- BATSMENRBM4s6sSR8.1 TWO IN TWO! A misjudgement from Browne, as he rocks onto the back foot and tries to punch a delivery from Murtagh through extra cover. The nip away off the pitch does the left-hander for a healthy edge, well held by Sam Robson at second slip 38/27.6 STRANGLED! Cook goes tamely with a tickle down the leg side, just as he had started to get going. This was not the first delivery Roland-Jones past the former England captain's hip, but the thinnest of flicks is taken well by Simpson diving to his right 38/154.3 GONE! Westley pushes forward into a drive but Roland-Jones has got some late shape away from the right-hander to take enough of the outside half of the bat. The ball skews quickly towards backward point, where Max Holden takes a smart catch low to his right. A strong third-wicket partnership is ended on 121 159/369.4 Gone! Lawrence targets the short side, stepping across to Helm - who is wider on the crease - and attempts his patented whip up-and-over square leg. Alas, the centurion finds nothing but thin air as the ball thuds into his pad in front of middle stump, arrowing towards leg 199/493.1 SEVEN! Critchley gets lured into a swipe to the short-boundary, top-edging into the bright blue sky behind him. Simpson steadies himself and has to fall back to complete a good catch. Roland-Jones finishes with 7 for 61, his second best career-figures 266/1081.4 THE PRESSURE TELLS! Middlesex's attack have really put the brakes on Essex since Lawrence's dismissal. Rossington's attempts to score end with him finding Hollman out at deep square leg on the short side. Between this and the previous wicket, the visitors have managed just 14 runs in 12 overs 213/585.1 OUT! Harmer steps across his stumps and is pinned on the pads. He's not happy with the decision, but he had moved right in front of middle and off, with leg stump visible at the point of impact 229/685.2 TRJ'S ON A HAT-TRICK! Snater is walking straight back towards the Pavilion. Bit of nip into the batter from Roland-Jones is helped onto the stumps by Snater's inside edge. Unnecessarily expansive, perhaps but it's a deserved five wicket haul for the Middlesex captain 229/789.6 SIX FOR TRJ! Bit of nip into Allison traps him in front as the right-hander pushes forward with what looked like a solid forward defence 255/890.6 SHARP Helm pushes one through at good pace that Cook can only edge, taken well by Eskinazi at first slip 260/9Extras3 (lb 3)TOTAL266 all out (93.1 Overs, RR: 2.85)Fall of wickets: 1-38 (Alastair Cook, 7.6 ov), 2-38 (Nick Browne, 8.1 ov), 3-159 (Tom Westley, 54.3 ov), 4-199 (Dan Lawrence, 69.4 ov), 5-213 (Adam Rossington, 81.4 ov), 6-229 (Simon Harmer, 85.1 ov), 7-229 (Shane Snater, 85.2 ov), 8-255 (Ben Allison, 89.6 ov), 9-260 (Sam Cook, 90.6 ov), 10-266 (Matt Critchley, 93.1 ov)
Bowling O M R W Econ WD NB TJ Murtagh 22 5 95 1 4.31 0 0 TS Roland-Jones 27.1 7 61 7 2.24 0 0 RF Higgins 17 7 29 0 1.70 0 0 TG Helm 21 3 75 2 3.57 0 0 LBK Hollman 6 3 3 0 0.50 0 0
- BATSMENRBM4s6sSR0.1 WHAT A START! Porter is immediately on the money: straight, little bit of nip through the air and off the pitch comes in to Sam Robson, doing him for pace. The umpire does the rest! 0/13.3 WHAT IS GOING ON?! Wild, wild scenes here at HQ, where Sam Cook, having beaten Stoneman ball after ball, comes around the wicket and finally gets an edge through to Alastair Cook at first slip. Middlesex are four down and still have not scored a run off the bat! 4/40.2 AND ANOTHER! This one's gone the other way, skidding through the gate of Pieter Malan! 