Essex team | Nick Browne (10), Aron Nijjar (24), Tom Westley (21), Dan Lawrence (28), Adam Wheater (31), Ryan ten Doeschate (27) (C), James Foster (7) (WK), Matt Coles (1), Callum Taylor (67), Aaron Beard (14), Jamie Porter (44).
MCC team | Daniel Bell-Drummond (C), Brett D’Oliveira, Paul Collingwood, Sam Northeast, Sam Hain, Delray Rawlins, John Simpson (WK), Dom Bess, Matthew Fisher, Richard Gleeson, Fidel Edwards.
Umpires | D Millns & J Lloyds
Result | MCC won by an innings & 34 runs
Day Three | Match Report
It was always going to be a tall order for Essex heading into the penultimate day’s play of the Champion County match but it was the MCC who were victorious by an innings and 34 runs in Barbados.
Some heavy rainfall over the Kensington Oval did it’s best to delay proceedings and maybe give the County Champions a glimmer of hope that the match could head into a fourth and final day. However, it wasn’t to be.
With a run deficit of 195, play finally got underway with Aron Nijjar and Tom Westley resuming their overnight scores of 5 and 19, respectively.
The pair started well and put on a partnership of 51 before Nijjar found Northest to give Richard Gleeson a second wicket of the innings. Up until this point the opener had been playing freely, finding the boundary on four occasions on his way to 30.
Lawrence joined Westley in the middle but struggled to find his rhythm and was out for 7 off 40 balls after finding Gleeson at backward point, off the bowling off Dom Bess.
Westley meanwhile was still going strong and looked at ease on his way to his half century through successive fours. However, the number 3 batsman soon found himself out to Bess as he was caught and bowled for 62.
The Essex wickets continued fall at regular intervals and it was the skipper, Ryan ten Doeschate to depart next for 4 in the 39th over, as Matt Fisher sent his poles flying.
Adam Wheater and the new batman, James Foster, brought some much-needed stability heading into the first break of the day but their partnership over 14 overs only brought 35 runs, before Wheater was caught at backward square leg off that man Gleeson again, for 23.
Taylor soon followed for 0 and it was Foster who was the final recognised batsman. After he was stumped by John Simpson for 29, Dom Bess completed his 5-wicket haul as Beard was given out lbw after facing just two balls.
There was still time for Jamie Porter to score 10 for the second successive innings coming in at 11 but Coles was left on 10 not out as Dom Bess claimed a sixth victim.
Dom Bess ended with figures of 6-51 and along with a first innings century, rightly picked up the Man of the Match Award.
Essex now head to Fenner’s on next week to face Cambridge MCCU with the final opportunity for time in the middle before the trip to Headingley on April 13 where the reigning Champions will face Yorkshire.
Day Two | Match Report
It was a tough day in the field for the County Champions on Day Two as the MCC took the control with two scheduled days remaining at the Kensington Oval.
The MCC’s two Sam’s, Northeast and Hain, resumed play at the Kensington Oval but it was Essex’s Aaron Beard who got to work 10 overs into the day by removing Hampshire’s new signing, Northeast, for 44. The former Kent man playing on the off-side and only finding Callum Taylor at point.
With Hain looking set and reaching his 50 off 139 balls, the Warwickshire man saw both Rawlins and Collingwood head back to the Pavilion after Essex’s main spin options, Aron Nijjar and Dan Lawrence took a wicket apiece.
As the sun faded and the artificial light started to play a part, it was Tom Westley who made the next breakthrough after some juggling by Adam Wheater at short leg dismissed John Simpson for 5.
Just seven balls later, Matt Fisher was soon heading back to the Pavilion for 0 after edging Callum Taylor through to the wicket-keeper, James Foster.
However, the expected collapse never came and Hain continued to push on, ably supported by Dom Bess. The Warwickshire batsman became the first player in the match to reach three figures and the milestone came off 211 balls, in what was a very classy innings.
