16:20
62nd over: Essex 145-5 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 24, Wheater 2) Ten Doeschate rises nicely up on his toes and glides Gregory towards third man for a couple.
16:15
61st over: Essex 143-5 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 22, Wheater 2) As if by magic, the Essex physio strolls out to slowly check on Wheater’s hand. It turns out it’s ok. Sanitation break.
16:13
60th over: Essex 143-5 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 22, Wheater 2) Some lovely fielding from Lammonby prevents a Ten Doeschate bounday but I think Essex have given up on the win. It’s all press, press, reach. Twenty overs left
Ah Brian Withington again: “Further to my observation BTL, is there any precedent for the batting team to appeal successfully against the floodlight glare off a bowler’s bald pate? Might Leach be require to bowl wearing a cap, or at least a liberal application of Factor 50?”
16:09
59th over: Essex 142-5 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 22, Wheater 1) Leach whizzes through that so quickly I didn’t see a ball.
16:08
58th over: Essex 141-5 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 22, Wheater 0) Ten Doeschate knocks Gregory for a couple off his pads.
Robert Wilson is feeling mischievous. “Why don’t they turn off the floodlights and have a go in the dark? It would be a laugh in a Lord of The Rings:80s tour of India kind of way.
Is it the camera position or has the slope got a lot more dramatic? Subsidence? Orcs? I like it. It gives the instinctive physics of cricket-watching a little spice. 140/150 odd for 5 is a perfect match position for making mistakes. On both sides. It’s a sadly neglected part of good sport, making mistakes. Where’s the praise for exciting errors? Why is the county cricket over-rate so dizzyingly better than that of Tests?”
Today, it is spice. But as a general rule, I’m not sure the over rate is that much better? Someone will have the figures at their fingers tips…
16:02
57th over: Essex 139-5 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 20, Wheater 0) Leach reels through another maiden but time is ticking away, Ten Doeschate is careful, deliberate. But we’ve seen too many close finishes this BWT to assume anything ….yet.
A hopeful email appears from Abhijato Sensarma “With another season of the English first-class summer coming to a close, I would like to thank The Guardian for its excellent coverage as usual. This felt like an interlude, and not only because it took place in the middle of a pandemic. There have also been talks about restructuring the Championship to be more like the Bob Willis Trophy. None of us know what will happen, but I hope for the best. Despite all the oddities and revamps, there’s a reason why this sport has survived in the public conscience for as long as it has. Cricket, you’ll be alright!”
15:58
56th over: Essex 139-5 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 20, Wheater 0) Four leg byes from Ten Doeschate off Gregory, spray to the rope under the eye of the media centre. The target falls below 100.
15:56
55th over: Essex 133-5 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 20, Wheater 0) Lots of sheeesh and shlurp as Esssex resolutely prod.
15:52
54th over: Essex 132-5 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 19, Wheater 0) Overton is replaced after one over – too quick in the gloom we assume – and Gregory takes over. Wheater doesn’t look entirely comfortable.
Simon Porter types: “While hoping for an Essex victory can I applaud both sides for putting on an enthralling game in difficult conditions. A great advert for ‘proper’ cricket – and thanks to you for keeping us entertained too.”
They’ve been great haven’t they?
15:49
53rd over: Essex 131-5 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 18, Wheater 0) After a vigil of 88 balls, Walter has to go! Danger man Wheater walks out and Leach has his second wicket of the season.
15:47
WICKET! Walter lbw Leach 21
A second for Leach, coming round the wicket, Walter stretches forward and thanks very much!
Updated
15:44
52nd over: Essex 131-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 18, Walter 21) Not sure what was happening there as Overton continues from the Pavilion End at full pace, though perhaps a touch fuller?!
Updated
15:40
51st over: Essex 131-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 18, Walter 21) Just a handful off that over. Then – what is this – the umpires take the light-meters out – and they seem to be telling Abell that Somerset have to bowl spin. He has a long chat with Overton… everyone looks confused.
