All to play for after two days
Day two of the Rothesay County Championship match between Nottinghamshire and Essex won’t go down as the most thrilling in the context of the season, but both teams went about it with an intensity that should have set up day three nicely.
With an opening round draw, Essex came into this game hoping for their first win. Nottinghamshire, buoyed by their victory over Durham last week, were determined to build on their growing resilience. Despite setbacks, they had shown they could dig deep, and the edge from day one kept the Essex side hungry for wickets in the fieldfar longer than they had hoped.
Essex wrapped up the Notts first innings early on day two, with Sam Cook claiming two more wickets. First, he had the ever-maturing Farhan Ahmed caught by Matt Critchley at third slip for a well-deserved 31, before removing Dillon Pennington. Cook finished with figures of four for 44, leaving Notts’ overseas player Kyle Verreynne unbeaten on 128 as they were all out for 347.
Although Verreynne’s contribution and the work of the lower order had put Notts in a strong position, the pitch was expected to favour batters on day two. Essex started positively, but Nottinghamshire were quick to strike. Fergus O’Neil, another overseas import for Notts, made the early breakthrough when Charlie Allison was rapped on the pad and sent on his way for 11.
Brett Hutton was brought into the attack as the second change and dismissed Tom Westley, also out lbw for five, as the pitch showed signs of uneven bounce. Lyndon James would later exploit this with exaggerated bounce from the Stuart Broad end of the ground.
The opening exchanges echoed the situation from the first match: bowlers who put in the effort were rewarded sparingly, while batters had to be watchful. Despite the dry spring, early-season pitches still had a way of throwing up surprises as the bounce became increasingly unpredictable.
Paul Walter and Jordan Cox provided Essex with a solid recovery, building a third-wicket partnership of 123. Walter, the more watchful of the two, anchored the partnership, leaving the more attacking shots to Cox, who continued his aggressive style.
The pair were not immune to the unpredictable conditions. Having played a patient knock of 72, Walter was lured into playing an ambitious shot after hitting Ahmed for a six over cover. The result was a simple catch to Joe Clarke, ending Walter’s stay.
His dismissal left Cox to continue the innings alone, and the in-form batter looked well set for another big score. However, just after the tea break, Cox/s promising knock came to a close when he was caught behind off Lyndon James, giving the bowler his second wicket of the innings. Essex now found themselves at 205-4.
It was the first time Cox had failed to convert fifty into a hundred in a while; his last five innings had seen him reach three figures. Clearly, the Essex man was disappointed with the hard work that seemed done at that point.
Notts bowled with discipline, waiting for something to happen without losing control. They got their reward when Michael Pepper, on 26 from 29 balls, picked out Jack Haynes to give James his second wicket.
With light becoming an issue for the first time in the match, it was increasingly important for Essex to navigate the last six overs without losing any further wickets, still 67 runs behind. Matt Critchley and Noah Thain ensured that no late wickets fell, and with 46 runs behind and five wickets in hand, Critchley even had time to bring up his fifty in the final over. Essex can come back in the morning knowing a good first session will put them just about back in front in a game that still could have some twists.
Notts know the importance of early wickets to ensure they don’t fall behind in a gameagainst a team that usually spends their time at the top of the table and knows how to be ruthless when it matters.
