a daunting 531.

Hick buckled down to the task yesterday as soon as Stephen Peters had been removed for 13. He launched the 121st first-class century of his career by putting on 68 in 17 overs with Anurag Singh who made 50, including nine fours off 89 balls.

By the close last night Hick's fifth first-class ton against Middlesex had contained 19 fours off 158 deliveries. Singh, meanwhile, had needed just a single to join Hick and Ben Smith on the 1,000 first-class runs mark for the season.

He said: "At Warwickshire there was never a chance to establish myself but if you had said to me when I was a 16-year-old that I would get 1,000 runs in my first two full years of county cricket then I would have taken that."

After Singh's departure Hick and Smith set about frustrating the Middlesex attack by putting on an undefeated 128.

The visitors had resumed their first innings yesterday on 374-7 and were finally all out shortly after lunch. David Nash, on 67 not out overnight, went on to complete a fine century while Ashley Noffke, unbeaten on nine, registered a career-best 76.

Both were well deserved efforts which fattened up a Middlesex innings which at one stage stood at a shaky 25-3. The partnership between Nash and Noffke was broken after they had put on 139 in 37 overs.

The successful bowler was spinner Gareth Batty who had Nash snapped up at slip by Hick for exactly 100 which included 15 fours off 190 balls.

Paceman Kabir Ali, who claimed three wickets in four balls, finished with 5-100.