Story Essex: In The Now!..............

[6ry4nj]

Lol at Porterfield bowling so many overs. Harris was good for you guys taking that hat trick. But, I'd say Derbyshire have the day with 340 runs on the board.

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaate...thanks for reading! But you must have missed the bit where I selected Jefferson and Porterfield as bowlers...

 

[6ry4nj]

At Chelmsford, August 4:
Essex v Somerset, Pro League Division 1

It?s been a while since we went into a game as favourites. Of course I like nothing better than to prove the pundits wrong when they write us off. Nevertheless, I feel more comfortable going into a game in the knowledge that I?m not the only one who thinks we?ll win.

The weather on Thursday morning was unsettled. It could not decide whether the clouds or the sun would prevail, although gloom was predicted for later. Therefore the toss was important. And fortunately, we won it, so we were batting first.

Here are the lineups:

Willoughby and Palladino opened the bowling. We started slowly, but I prefer to be 10 for none after 5, rather than 2 or 3 down for more. By the 5th over we were up to speed, and the opening partnership continued. Last ball of the 10th over was aimed by Loye back over the bowler?s head. He must have been late on it, but it was a hefty edge, landing in the first row of seats at deep point! More miscues like that one please Mal!

Miscued for miles ? Loye?s accidental six​

But there were no more from Mal, who was caught at slip next over. Jefferson and Klokker managed to score at just under a run a ball for 7 overs. The end of the powerplay did not appear to upset their rhythm. Then Ben Phillips got two lbw decisions in two balls, so two new batsmen, Carson and Foster, had to get started. This they did fairly well ? what ensued was a 50-ball partnership worth 43.

Then Carson fell, and Moore came and went. 107 for 3 after 20 became 160 for 5 after 30, with Foster and Walker enjoying probably the most productive partnership of the innings. It lasted only 6 overs, yet plundered 53 runs in that time.

My decision to bat Harris ahead of Napier and Wagg resulted in less fireworks for the rest of the innings. Harris and Walker did rotate the strike however, with the occasional boundary. In the last over, Phillips got Harris. Then Napier, in for just one death-or-glory ball, skied it to Palladino at deep point. It was still 71 runs off the last ten, as we finished 231 for 8. It seemed a shame not to reach 240 after the Foster-Walker pyrotechnics. Then again, but for the grace of them, it could have been 210.

Three of the batsmen made 40s, with Walker?s unbeaten 46 being the largest. Willoughby was the pick of the bowlers with 1-23 off 8, although Phillips of course had the inflated figures of 4-50, due to the last two balls.

By this time the clouds were starting to dominate. By the start of the Somerset innings, it was looking decidedly gloomy. Masters and Napier opened the bowling for us. Somerset started cautiously, as we had. They had just begun to accelerate, when Napier got both openers, and Trego, in 7 balls. So they were 30 for 3 after 6. Durston and Hildreth came together, and they were up with the required rate from their first ball. Perhaps I ought to train my team to be so fearless in the face of carnage.

But perhaps not. After a 37-ball partnership worth 42, it was all downhill from there. Our saviour was Graham Wagg, who, despite being hit all over the place, took four wickets in successive overs. After 18, they were still comfortably ahead of the run rate, but at 111 for 7, the match was as good as over. They kept scoring fearlessly, and their Sri Lankan keeper Bopage had two good run-a-ball partnerships with tailenders Phillips and Willoughby, but it was merely delaying the inevitable. Masters, Jefferson and Napier chimed in with one tailender each, and the fearlessness of Somerset came to an end inside 30 overs. They were all out for 168, and we had achieved the expected victory in a dominant fashion, winning by 63 runs. Graham Napier, who, with his 3 early wickets, had a better '4fer' than Wagg, was awarded Man of the Match (despite his batting indiscretion!).

Now with one win from our two Pro League games so far, we are still languishing in equal fifth on the table. And we have no time to rest on our laurels, as we are heading up to Leeds today for a 4-day game. So I hope I?ll see you back here tonight, when I?ll tell you the story of day one against Yorks.

 

[6ry4nj]

Wow! This story is going beautifully. Great presentation and good write-up

Very nice of you to say so! That's very encouraging.

Glad you like it!

