Quinn proves a mighty Festival threat
13 July 2016
The 2016 Cheltenham Festival started with a day which resembled a sandwich. In two of the sessions batting appeared relatively straight forward, but in between Essex's New Zealand swing bowler Matt Quinn producing a career best display taking 6-22 in 49 balls after Gloucestershire's top order had negotiated the morning's play with minimal damage.
Chris Dent (37) was the only man out before rain forced an early lunch at 98-1 and a delayed start to the afternoon's action, but Quinn then proceeded to swing the ball and cause constant trouble from the Chapel End as single handed he gave the scorecard a very different look between lunch and tea as Gloucestershire went from 98-1 to 164-7 in the session.
Under brighter skies Craig Miles and David Payne then demonstrated why both had made useful runs in the season, adding 64 for the 8th wicket. At stumps Gloucestershire had reached 218 for 8, with Miles 45 not out.
Listen to the close of play thoughts of Gareth Roderick here...
Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate exercised his right to ask Gloucestershire to bat, with Josh Shaw's inclusion in place of Benny Howell the only change to the side which drew the last Championship match at Leicester.
There was no hint of what was to follow early on, as Dent and Gareth Roderick profited from some bowling of variable length from both Quinn and new ball partner Jamie Porter.
Porter in particular was guilty of over pitching in the first of two spells, with Dent clipping him off his legs through mid wicket and Roderick playing the first of series of excellent straight drives which were a feature of the morning's play.
Quinn extracted some bounce but it took a while for the New Zealander, along with Graham Napier, to establish some measure of control and there was little sign of a breakthrough in the first hour until Dent thick edged a drive past Zaidi to bring up the fifty partnership with his captain.
The slow outfield after both overnight and morning rain didn't stifle the scoring appreciably although Porter did benefit from a change of ends, with greater economy and consistency bringing reward with the wicket of Dent, who had breezed his way to 37 before edging low to Westley in the slips.
The left hander had put on 77 with Roderick for the first wicket, and the Gloucestershire captain added a further 21 with Graeme van Buuren before rain forced the players off ten minutes before the scheduled lunch interval.
An hour was lost in mopping up and the day was reduced to a maximum of 79 overs play when the players returned, and it was Quinn who immediately made an impact.
Bowling from the Chapel End he produced swing which neither his team mates or the Gloucestershire batsmen could match, trapping Graeme van Buuren lbw with his first ball for 12, and then beating Gareth Roderick's defensive push without finding the edge. It was a pointer to the next hour's play.
Klinger (5) was bowled by one that came back from outside off stump, and Westley dropped Hamish Marshall before skipper Roderick - who had completed his half century off 83 balls with seven fours - was trapped lbw for 61 by the tall Kiwi who joined Essex at the start of the season.
Westley atoned for his earlier error by taking a second chance offered by Marshall off Quinn, and Noema-Barnett dragged a thick inside edge onto his stumps. When Jack Taylor played around a full length ball Quinn had taken six wickets in a sustained spell which had made a nonsense of the relative comfort with which Roderick and Dent had started the day.
Craig Miles and David Payne held things together until tea, and with the skies clearing for the resumption even Quinn couldn't replicate his earlier devilment. Essex captain Ryan ten Doecshate rotated his bowlers, using seven in all but with no initial success as Miles in particular stood tall and played some crisp shots off both the front and back foot.
The pair brought up a fifty partnership in 13 overs, and when the dark clouds rolled in again, one batting point had been secured and the eighth wicket partnership was still intact.
Six further overs were possible after a break for bad light, long enough for Quinn to add a seventh wicket to his tally for the day, Mickleburgh taking a sharp chance to remove Payne for 26.
Norwell kept Miles (45*) company until stumps, and the pair will resume on Thursday morning on 218-8 knowing a new ball is only 12 overs away and that a repeat of their big stand against Worcestershire in 2014 could make a big difference to the match.
