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Charlesworth holds steady on tough first day

23 September 2019

Gloucestershire found the going tough on the opening day of their match against Second Division promotion rivals Northamptonshire at Bristol as steady afternoon rain caused 66.4 overs to be lost.

Ben Charlesworth did his best to keep Gloucestershire's first innings afloat, the teenage all-rounder contributing a defiant 35 not out on a day when conditions militated against batting fluency. The Shire finishing the day on 80/6.

A draw will, in all likelihood, be enough to see both sides promoted ahead of Glamorgan, who must achieve a convincing win at Durham if they are to supplant either in the top three. That being the case, third-placed Gloucestershire will not be entirely unhappy with a weather forecast which raises serious doubt over prospects for play from here-on in. Certainly, they were the ones breathing a collective sigh of relief when umpires Mike Burns and David Millns called a halt to proceedings in the first over after lunch.

Intent upon seeing off strike bowlers Sanderson and Brett Hutton and taking the shine off the new ball, openers James Bracey and Chris Dent fulfilled their obligations during the first 10 overs, waiting patiently for the bad ball and advancing the score to 27 without loss.

Bracey then departed from the script on eight, driving at a Sanderson delivery that pitched outside off stump and offering a catch behind to Adam Rossington via a thin edge.

Northants struck again in the very next over, Gareth Berg locating Miles Hammond's outside edge and Hutton taking a smart catch low to his left.

Taken by surprise when called for a quick single by new batsman Gareth Roderick, Dent was slow to set off and comprehensively run out for 15 by Luke Procter's throw and direct hit from cover point in the 14th over.

Roderick then compounded his error, pushing tentatively forward to a length ball from Sanderson and departing lbw for two later in the same over, at which point the home side had lost four wickets for the addition of five runs in the space of 23 balls. 

George Hankins helped advance the score to 54 before suffering outrageous misfortune, run out in the act of backing up when Doug Bracewell deflected a straight drive from Charlesworth onto the stumps. And Ryan Higgins followed him back to the pavilion soon afterwards, attempting to pull Bracewell and chipping to short square leg for one with the score on 67.

Charlesworth did his utmost to retrieve a parlous situation, posting an unbeaten 35 in alliance with Graeme van Buuren, who is five not out. Much to Gloucestershire's relief, just two balls were bowled after lunch before the anticipated rain arrived from the South West. 

Charlesworth's defiance has so far spanned 58 balls and an hour and 10 minutes and his team will require more of the same from him if and when play resumes on day two.

Charlesworth said:

"It's been difficult for us batting first at Bristol this season, but this is essentially a good wicket. It's not an 80-6 wicket and it's fair to say we haven't had a lot of luck. The two run outs were unfortunate and served to set us back. We're on the back foot, but there is still plenty of batting left and our first target has to be to try and pass 200. David Payne and Josh Shaw have scored runs on a regular basis this summer and there is no reason why we cannot get to a challenging total once the weather relents.

The rain is frustrating, especially when you have one eye on what is happening in other games and cannot get out in the middle yourself. It's important we don't focus on what is going on at Durham to the detriment of our own performance. We know what we need in terms of points and we have to be very single-minded in that respect. We'll dust ourselves down and come back fighting."

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