 

[Fenil]

Napier and Wagg bowled brilliantly to defend their team's score.

 

[6ry4nj]

At Headingley, August 5:
Yorkshire v Essex, County Championship Division 2

Good evening to you! Welcome to beautiful Yorkshire! I can?t say I?ve been taking in any of the sights, but it is indeed very nice and comfortable here at Weetwood Hall Hotel! And no, I'm not on commission...but you've given me a good idea...!

As the day dawned it was quite cloudy. The forecast for unsettled weather, settling towards clouds in the evening, was initially proved wrong. Although the best batting weather was forecast for day four, it was much of a muchness until then. So, when we won the toss, we decided we would bat first. The pitch promised to offer a bit for both pace and spin, but at present would favour the batsman overall.

I have decided to end the Jefferson and Porterfield experiments. In Jefferson?s case, I don?t expect he will be selected to bowl again by me in first class. Or by anyone else, for that matter. Just kidding Will, if you read this.

So if I told you that two players exit the team for this match, you can guess who they are. They are replaced by Graham Wagg and Naqaash Tahir, who have generally more penetration. I?ve just become a big fan of strike rate as a selection criterion!

So the lineups look like this:

I thought it interesting that Yorkshire have 5 bowling options including three specialists. One of them won?t be bowling much ? I wonder which one. The worst bowler is Patterson, but he is one of the specialists. If he is not to bowl, they?re almost limiting themselves to ten men! So I hoped we could capitalize if he was used irresponsibly. More on this presently.

I should also mention that Yorkshire?s specialist spinner, Dominic Leigh, is an offspinner aged 20, who debuted last year.

So Loye to face up to Hoggard. Loye?s partner is Pettini, and Hoggard?s turned out to be Bresnan. But in the very first over, indeed the very first ball he faced, Pettini appeared to get an edge. There must have been a deflection, because the keeper was deceived and missed the catch!

Nevertheless, the partnership never really got going. In the 10th over we were 28 for 1, when Pettini departed, lbw to Bresnan. As soon as Rashid was introduced in the 16th over, he dismissed Loye by bowling him. We were two down, and still one shy of fifty. With Rashid?s next ball, McPhee was gone, caught at slip. Oh dear! I was not a glass-half-full kind of guy at that point!

Still, Derek Carson and Matt Walker survived almost chancelessly from then until lunch. We went in at 107 for 3, Carson had a very slow 35 (off 88 balls) and Walker a very brisk 25 (off 38!).

Around the grounds, everyone was progressing much as we were. That was going to change?

After lunch, it was less cloudy. Also, as the session wore on, the slow outfield became a fast one. We lost only Carson in that session, and that only after he had amassed 66 of a partnership of 150! He was bowled by Rashid, becoming his third victim.

I didn?t see too much wrong with what Rashid bowled to Moore when he first came in. But this was how he got off the mark. He had faced three balls prior to this.

Moore getting his eye in

At tea we were 251 for 4. It was pleasing, but still too early to feel confident of a dominant score. 144 runs in the session ? that might be a record for us too! Walker was on 95 too, so hopefully there was a century to look forward to!

I checked the scores at the other grounds. It was shocking what had happened to Kent. In their match with Warwickshire, they had just been dismissed for 198, losing 7 for 80 in the session. More shocks to come in that match.

We started slowly after tea, but still chancelessly. Five overs on, Walker ran a quick single with Moore, and raised his bat to acknowledge the cheers for his century. It had come off just 150 balls exactly. Soon Moore was also celebrating, having reached his fifty, from 88 balls. I got a good shot of Moore hitting a lofted off-drive. Here it is.

Four to Moore lofted handsomely over mid-off

After 81 overs, the new ball was taken. Hoggard and Bresnan had just been bowling, so the new ball was taken by Patterson and McGrath! What a stroke of luck!

Unfortunately Patterson?s spell did ultimately achieve a breakthrough, and Walker departed bowled. But only after that magnificent 134, and a partnership with Moore of 148! That is the record 5th wicket partnership for the three seasons I have been at Essex! 351-5. Now the smile on my face was back!

Let's have a look at Matt's wagon wheel.

