Essex sail a bit of rockily into unchartered territory
Surrey 1 for 0 path Essex 314 (Westley 62, Critchley 60, Cook 51, Atkinson 6-68) by 313 runs
No staff had made 300 towards Surrey this season, and that file threatened to stretch right into a seventh consecutive innings at Chelmsford. Essex had been coasting in the direction of uncharted territory at tea on the primary day, 204 for 3 and with Tom Westley, the captain, and Matt Critchley ensconced in an unbroken hundred stand, just for a clatter of wickets to depart the scoreboard studying 245 for 8, and cries of “C’mon the ‘rey” drifting throughout the county floor.
In the top, the house aspect pocketed their second batting level pretty comfortably, due to an enterprising partnership of 62 in 12 overs between Simon Harmer and Sam Cook. Both benefited from misses within the discipline – Harmer put down by Rory Burns at slip on 5, whereas Kemar Roach at positive leg utterly failed to choose up a top-edged hook when Cook had 8 – and Surrey had been left to repent at leisure earlier than Gus Atkinson returned to cap a positive show along with his maiden first-class five-wicket haul.
By then Essex had carved out a place from which they may hope to stay aggressive. Alastair Cook has endured a lean begin to the season however produced a primary half-century, and his efforts had been matched by Westley and Critchley; however after toiling by way of the afternoon Surrey girded themselves within the method of champions. Their response, on what appears a dry floor, towards Harmer, who had males crowding the bat in his one over earlier than stumps, might decide whether or not they keep their place on the high of Division One after the conclusion of this spherical.
These two counties have gained 4 of the final 5 Championship titles, and this fixture featured 13 gamers with worldwide expertise. There won’t have the attendant fanfare of Steven Smith’s debut for Sussex at New Road, however Sean Abbott bowling to Dan Lawrence provided up a proto-Ashes duel (even when each are a way off being chosen at this stage) whereas Ben Foakes produced a reminder of what England would miss had been he neglected behind the stumps – at the same time as Jonny Bairstow was doing his finest just a few hundred miles to the north to state a convincing case for why the selectors ought to do exactly that.
Surrey, whose motto could be “never knowingly under-resourced”, had been in a position to pass over their main wicket-taker, Dan Worrall, and nonetheless produce the type of concerted bowling efficiency that ultimately discovered a manner by way of the cracks in Essex’s batting. And regardless of the presence of Abbott and Roach, their most-impressive performer was Atkinson, the 25-year-old enjoying his first match of the season.
His finest figures in any format for Surrey included the prize wicket of Cook, that venerable warhorse of Ashes summers previous, in addition to each Essex tail-end miscreants to complete with positive figures of 6 for 68. There was additionally an essential contribution from the returning Will Jacks, whose flighted offbreak was answerable for ending Essex’s fourth-wicket stand at 114, Critchley’s outdoors edge snapped up one-handed by a flying Burns in one of many higher moments of Surrey fielding. Foakes, immaculate as ever, claimed 5 catches behind the stumps.
The morning started with Essex opting to bat, the house XI bolstered by returns for Lawrence and Sam Cook after harm. Surrey omitted Worrall as a part of the deliberate rotation of their seamers, whereas Jacks made his first look since struggling a hip harm whereas on England obligation that scuppered his probabilities of enjoying in a maiden IPL.
Essex’s openers negotiated the early exchanges with out too many alarms, though Cook did get pleasure from an early let off – Jamie Smith failing to latch on to a sliced drive off Abbott that looped tantalisingly in the direction of backward level when he had made 13. Cook’s entrance foot was quickly lunging ahead, Hungry Hippos-style, to clump the ball by way of cowl as he went previous 50 for the 193rd time on this, his twenty first season as a first-class cricketer. He was dropped once more shortly after, Ollie Pope solely in a position to get a hand on a diving likelihood at second slip.
Atkinson had been the bowler to finish a 62-run opening stand, discovering elevate and motion from again of a size with simply his second ball to have Nick Browne taken at third slip, and he produced a good higher one-two mixture to see off Cook. Having switched to around the wicket, Atkinson jagged one previous the skin edge, lacking the highest of off stump by a whisker, then introduced his subsequent ball again to graze the within edge – Foakes finishing the dismissal with an athletic leg-side take.
A 3rd wicket went down straight after lunch, Abbott curving one previous Lawrence’s outdoors edge for an additional Foakes catch – though whether or not the ball got here off bat or thigh pad was much less clear. Essex’s fourth-wicket pair then settled into a gradual rhythm because the pendulum swung again in the direction of the hosts. There was even the prospect for followers of the house aspect to benefit from the glovework of Foakes, an Essex boy who has gone on to larger issues with Surrey, who acrobatically held on to an in-dipping Roach yorker that beat Westley all finally ends up solely to overlook leg stump.
The grumbles started after Critchley and Westley departed in consecutive overs, and will have elevated a notch when Michael Pepper was caught behind trying to reverse-sweep Jack, having made 6 off six balls with one scoring shot. A collapse of 5 for 27 undid a few of the exhausting work however few groups will tangle with Surrey this season and emerge utterly unscathed.
Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick