Essex v Nottinghamshire
LV= Insurance County Championship
The Cloudfm County Ground, Chelmsford, Thursday 03 – Sunday 06 June
Team News:
Essex: Nick Browne, Alastair Cook, Tom Westley (c), Michael Pepper, Paul Walter, Ryan ten Doeschate, Adam Wheater (wk), Simon Harmer, Peter Siddle, Sam Cook, Shane Snater.
Nottinghamshire:Ben Slater, Ben Compton, Ben Duckett, Joe Clarke, Lyndon James, Steven Mullaney (c), Tom Moores (wk), Liam Patterson-White, Luke Fletcher, Dane Paterson, Brett Hutton.
Match Details:
Umpires: Ian Blackwell & Neil Mallender
Toss: Nottinghamshire won and elected to bat first
Result: Match Drawn
Day Four Match Highlights:
Day Four Reaction: Shane Snater
Day Four Match Report:
Essex drew their LV= Insurance County Championship match with Nottinghamshire with the visitors reaching 44-2 before bad light at 2:23pm followed by rain brought a halt to proceedings. With conditions failing to improve, the Captains settled for the draw with the game called off at 3:05pm.
Hopes of a positive outcome to the match were, in truth, badly affected by the loss of the entire second day’s play and when play resumed on the final morning, the home side had reached 180-7 in their first innings in reply to Notts 293 all out.
Needing a rapid flurry of runs and then quick wickets if they were to have the opportunity of pulling off a shock win, Essex added 30 runs in 10 overs before being bowled out.
The second new ball was taken after just one over but a boundary soon after by Shane Snater extended the 8th wicket partnership with Simon Harmer to 50 runs. It had spanned 143 deliveries but having carried Essex to within seven runs of their first batting point, both batsmen were removed in the space of seven balls.
Snater had posted 24 when he was trapped in front by pace bowler Ben Hutton and then fellow new-ball bowler Luke Fletcher had Harmer leg before for 20.
It was left to last man Sam Cook to take the total onto 200 – and a batting point – when he steered a delivery from Hutton past mid-wicket and to the boundary but the bowler was to have the last word when Cook was castled to complete a 5-wickets haul. Cook had scored 6 leaving Peter Siddle unbeaten on 11.
The visitors started their second innings with two sessions and an hour remaining for play and there was encouragement for Essex when Siddle struck in the seventh over with the total on 11 to have Ben Compton caught at first slip by Alastair Cook for eight.
But Ben Slater and Ben Duckett dug in to keep the scoreboard ticking over at a sedate tempo reaching lunch on 23-1 after 15 overs.
Having taken 7/98 at Trent Bridge and 2/45 in the first innings of this match, Snater grabbed his 10th wicket against these opponents when Duckett was bowled for 16 in the seventh over of the afternoon session with the total on 35.
But nine runs and six overs later with Slater on 19 and Joe Clarke on 1, the weather closed in to bring a premature end to the game.
Essex take 11 points from the match and Nottinghamshire 13 points.
The top four teams in Group One are separated by just 9 points. Warwickshire have 120 points, two more than Essex whilst Nottinghamshire with 115 points and Durham with 111 and the four teams are all in contention for a top-two finish to the group round of matches that would take them into Division One and the opportunity to challenge for the County Championship title.
Essex though have only one more match to play in the qualifying round, against Derbyshire at Chesterfield starting on July 11th, whilst their three chief rivals all have two matches remaining.
Day Three Match Highlights:
Day Three Reaction: Anthony McGrath
Day Three Match Report:
Despite a fighting knock of 71 from captain Tom Westley, Essex failed to deny Nottinghamshire ending the third day of the County Championship battle at The Cloudfm County Ground in the ascendancy.
Replying to a total of 293, the county reached the close on 180 for 7 as the remainder of their batsmen failed to make an impact.
After resuming on 248 for 6, Notts lost their remaining wickets for the addition of 45 runs, all of them falling to off-spinner Simon Harmer who returned figures of 4-71.
His first, that of Joe Clarke who was superbly caught by a diving Shane Snater at wide mid-on for 67, ended a run of just over 73 overs without success since his 12 wickets match haul against Derbyshire in mid-May.
He then breached the defence of Liam Patterson-White for 31 before removing Luke Fletcher and Brett Hutton. The former was caught at deep mid-wicket by Paul Walter without score whilst Hutton was trapped in the crease for 10 to give the bowler, who joined the county in 2017, his 250th Championship wicket.
But any hopes that Essex may have entertained on launching their reply on a firm footing quickly evaporated.
In seven overs before lunch, they lost three wickets for a mere 15 runs.