He must have been getting a lot of off-side bowling (he's a left-hander of course). He's very strong on the off: what were they thinking?

Moore made it to the nineties, but sadly no further, bowled by Hoggard for 95. It was the third last over before stumps. On the last ball of the day, as he had in the first over, Keller the keeper dropped one, although this one, from Wagg, was certainly not a sitter. We finished the day 373 for 6. Much better! On a less than perfect pitch, on a day that was sometimes quite overcast, that must be an above-par score.

That Warwickshire-Kent game is still providing surprises, isn't it? From a full session, Warwickshire have slumped to 57 for 5! Joseph and Darcy for Kent have got 2 wickets each at an economy rate not much over 1!

Well, that?s your lot for another day! I hope you?ll be here the same time tomorrow, for my Day 2 update. Until then, don?t do anything I wouldn?t do! Ciao!

 

[Aislabie]

Hehehe, your character is mad, but in a good way.

 

[6ry4nj]

At Headingley, August 6:
Yorkshire v Essex, County Championship Division 2: Day 2

Bresnan and Hoggard were the bowling fare to start the day?s play. If I was pinning my hopes on the last two recognized batsmen keeping it going, then the dream was soon shattered. After only 5 overs, Wagg was out, lbw to Hoggard, and for just 4. So much for starting defensive? Foster lasted another 9 overs, until the reintroduction of spin, then he too was gone. He became young Leigh?s first victim, caught at slip for 21. It was just tail now. What could Tahir and Harris do?

Well you might be surprised! Seems I neglected to mention that Tahir has hit a career best score of 87 for me this year, as well as a 64! He was in that sort of mood today, it seems!

Because he was already in double figures when Foster departed, he was advised to farm the strike. So by the time Harris was bowled by Bresnan for 4 off 17 balls, Tahir was on 42, off 64. He took a no-nonsense attitude to Rashid in particular. Three of his five fours to this point, and one of his two sixes, had come from the leg-spinner?s bowling. Not even Walker or Moore had treated the credentialled young spinner in such a cavalier fashion!

Have a look at this six that he hit against Leigh.

It could not have been any straighter, and if it had been any flatter, it might have taken the umpire?s hairpiece with it!

Masters saw out the over, and in the next ? from Rashid - two boundaries from Tahir saw him to his fifty. It had taken 70 balls.

Then he went rather quiet. Consequently he failed to keep Masters from the strike, and did not add to his score. So, nine runs from Masters later, the innings came to an end when Rashid trapped Masters lbw. We had amassed 456. Even from where we were last night, that is a satisfying figure.

As it was a quarter to one, lunch was taken. However it must have been an executive lunch for someone, because we restarted at the usual time. Meanwhile, I did peruse the progress scores. I couldn?t help wondering how the Warwickshire game at Canterbury was going. And I saw that Warwickshire had recovered to be just 40 behind with three wickets remaining. The twists and turns of that game!

Masters and Tahir opened the bowling for us. Despite the occasional risky shot, and a confident appeal every so often, Rudolph and Sayers were not budging. When the spin of Harris was introduced, if anything they got even more dominant. As for Wagg, although he induced a risky shot or two, his only 9-over spell went for more than four an over. They arrived at lunch having accumulated 134 without loss.

I just couldn?t work out what we were doing wrong. So I instructed the team to keep doing it.

Then I checked on the Canterbury game again. And guess what ? Kent were back on top again! They were 69 without loss in their second, having finished Warwickshire off to obtain a slender first-innings lead.

Well, whatever we were doing after tea, it seemed to pay off. Rudolph entered the nineties, then on 92 had to depart, having edged Tahir to McPhee at 1st slip. Sayers reached his 50, but on 53 he was gone too. He aimed a confident front-foot straight drive at Harris, but the arm ball found the edge and flew to Pettini at short point. That meant that Marlowe and Bresnan came together. (In case you don?t know, Brian Marlowe is a right-hand specialist batsman, now 25, who debuted in 2009).

So having reached 150 without loss, Yorks had mini-slumped to 158 for 2. Still 300 more runs to catch us, the odds were perhaps slightly back in our favour.