“Is there any room behind Kim Thonger’s sofa for a nervous Essex supporter and three retired/failed guide dogs?” Asks Brian Withington. “All tolerably house trained, unless provoked by further fall of wickets.”
Updated
15:35
Final session of the summer
50th over: Essex 128-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 17, Walter 19) Overton, fresh from a rub down of those weary limbs, bowls his 14th full-throttle over of the innings. A maiden.
The plane trees hanging over the wall from the pavement are shedding their leaves outside the Tavern stand, while the trees by the side of the Harris Gardens slowly turn.
15:11
Tea:Essex 128-4 Target 237
49th over: Essex 128-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 17, Walter 19) Vic walks in saying, “oh dear, oh dear.” And that’s tea! Essex’s to lose. Restart at 3.30, just off to walk mini laps of the certified area of Lord’s.
15:07
48th over: Essex 121-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 11, Walter 18) Just the usual couple of lbw shouts.
Updated
15:03
47th over: Essex 121-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 11, Walter 18) Walter dribbles one past short leg and they come back for two, then Ten Doeschate clips Leach for two more. There are at least two raucous appeals every over at the moment.
15:00
46th over: Essex 115-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 8, Walter 15) Overton gets one to rise to Ten Doeschate’s head, he jerks it out of the way and somehow guides the ball behind for four at the same time. Another fierce appeal follows for a caught behind . It’s all getting rather tense out there.
Updated
14:56
45th over: Essex 111-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 4, Walter 15) Dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot. Interspersed with a couple of hearty appeals.
14:55
44th over: Essex 111-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 4, Walter 15) Overton returns, this time from the pavilion end. Steam spurting out of both nostrils, he hurricanes. A loud, prolonged appeal for caught behind against Ten Doeschate, supported by the slips, turned down by the umpire.
Kim Thonger pings an email, “Both dachshunds, also Somerset fans, have joined me behind the sofa. We are now effectively playing our own game of sardines. Please could you ask Essex to do the decent thing and collapse like good chaps. We can’t take much more.”
14:50
43rd over: Essex 111-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 4, Walter 15) I love that Leach, such an unsportsman-looking sportsman, bespectacled, slight, can play alongside the Overton and Walters. Walter posts him for four.
14:45
42nd over: Essex 107-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 4, Walter 11) It is so bleak out there, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear Christmas Carols round the tree in the pavilion. (I think they do that, which always sounded rather nice. Decorations presumably bacon and egg themed.)
14:41
41st over: Essex 106-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 4, Walter 10) Keeper, two slips, short leg, A maiden. And Tom Lammonby is the Cricket Society young player of the year.
14:38
40th over: Essex 106-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 4, Walter 10) Walter releases the tension with a boundary etched through the leg side.
Updated
14:35
39th over: Essex 102-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 4, Walter 6) Ten Doeschate, who was 40 in June, possibly playing his last innings for Essex, nips a couple of duos, then carefully, carefully, plays Leach down the pitch.
Updated
14:30
38th over: Essex 98-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 0, Walter 6) I don’t want to worry Somerset fans but an unamed source in the box thinks bad light is going to play more of part today. A maiden from Brooks.
Updated
14:28
37th over: Essex 98-4 Target 237 (Ten Doeschate 0, Walter 6) Leach’s first wicket since Tim Southee at Mount Maunganui 10 months ago. The pendulum swings towards Zumerzet.
14:23
WICKET! Lawrence lbw Leach 35
Leach’s first wicket of the season! A big, fat, juicy plum of an lbw.
Updated
14:22
36th over: Essex 96-3 Target 237 (Lawrence 35, Walter 6) Brooks switches end and Walter has a wild brush but gets away with it.
“Good cold afternoon Tanya,” Good cold afternoon Tone White!”
“I remember sneaking (free) into the Chelmsford ground around 1952. Ish. Many things were possible in those days, including ruining best shoes at the riverside.
The weather was similar but the cricket was different. That’s all!
Thanks for working on Sunday.”
It is honestly a pleasure.