Hutton got rid of Nick Browne and Alastair Cook in the space of five deliveries. Browne had scored 6 when he nicked behind the wicket to give Tom Moores the first of his three catches and in his next over, the paceman found the edge when Cook went to drive departing for 5 to leave the home side 14 for 2.
Fletcher then removed Michael Pepper for a duck when the batsman was superbly caught by the wicket-keeper diving to his right to hold a one-handed catch low down.
Some semblance of sanity was restored by Westley and Walter who grafted through 26 overs while adding 55 runs. Walter though was dismissed in the 20’s for the fourth successive time in as many innings. On this occasion, he had reached 21 when bowled by Patterson-White, the ball hitting off-stump.
Ryan ten Doeschate joined Westley to take the total into three figures but having carried the score onto 108 with a 38 runs partnership, ten Doeschate was caught at first slip by Clarke for 14 to become Hutton’s third success and leave the innings in trouble once again at 108 for 5.
The rock-solid Westley was holding the innings together and completed his half-century from 124 deliveries that included five fours. But his resistance spanning 174 deliveries and almost four hours was finally ended when he was bowled for 71, which included eight boundaries, by the spin of Patterson-White.
His departure left Essex 143 for 6 and another wicket followed the next ball when Adam Wheater, who had scored 10, swung Lyndon James out to deep square leg where Ben Compton completed the catch.
Harmer and Shane Snater battled through the remaining 19 overs, firstly ensuring the follow-on was averted and then taking their side to within 20 runs of a batting point by the close. Harmer will resume on 15 and Snater on 17 when play restarts tomorrow with the second new ball due after a further over.
Day Two Match Report:
No play was possible on day two of Essex and Nottinghamshire’s crucial LV= Insurance County Championship fixture at The Cloudfm County Ground due to rain.
Large puddles developed throughout the morning and early afternoon of heavy rain at the River End of the ground.
Umpires Ian Blackwell and Neil Mallender eventually called off the day just before 4pm.
Nottinghamshire had set up the game nicely on a balanced day one, with Joe Clarke, Lyndon James and Joe Clarke all scoring half-centuries as the visitors reached 248 for 6.
Day One Match Highlights:
Day One Reaction: Tom Westley
Day One Match Report:
On a day packed with incident, Nottinghamshire ended the opening day of the LV= Insurance County Championship match against Nottinghamshire on 248 for 6.
The visitors won the toss but during the first hour, the county claimed three wickets for 48 and soon afterwards, Joe Clarke had to retire hurt after being struck on the forearm by a Sam Cook delivery.
He had scored 11 out of 54 for 3 but his removal from the scene only made way for Lyndon James and Steven Mullaney to again put together a telling partnership.
At Trent Bridge last month, they combined to post a stand of 123 and on this occasions, added 117 in 52 overs.
But Essex helped the batsmen’s cause as Mullaney survived a difficult chance to Alastair Cook when he had scored 4 and then enjoyed another “life” two runs later when put down in the covers by Nick Browne.
Mullaney needed 62 deliveries to move into double figures but later scored more freely in completing his half-century from 135 balls with one six and six fours.
Medium-pacer Paul Walter fell foul of umpires Ian Blackwell and Neil Mallender when ordered out of the attack after sending down two beamers in his opening four overs.
Mullaney and James though continued unconcerned completing their 100 partnership from 255 balls.
Both were to progress to record individual half-centuries and duly completed in the same Cook over. James was first to the milestone having faced 145 balls and collected 9 boundaries whilst skipper Mullaney had faced 135 deliveries with 10 fours.
The latter was eventually sent packing by Shane Snater for 55 just after James had been claimed for 54 by Peter Siddle. Both were victims of smart slip catches by Alastair Cook.
Following the dismissal of Mullaney, Clarke returned to continue his innings and soon underlined his recovery from his morning setback by driving with confidence and power on his way to completing a highly entertaining 50 from 78 balls, ten of which were despatched to the boundary.
The second new ball was taken at 190 for 5 but with the last ball of that over, Cook bowled Tom Moores for 12.
Clarke though was in imposing form and he and Liam Patterson-White comfortably carried the visitors to the close having posted an unbeaten 58 for the seventh wicket.
Clarke will resume in the morning with 57 runs to his credit whilst Paterson-White is 17 not out.
Siddle and Snater had both inflicted the early damage. The Australian fast bowler had Ben Compton taken by Alastair Cook at first slip for 11 before trapping Ben Duckett lbw for 2 in his next over.
Snater gained the umpire’s consent for a leg before shout against Ben Slater who had scored 25 to leave Nottinghamshire 48 for 3.