Harris kept doing what he was doing, and it wasn?t that long before he had his second. According to Hawkeye, his over-the-wicket delivery landed on middle-and-off, before straightening like a wrist-spinner, to hit right-hander Bresnan plumb in front of off.
Yorkshire had 200, but we had our third!

Michael Vaughan came out, and had a close thing first ball, beaten by Harris? enigmatic turn. He didn?t last much longer, though, 8 balls to be exact. Then Tahir speared a good length ball past his forward defence and into his pads. Those ones don?t always go your way, but this one was given, and Vaughan had to depart for a duck. Hawkeye suggested it was probably clipping leg, but still.

I'm calling it as Tahir's day!

That was 205 for 4, and that was as good as it got for us today. Rashid and Marlowe saw out time to stumps. They are now 229 for 4, with Marlowe getting to be a nuisance on 39, and Rashid on a more manageable 8.

So that was day 2 at Headingley! I see there?s been yet another twist at Canterbury, and Kent are five down and only 180 ahead. So entertaining, that game! I almost wish I was there! But I'm here, of course, so join me, won't you, again tomorrow evening, and I'll tell you all about day three.


----------

Hehehe, your character is mad, but in a good way.

To which Hassan replies:
My friend, there is no other way to be mad - there is only the good way!

Lolz!

 

[Dipak]

Great story man. Well done. The presentation is brilliant too!

 

[6ry4nj]

At Headingley, Sunday August 7:
Yorkshire v Essex, County Championship Division 2: Day 3

Finally some time to myself! Time to update you on what's been going on. I'm not going to use the riots as an excuse - although we had to come back to Chelmsford by coach, to avoid coming through London. You may have heard that Leeds was also affected by rioting. That was an exaggeration - we had no problems at that end.

I had to fly home - I mean to Riyadh, not to Kensington - at short notice, on business. I love doing business with the sons of Bedouins; I am proud of their part in my heritage as an Arabian. However, unfortunately, they do not teleconference... While I was there, there were people to see in Abu Dhabi, in Dubai, and even in Cairo! So I have been in the air for nearly twenty-four hours since you last heard from me.

We came out on day 3 - that was Sunday - still leading by 227, with six first-innings wickets still needing to be taken. The weather as usual was partly cloudy, and the wicket was starting to aid the bowlers. Within ten minutes, we had another wicket. The wicket-takers, Tahir and Harris, opened the bowling for the day, and it was Harris who induced Marlowe into an edge, which was taken at slip by McPhee. Marlowe had made 46, Rashid was still only on 10. Five down and still more than 200 behind. The odds were in our favour.

But, as often happens in this game, what followed was thirty almost chanceless overs. So at lunch they were 346 for 5, both having reached their half-centuries. The weather was quite gloomy for the second session. In fact, at 2.23 it started to rain and play was delayed by nearly 40 minutes. But nothing was shifting Rashid and McGrath. By tea-time, they were in the nineties, and our lead was all but gone. There was nothing wrong with the bowling. It was just one of those things. You think you are playing the game, but, every so often, you realize that the game is playing you...

Wickets continued not to fall after tea. Thirteen overs later, when Yorkshire had established a modest first-innings lead, they declared. An unbeaten 242 partnership to Rashid and McGrath. Well played - I suppose.

So four and a half sessions left in the game, scores almost level. Not much chance of a result. Especially with how easy it is to bat out there, yes? You didn't really think we would find it that easy, did you? In the 5th over, Pettini was gone, caught at 2nd slip off Bresnan. We ended the day on 23 for 1.

Yorkshire v Essex - Stumps Day 3
Essex 456 & 23-1 v Yorkshire 480-5dec.

 

[6ry4nj]

At Headingley, Monday August 8:
Yorkshire v Essex, County Championship Division 2: Day 4

So now it's Monday, the last day of the game. We have nine wickets in hand, and no real incentive to throw them away. But the bowling from Bresnan and Hoggard - and later from Rashid and Leigh - is understandably quite attacking. Still we had put together a partnership of 60 before Hoggard bowled Loye. We reached lunch at 114 for 2, with Carson on 59, and both he and McPhee looking quite comfortable.

In the end their partnership was worth a pleasing 125. We made it to tea without further loss, and with a score of 191. There was now virtually no chance of a result in the game. Although it was a chaseable lead of only 167, we weren't going to present such an enticing target by declaring.