14:18
35th over: Essex 95-3 Target 237 (Lawrence 34, Walter 6) And sure enough it is Leach. First ball he has Lawrence groping to one that dips. Lawrence then slams him through to the cover boundary. A single brings Walter to the striker’s end, whereupon much jiggery pokery and rearranging of field occurs.
14:12
34th over: Essex 90-3 (Lawrence 29, Walter 6) Much clapping and encouragement from the Somerset players as Davey skims in. At first slip, Tom Abell warms up. Bess, who has been fielding as 12th man on his last day on the Somerset books before he moves to Yorkshire, returns to the pavilion as someone ( I can’t tell who) jogs out with a helmet on. It suggests, it must be Jack Leach…
Updated
14:07
33rd over: Essex 88-3 (Lawrence 28, Walter 6) Will Lawrence and Walter mind being becalmed? Only three runs and a leg bye in the last five overs. No sign of agitation yet as they carefully play back to Brooks.
14:04
32nd over: Essex 88-3 (Lawrence 27, Walter 6) Lawrence is so tall, like a gardener turning potatoes, he defends the ball easily back in the soil. A maiden.
14:01
31st over: Essex 88-3 (Lawrence 27, Walter 6) Brooks, white headband pulled down on his head, like an Easter Egg, draws Lawrence into a false prod. He’s got it zipping through.
13:55
30th over: Essex 88-3 (Lawrence 27, Walter 6) A quick sanitisation break follows another over from Gregory.
13:54
29th over: Essex 86-3 (Lawrence 26, Walter 5) Brooks, injured thumb obviously sufficiently recovered, gets his first over, replacing Overton from the Nursery end. Causes problems, just a leg bye from it.
13:51
28th over: Essex 85-3 (Lawrence 26, Walter 5) Damn you spell check!
Whoops! Adrian Goldman
“Hmm. Won’t they get disqualified for that? right there on the pitch??”
and Andrew Benton.
“I love the thought of Somerset’s fielders having a punt in the outfield in celebration – though that would surely be against the rules?. Wondering if you mean gambol? 🙂
Hope they win, however they celebrate!”
13:43
28th over: Essex 82-3 (Lawrence 25, Walter 3) Overton, like the wind, Lawrence plays him carefully, picks up one. Walter, 6 foot 7 to Overton’s 6 foot 5, ticks up one the other end.
13:39
27th over: Essex 80-3 (Lawrence 24, Walter 2) Somerset jogging into position at the end of each over, Bartlett hands shoved deep in his pockets, big, proper, cable knit woolly jumpers all round.
13:34
25th over: Essex 74-3 (Lawrence 24, Walter 0) Superb bowling by Gregory who follows up Cook’s wicket with a – close- lbw shout against Lawrence. Next ball, Lawrence catapaults him back down the ground.
13:28
WICKET! Cook c Davies b Gregory 31
THE BIG ONE! He’s not impressed, he puts his hand on his hip but has to go, walks off at glacial pace. Somerset’s fielders gambol in pure delight.
Updated
13:28
24th over: Essex 67-2 (Lawrence 19, Cook 30) It looks even darker out there. Just one off Overton’s over, whose pose after delivery matches the anguish of one of Bosch’s poor souls caught falling into hell
A meringue v a fruit cake – both have their place.
13:22
23rd over: Essex 67-2 (Lawrence 19, Cook 30) Gregory sends down a swift bouncer, which Lawrence, tall and upright, ducks. The slips continue to moan with the wind.
13:18
22nd over: Essex 66-2 (Lawrence 19, Cook 30) Overton again from the Nursery end. In he pounds, Lawrence drives him, heady like a whiff of lavender, through the covers.
“Hello from a balmy afternoon in Nairobi.” Areas, Robert Darby. “While I take Tim de Lisle’s point about Alastair Cook’s batting performance totally overshadowing the rest of the team, he has made a slight error. Cook’s colleagues have lost 9 wickets and not 11 because they were not all out in the first innings.”