After some brief rainfall during the Tea break, the MCC reached 299-7 heading into the final session with Bess on 32 and Hain 109. There was also the extraordinary statistic that every one of the 7 Essex bowlers had taken a single wicket so far in the innings.
From then on, it was all about Hain and Bess who continued to pile on the runs for the MCC. Bess soon followed Hain’s triumph in reaching the century mark, however the Somerset man reached it in just 101 balls, including 17 fours. This was his maiden First Class century but he was soon out for 107, after being bowled by Dan Lawrence and subsequently ending the 172-run partnership.
Only 13 more runs passed before the MCC declared on 408-8, bringing Nick Browne and Aron Nijjar back out to the middle under the difficult night conditions for the final 8 overs of the day.
Chasing down the 221-run deficit, Essex found themselves a man down in the second over of the innings as Nick Browne found Brett D’Oliveira at square leg. Richard Gleeson got the early wicket and after a frustrating day, Essex were 26-1 at the close. Aron Nijjar and Tom Westley will resume play on 5 and 19, respectively.
Day One | Match Report
There was certainly a sense of anticipation as the curtain raiser to the 2018 season drew ever closer. After Ryan ten Doeschate won the toss and chose to bat first, it was Nick Browne and Aron Nijjar who opened the batting for Essex.
The match is Nijjar first appearance for the Club since he featured against West Indies last in 2017. A thigh injury to Varun Chopra during the tour saw the 23 year old given a chance to show his skills with the bat in the vacant opening spot.
The morning session started slowly as the players got used to the pink ball and it was Nick Browne who kept the scoreboard ticking along and looked comfortable. Nijjar eased himself into the innings and started to grow in confidence, especially after two hooks shots found the boundary.
Nijjar was the only wicket to fall before the first break of the day after he was caught by Fidel Edwards for 20, off the bowling of Dom Bess.
Nick Browne took his score to 46 before the break, joined by Tom Westley who began his innings in a confident manner. It was the opener, Browne, who was next to depart just two runs short of his half century after edging Barbadian paceman, Fidel Edwards to give John Simpson the first of 4 catches on Day One.
Veteran all-rounder, Paul Collingwood dismissed Westley playing forward, adjudged lbw for 32 as the sun start to set at the Kensington Oval.
The introduction of the floodlights sparked a flurry of wickets for the MCC in tough batting conditions. This was primarily down to a devastating spell from Northants’ Richard Gleeson, after he had already had Lawrence strangled down the leg-side for 23.
It started with the wicket of Adam Wheater who played a straight bat, sending the ball back into the bowler’s hands for 7. Three noughts closely followed as Callum Taylor’s off-stump was struck.
This brought Matt Coles to the crease, making his First Class debut for the Club, but he quickly followed Taylor after playing across the line and finding Sam Northeast at point. Gleeson then clinched two in two as Beard was out lbw.
The wicket gave Gleeson his 5-wicket haul but also a hat-trick, after Taylor’s dismissal was from the final delivery of his previous over.
Number 11, Jamie Porter came to the middle with a tricky task ahead of him but commendable knock of 10* with James Foster (34) put on last wicket partnership of 45 as Essex reached 187.
Jamie Porter and Matt Coles opened the bowling for Essex and quickly put the pressure on the MCC openers, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Brett D’Oliveira, with the latter playing some nice strokes; three of which found the boundary early on.
Porter soon got his wicket tally up and running for the season when Bell-Drummond edged behind to James Foster for 3.
Sam Northeast joined D’Oliveira and continued to try and play positive cricket before the latter was caught and bowled by Matt Coles for 30.
Northeast and Sam Hain concluded the opening day’s play on 35* and 5*, respectively, and the MCC resume play at 2:30pm on Wednesday trailing by 115 runs on 73-2.
Live coverage of the match is available on https://http://essexcricket.org.uk/ with Live Stream service and updates via Twitter and Facebook.