McPhee also achieved his fifty, but centuries eluded both he and Carson. Three wickets fell in three overs, although by this time they were only minor annoyances. Moore also did not last long, but it didn't matter much. At 17 minutes to six, we declared. Why risk more wickets with nothing to gain by them? Yorkshire's second innings consisted of one maiden over from Dave Masters. Rashid, with five wickets in addition to his unbeaten century, was named Man of the Match.

The draw leaves us on fourth in the table, although only 8 points separate us from Glamorgan in last place! Yorkshire are leading the division, and would have been regardless of the result here. So that makes holding them to a draw a more pleasing outcome.

So that was Monday. It took a bit longer than normal to get home to Chelmsford. I borrowed a curator's van to drive home to London, rather than risk the Bentley or the Lamborghini. Still, no damage done, unless you count the few extra grey hairs we all have now. Now I'm having some much needed rest! Wow! Nine days playing without a break! And for me, twenty-four hours in the air. And on top of all that, the riots! Wednesday morning now, and we have another home four-day game starting tomorrow. Until then, I think I'll put my feet up...

But no - I just remembered! I still owe you a couple of updates! I have been meaning to tell you how the international scene has been going lately, especially the World Cup earlier this year. And a brief recap on the current domestic season wouldn't go amiss. Let me see what I can do before tomorrow's game. First I think I need a leisurely English breakfast. Let me just ring for James or Jeeves or whatever his name is...

Yorkshire v Essex - County Championship Div 2
Essex 456 & 255-6dec. v Yorkshire 480-5dec. & 0-0
MATCH DRAWN

Next Fixture: August 11 - 14: Essex v Glamorgan, Chelmsford

 

[RPHKR]

Both Team have taken more time for gaining more runs , It lead to a draw . Hope Essex win next match , Waiting for updates

 

[6ry4nj]

At Chelmsford, August 11 - 14:
Essex v Glamorgan, County Championship Division 2

I?m afraid I?m going to have to rush through this update to get back up to date. Our Glamorgan game began of course last Thursday. It was cloudy on Thursday morning in Chelmsford. However it looked like the weather was improving, and the forecast was for good batting weather for the next couple of days. So when we won the toss, we did the conventional thing and batted. Here are the lineups.

Yes, again I show alarming confidence in my part-time bowlers. I left it up to Mal as captain to decide how to use Ravi, Alastair and himself. Which worked out rather well, as shall be seen! If the Test had not ended a day early, I can assure you I would not have had the same confidence in Mal?s bowling alone.

The wicket had a little bit in it for the bowlers from the outset. It looked like it would favour the spinners in particular. I?m not going to pretend that came as a complete surprise to me?

However, all it did to Moore and Cook?s batting was to slow them down a bit. We were 79 without loss at lunch. It was a little less cloudy after lunch, as had been forecast. Alastair was scoring very slowly, but we still brought up the century opening stand before he was out for 40, bowled by Harris. Carson had had 6 fifties and a century in his last 7 first class innings, but he could not continue the streak, so we were soon 124 for 2. Moore?s 50 partnership with Walker got him to his century, then he too was gone. At tea we were 206 for 3.

McPhee did not last long after tea, but Loye and Walker came together for a partnership of 99. Unfortunately they were both out just before stumps. So we were six down at the end of the day, for a reasonable return of 327.

Friday was sunnier. Foster and Bopara, then Foster and Harris, encouraged no doubt by the less ambiguous overhead conditions, produced two more fifty partnerships. Lunch was called when we were all out for 445 after 128 overs. Harris? surprising cameo had given him 41 from just 39 balls, 36 of them in boundaries. Not bad batting at number 10!

After lunch, it was even hotter! You might expect that to be something of a problem for our opening bowlers. Not for Naqaash, it would seem. Striking in the 3rd, 6th and 7th overs of his opening spell, Tahir had Coates and Dalrymple caught behind, then bowled Mike Powell, to leave Glamorgan reeling. The very next over, Dave Masters chipped in, bowling O?Shea for a duck. Loye chose Bopara to partner Harris at the first bowling change. It must have been an inspired choice. Ravi?s 7-over spell resulted in two more wickets. When Harris had Oliver caught behind, Glamorgan at 69 for 7 had reached their lowest point.

