Essex Rothesay County Championship Div 1 at [add sponsor] County Ground Chelmsford Day 2

 

20/06

Day 2

19/06

PATTERSON-WHITE BEST TURNS MATTERS TO NOTTS' ADVANTAGE

Day 1

After an action packed first day at sweltering Chelmsford, Notts trial Essex by 73 runs with eight first innings wickets still standing.

Essex won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket that had clearly been prepared to suit Essex spinners Harmer and Critchley. Verreynne and Stone came in for Ali and Pennington. Surprisingly Farhan was not included in the Eleven. Essex were without Jordan Cox and the injured Simon Cook. Wiaan Mulder was unavailable as he was playing in the US T20.

O'Neill (Hayes Close End) and Hutton opened the bowling and initially Essex openers Elgar and Walter looked relatively secure. In front of a large crowd, temperatures touching 30 degrees and with the crumbling old ground unchanged in the last 40 years, it had feel of championship cricket of my youth in the 1970s and 1980.

A legside four by Elgar off O'Neill got Essex finally off the mark after 27 balls. Elgar (12) though failed to compose a large innings being lbw to Hutton; 23 for 1 in the 10th over. Stone replaced O'Neill for the 13th over and with his sixth delivery got one to lift and found the edge of Walter's (12) bat, Verreynne taking the catch, 31 for two. 

Westley and Allison added 56 in 16 overs for the third wicket. James came on for the 16th over. Westley hit three fours off the first four James deliveries, 13 off the 20th over. O'Neill replaced Stone for the 25th over. Patterson-White came on for James in the 26th over. James 5 0 24 0 was not to bowl again. The slow left armer bowled superbly and totally changed the day. In his third over he had top scorer Westley (44)  well caught by McCann diving low to his right at first slip ; 87 for 3 off 29.2 overs and Allison on 13 not out. Lunch was immediately taken. An even morning.

Notts had a superb start to the second session. Crichley played the ball to Hameed at cover and went for a suicidal single, with Allison (19) failing to beat Hameed's  throw with Verreynne whipping off the bails; 93 for 4 off 32 overs. A bonus wicket and a massive turning point.

Next over, Critchley (1) was lbw hit on his back pad by O'Neill,  95 for 5 in the 33rd over. Essex had lost three wickets for 8 runs. Benkenstein and Pepper added 33 in seven overs for the 6th wicket. Pepper cover drove two boundaries off three O'Neill balls, 11 off the 37th over. Next over, Pepper swept successive boundaries to long leg off Patterson-White; 10 off the over. The following over, Hutton replaced O'Neill from the Hayes Close End. Pepper's (24 off 26 balls) attacking cameo came to the end when he was smartly caught at second slip by James off Patterson-White; 128 for 6 in the 40th over. In his next over, Patterson-White got one to turn and bowled Harmer's (1) off stump, 130 tor 7 in the 42nd over. Five balls later, Benkenstein got a thin edge to Patterson-White and he was caught by Verreynne;  133 tor 8 after 42 overs. In another mini collapse Essex had lost three wickets for five runs in 14 balls. Three wickets for LPW in 8 balls.

Snater gave it the long handle. Stone came back for the 46th over. Snater launched Patterson-White for a straight six, eight off the 46th over. Snater hit Patterson-White for a huge six over long on in the 50th over. Bennett hit three successive fours off Stone through cover, a pulled through long leg and a slog just over mid wicket; 15 off the 51st over. The 9th wicket had added 44 when Bennett (21) was caught at second slip by James, a fifth wicket for Patterson-White; 177 for 9  in the 56th over. Snater (31) hit Patterson-White for a straight six in the 58th over; just two balls later going for another big hit was bowled middle and off by Patterson-White.  Essex 184 off 57.4 overs. Porter 0 not out. Patterson-White with a career best 16.4 4 43 6. An outstanding effort. Tea was taken between the innings.

Notts had 38 overs to bat in a long last session. Porter (Hayes Close End) and Snater opened the bowling. Hameed, so out of form in 2026, played his best innings of the season, leading by example on a tricky surface tailor made for local hero Harmer.

Hameed went for his shots hitting four boundaries in the 19 balls. Slater (0) fell for a six ball duck getting an edge to Snater with keeper Pepper taking the catch; 20 for 1 in the 4th over. With Harmer coming on for the 8th over, Notts fans feared the worst. But Hameed coolly cover drove him for four.  McCann then reverse swept Harmer for four. Snater came on from the Hayes Close End for the 13th over. A two for Hameed off Harmer took Notts past 50 in the 14th over. McCann (16) was bowled off stump by Snater; 55 for 2 in the 17th over. Hameed and Clarke batted diligently whilst adding an unbroken 56 in the remaining 21 overs of a boiling hot day.

Bennett came on for the 23rd over replacing Snater, a cover driven four through the covers took Hameed to a high class 50 off 79 balls. Harmer after a ten over spell from the River End made way for Critchley. A legside four for Hameed off Critchley took Notts to three figures in the 32nd over. Snater returned for the 33rd over. Harmer came back for the 36th over to bowl two more overs. Stumps were drawn at 18:12 with Notts 111 for 2 off 38 overs with Hameed on 68 and Clarke on 25. Incredibly so far no wickets for Harmer, that will change. Notts having to bat last on a tricky wicket will be looking to get a decent lead.

Notts had had a brilliant day with Hameed and Patterson-White the undoubted stars. MAG

18/06

So is that an admission of a mistake by those at the top?

Farhan in for Ali, the only change to the squad of 13 from the squad last week.

Haseeb Hameed c

Ben Slater

Freddie McCann

Joe Clarke

Jack Haynes

Kyle Verreynne x

Lyndon James

Liam Patterson-White

Fergus O'Neill

Brett Hutton

Olly Stone

Farhan Ahmed

Dillon Pennington

6 batsmen plus the three all rounders

17/06

Victories are few and far between and defeats are rarer in 2026 but a string of losses would end the season prematurely for Notts. So, we have to bounce back from a poor performance on and off the field the last time out.

Play better and have the right balance of players playing better too.

On form and by performance only Fergus would retain his spot in the eleven from the Somerset defeat, but clearly more runs are required and five seamers won't be necessarily be the way forward again.

The out of form forecasters are saying it's going to a hot weekend, especially down south, so I've added a second full time spin option to the previous squad [Hameed on gives Freddie one over per innings], but it remains to be seen what Peter does and if anyone has picked up an injury from getting thrashed earlier in the week.

Essex are now at the top of the heap, so perhaps that will encourage them to roll out something other than a road...

Last week's squad:

Haseeb Hameed c

Ben Slater

Freddie McCann

Joe Clarke

Jack Haynes

Kyle Verreynne x

Lyndon James

Liam Patterson-White

Fergus O'Neill

Brett Hutton

Olly Stone

Dillon Pennington

Mohammad Ali

+

Farhan Ahmed