News

Dawson calls for concentration as Essex take control

22 June 2015

Variables in cricket are often created by the weather. Essex batted throughout a first day which showed little difference to the previous dozen in the Championship at the Bristol County Ground this season, but morning rain and a delayed start meant there was just enough moisture in the pitch to make it an ideal bowling day, and their seam attack made the most of it.

They bowled out Gloucestershire for only 116, and enforced the follow-on with 49 overs still remaining in the day. When Graham Napier trapped Chris Dent lbw for a duck, he had taken four wickets in nine balls across the two innings, and Gloucestershire still had to make 203 to avoid an innings defeat.

At stumps, with an unbeaten half century from Michael Klinger and determined support from Roderick and Cockbain, Gloucestershire were  126-3 in their 2nd innings, 77 runs behind.

Here what Head Coach Richard Dawson had to say about the day here....

Gloucestershire had beaten Essex comfortably at Chelmsford earlier in the season, but it was Paul Grayson's bowlers who were superior here. The mix was an interesting one - the promising Porter was the quickest, backed by the experience of Ryder, Napier and Bopara, all of whom generate their speed by strong actions rather than sprints to the crease.

The problems for the batsmen were soon evident. Initially the ball was almost doing too much, as three big appeals for catches by 'keeper Foster and first slip Cook were all turned down. As it happened, plenty more chances would come along.

Porter - looking a clone of Liam Norwell in terms of his approach to the crease - had already worried Will Tavare before Cook easily snapped up a snick in his second over. He then produced a fine delivery to send back Klinger, who could do nothing to prevent an edge which gave Ryder his first catch of the day.

The New Zealander had opened the bowling at the Ashley Down Road End, but it was in the slips where he was have his real impact after removing Dent, who didn't get a full stride in when Ryder came round the wicket and fell lbw for 12.

Gareth Roderick had been using whatever pace there was to chiefly score square with or behind the wicket, and he and Ian Cockbain has just started to steady things when Ravi Bopara produced a double blow just before lunch.

First Ryder dived forward to cling onto a dead weight edge from Roderick, who had made 28, and then the same combination removed Geraint Jones after the ball lifted on the Gloucestershire skipper. The top order had been removed with only 61 on the board.

The follow-on target was still 108 runs away and only Benny Howell, fleetingly, threatened to stay around long enough to get Gloucestershire past it. It was Napier who did the damage on his return to the attack, Cockbain being trapped lbw for 10 after getting caught in his crease.

Ryder snaffled a fourth catch when Jack Taylor cut airily at Porter, before the chunky Napier produced a spectacular finish, bowling Howell - who shouldered arms - Miles and Fuller in the same over to finish with 4-27.

With the ball still moving, it was no surprise that James Foster enforced the follow-on, and Napier wasn't having the ball taken off him at that point. Another full, straight delivery thudded against Dent's pad and the opener was on his way.

When Tavare tried and failed to draw his bat inside another well directed ball from Porter, both openers had been out twice in the day and made only 22 runs between them. Gloucestershire were 10-2, and 193 runs were still needed to make Essex bat again.

Klinger and Roderick survived the 13 overs until tea, when Gloucestershire were 38-2, and occupation of the crease remained the priority for the rest of the day. Roderick was dropped twice, but not a third time when his stand with Klinger had reached 55. He'd made 24 when he played an attempted cut to a ball from Ryder and Foster did the rest.

With runs in the bank, Essex could continue to attack. It would be wrong to say that Klinger was fluent, but there was room for the occasional pleasing drive as well as his trademark deflections. The difficulty of the day was summed by the shot that took him to his fifty off 97 balls, an edge past first slip which brought him his seventh boundary.

Cockbain, who had battled away for over an hour in the first innings without much impact on the scoreboard, was then able to keep Klinger company until stumps, by which point they had added 61 for the 4th wicket. The deficit is down to 77, but there is still much to do.

• Previous
• Next