After tea, Glamorgan staged a minor revival, and James Harris? 29 at number eight was the innings top score. It only took another 11 overs, however, and they were all out for 114. With the lead still greater than 300, and more than two days yet to play, naturally we enforced the follow-on. In the 18 overs bowled before stumps, Tahir got among the wickets again. Glamorgan finished the day 54 for 2. Tahir at that point had 2-26.

On Saturday morning, the clouds were back, although the summer sun had not been totally banished. Harris and Tahir each had a wicket in their first four overs, and Glamorgan had lost 14 wickets and were still 261 behind. O?Shea and Parry started to fight back, but Tahir and Harris struck again to remove O?Shea and Wallace before lunch.

At 147 for 6, it was really only a matter of time. Parry made it to his fifty before departing, and James Harris improved on his first-innings batting heroics with an unbeaten 41. But in the over after the drinks break, the victory was finalized. Glamorgan finished on 198. The winning margin was an innings and 133 runs. Tahir had a well-deserved 5-wicket haul to bring his tally to 9 for the match. Not surprisingly, he also received the Man of the Match award.

The win takes us to a fairly secure fourth place in the table. A great deal hinges on our next game, which starts in Taunton on Friday. Somerset are 3 points ahead of us, with a game in hand. Having missed out on it last year by the slimmest of margins, anything short of promotion this year will be desperately disappointing.

By the way, last Wednesday, England completed a clean sweep of the Pakistan Test series, with a nailbiting one-wicket victory in the 4th Test. Alastair made an unbeaten 131, and was named Man of the Match! Congratulations Alastair!

Your next scheduled update from me will be on Friday evening ? 48 hours from now, give or take. I know I promised you a World Cup report, and an update on our season so far. But this is taking more out of me than I anticipated. I will make good on my promises, I just don?t know when. Normally I despise people who use this excuse (- to be honest I despise myself for saying it), but I do have a life. So ciao - and hasta - from me for now!

Essex v Glamorgan - County Championship Div 2
Essex 445 v Glamorgan 114 & 198
ESSEX DEFEAT GLAMORGAN BY AN INNINGS AND 133 RUNS

Next Fixture: August 19 - 22: Somerset v Essex, Taunton

 

[6ry4nj]

At The County Ground, Taunton, Somerset, August 19:
Somerset v Essex, County Championship Division 2, Day 1

Welcome back, and tonight of course I?m coming to you from beautiful Taunton in Somerset. It was not a particularly sunny day today, although the forecast suggests it was the best we?re going to get for the duration of our stay. Rain seems quite likely tomorrow and on Monday.

Here are the squads by the way:

Ravi and Alastair have been called back to the England camp for the 1st T20 against Pakistan which is on Sunday. It seems a rather odd squad, with no debutants at all, and it appears that Collingwood has played his last game for England. Freddie Flintoff, on the other hand, is still very much a part of England?s limited overs thinking. I?m not sure Alastair is the man for the job of England T20 opener. Be that as it may, we are without both he and Bopara for this match. Consequently I have taken the radical step of picking four bowlers, with Graham Napier coming in. Will Jefferson picked up a serious injury in the last second-team game, and will be out for the best part of a month. Therefore John Maunders comes in for his first first-class game this year.

Somerset have picked 5 bowlers, although neither Banks nor Trego are having a good summer with the ball. Trego would make the team for his batting in any case ? he is Somerset?s top scorer this year. Their overseas player is Hewa (short for Hewasandatchige - I kid you not!) Bopage, a Sri Lankan keeper who is yet to play an international. They have no players injured or on international duty.

Whoever won the toss was going to bat, and it wasn?t us. Plummer and Trescothick to open, Tahir and Masters opening the bowling. In the second over, Plummer was gone, bowled by Masters. Trescothick was not at his best either, and in the next over, he edged Tahir to McPhee at first slip, and was gone for a duck. Then in Tahir?s fifth over, he had Hildreth lbw, and Somerset were 18 for 3. Nine overs later, Harris? eighth ball brought the wicket of Trego, caught behind. 31 for 4.

That was as good as it got for us today, unfortunately. At lunch the score was 80 for 4. After a fifty partnership, Durston was bowled by Harris, and at 90 for 5, we were still on track to get in and bat today. It was de Bruyn and Banks who had other ideas, and all the luck was suddenly on their side. Durston?s wicket was the only one to fall in the session, and by tea the number 6 and 7 had both reached their half-centuries.

After tea, it was still nearly an hour before the partnership was broken. De Bruyn departed, bowled by Masters for 87, in the last over with the old ball. The partnership had been worth 145.

We took the new ball immediately, but Banks and Bopage rode their luck some more. They had seen it off, and Banks was closing in on his century when, in the second last over before stumps, the reintroduction of Masters brought us due reward. Banks, on 98, was trapped in front, and the seventh wicket was down. Phillips survived 6 balls to stumps, so they will start day 2 on 293 for 7, with Bopage on 32.

Meanwhile, Pakistan were playing their one-day warmup game, at Titwood against Scotland. The visitors made 243 for 9 ? they might well have been disappointed with that, although Azeem Ghumman the opener made 101. In reply, it seems Scotland had no answer to Arafat and Munir, who took three wickets apiece. They succumbed meekly for 153.

Nothing really remarkable about the other domestic games in progress. Although at Edgbaston, Durham have had two sessions at more than a run a minute, to finish the day on 382 for 6. With Woakes in the England squad, I wonder if Warwickshire are missing our Naqaash! Rankin has been good for them as ever, but they have been overly reliant on Anyon and Clarke. Ant Botha the spinner has also been underperforming. What were they thinking when they let Tahir go?

Well, that?s it for your day 1 report from Taunton. Join me again tomorrow night, won?t you, and I?ll tell you about day 2.

 

[6ry4nj]

County Ground, Taunton, Somerset, August 20:
Somerset v Essex, County Championship Division 2, Day 2

Welcome back to Taunton for day two. As forecast, the day started off cloudy, and the light, although adequate for play, was far from ideal. Somerset?s tail lasted 14.4 overs, and added another 29 runs, before they were all out. Bopage missed out on his fifty by one, and our main trio of bowlers each added one to their tally of wickets. The picture shows the first wicket to fall this morning, that of Phillips.

Phillips inside-edges Masters to Napier

Pleasingly, we negotiated the 52 minutes to lunch without loss, producing a promising partnership of 38 to that stage. There was no change in the weather after lunch, although the light was improved. Interestingly, half an hour after the resumption, the gloom was back.

Moore was advised to begin the session with caution. However, on the first ball of the session, his cautious lofted off-drive failed to clear a deepish mid-off, and our first wicket had fallen. Loye and Carson?s partnership lasted 8 overs, then Loye was caught at short point off spinner Munday. Carson?s partnership with Walker was more productive, but did not last till tea, as Carson was caught behind for 30, becoming Phillips? second victim. We went in for tea at 145 for 3, with Walker one short of his fifty.

After tea the clouds looked even more threatening. After a good partnership of 85, Walker departed for 89, bowled by Trego. By the last half-hour, the light was fading fast, but play was not suspended, and the rain also held off. McPhee closed in on his fifty, but did not get there. He was caught at forward short leg off the other spinner, Banks, for 48. That left us 245 for 5 at stumps, with Foster on 6 and Maunders on 4. Four of Somerset?s five bowlers have wickets, with their spearhead Charl Willoughby the only one remaining wicketless.

Walker bowled by Trego

So, with five wickets remaining, we still trail by 77. Is there any point speculating on what will happen next? Tahir and Masters have got good scores recently, and Foster, Maunders and Napier have more than 20 first class centuries between them.

I believe our tail is for wagging, but sometimes of course it just folds up meekly. I wonder which kind of dog we will come out as tomorrow? I?m hoping for a bloodhound, or something similarly big and irrepressible! Join me tonight, won?t you, and you?ll find out what transpired.

Somerset v Essex, Stumps Day 2
Somerset 322 (Bopage 49 Masters 32-9-81-4) v Essex 245-5 (Walker 89 Foster 6* Maunders 4* Phillips 14-5-23-2)

 

[Umair7]

let hope essex win this match between nice story