2/22.4 SCENES! Eskinanzi tucks this around the corner where Rossington scoots across to take the catch 2/310.3 Four for Porter! Holden offers an angled bat outside off stump to Porter from around the wicket, and Harmer takes a good low catch at a wide second slip 20/562.6 SIX! For Porter, that is. Simpson understandably tries to dial the aggression up to 11 with the tail, but totally mistimes a pull, looping it straight to Tom Westley at mid on 169/955.6 What a delivery! Some dismissal that - pitching on a fourth stump and spinning through the gate to clip off stump. It needed to be something special to break this stand, which ends on 127 147/657.3 Arm ball! Harmer's around the wicket to Hollman and gets one to skid in sharply to trap the left-hander on the crease in front of middle-and-leg 157/760.1 FIVE FOR PORTER! And it's a first five-wicket haul for the seamer since 2020! Roland-Jones hangs his bat outside off stump after following a delivery that seamed away 162/863.3 That's all she wrote! Harmer finishes the innings with a belt-and-braces off-spinner dismissal to a left-hander from around the wicket. After the early carnage, it has been a diligent effort from Essex's bowlers during a long final session. A first innings lead of 96 has been established 169/9Extras18 (b 9, lb 3, nb 6)TOTAL170 all out (63.3 Overs, RR: 2.67)Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Sam Robson, 0.1 ov), 2-2 (Pieter Malan, 0.2 ov), 3-2 (Stephen Eskinazi, 2.4 ov), 4-4 (Mark Stoneman, 3.3 ov), 5-20 (Max Holden, 10.3 ov), 6-147 (Ryan Higgins, 55.6 ov), 7-157 (Luke Hollman, 57.3 ov), 8-162 (Toby Roland-Jones, 60.1 ov), 9-169 (John Simpson, 62.6 ov), 10-170 (Tim Murtagh, 63.3 ov)
Bowling O M R W Econ WD NB JA Porter 15 4 35 6 2.33 0 1 SJ Cook 16 3 42 1 2.62 0 2 S Snater 7 0 33 0 4.71 0 0 BMJ Allison 8 3 15 0 1.87 0 0 SR Harmer 17.3 6 33 3 1.88 0 0
- BATSMENRBM4s6sSR14.2 Straight to cover! A tame dismissal for Browne, who had looked to have the better of Murtagh, as he offers some catching practice straight to the man on the drive 52/117.6 Brilliant! Cook leans into the drive but only makes contact with the inside half of his bat. There's still enough force behind the ball to send it straight back down the pitch, but Higgins sticks out his left-hand in his follow-through and takes a superb return catch! 60/220.1 Tickled! Westley's cursing his luck as he helps a delivery down the leg side and into the gloves of the keeper 68/335.6 Lawrence goes! The first innings centurion is on his way, thanks to a fine piece of bowling from Higgins, who gets a delivery to hold its line and take Lawrence's edge, who was anticipating it to come down the slope 122/436.3 Another! 2 in 4 balls for Middlesex as Rossington wafts one to Eskinazi at first slip 123/562.2 Chipped to cover! Two balls after the tea break and Cook is walking back to the Pavilion, after nailing a half-volley straight to Ryan Higgins, who stoops to take the catch 210/963.2 Done and dusted! Helm gets his second, trapping Porter in front of all three. Middlesex require 308 for victory... 211/10Extras6 (b 4, lb 2)TOTAL211 all out (63.2 Overs, RR: 3.33)Fall of wickets: 1-52 (Nick Browne, 14.2 ov), 2-60 (Alastair Cook, 17.6 ov), 3-68 (Tom Westley, 20.1 ov), 4-122 (Dan Lawrence, 35.6 ov), 5-123 (Adam Rossington, 36.3 ov), 6-171 (Matt Critchley, 49.3 ov), 7-184 (Simon Harmer, 53.5 ov), 8-203 (Shane Snater, 59.5 ov), 9-210 (Sam Cook, 62.2 ov), 10-211 (Jamie Porter, 63.2 ov)
Bowling O M R W Econ WD NB RF Higgins 14 4 44 2 3.14 0 0 TS Roland-Jones 13 1 42 0 3.23 0 0 TJ Murtagh 15 5 44 4 2.93 0 0 TG Helm 10.2 1 38 2 3.67 0 0 LBK Hollman 11 2 37 2 3.36 0 0
- BATSMENRBM4s6sSR36.6 Oh no! John Simpson, what have you done?! A full toss is there to smack anywhere, but the keeper-batter inexplicably thumps it back to the bowler. Critchley is too embarrassed to celebrate... 76/539.4 One down, four to go! Sam Cook needs just 4 deliveries to nip out the nightwatcher, as Helm is coaxed into edging straight to second slip 77/6Extras12 (b 8, lb 4)TOTAL210 all out (83 Overs, RR: 2.53)Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Mark Stoneman, 0.3 ov), 2-4 (Sam Robson, 3.1 ov), 3-15 (Pieter Malan, 7.3 ov), 4-41 (Max Holden, 17.4 ov), 5-76 (John Simpson, 36.6 ov), 6-77 (Tom Helm, 39.4 ov), 7-93 (Stephen Eskinazi, 46.4 ov), 8-180 (Ryan Higgins, 76.5 ov), 9-180 (Toby Roland-Jones, 76.6 ov), 10-210 (Tim Murtagh, 82.6 ov)
Bowling O M R W Econ WD NB JA Porter 16 3 34 3 2.12 0 0 SJ Cook 17 6 31 3 1.82 0 0 S Snater 14 7 34 2 2.42 0 0 BMJ Allison 11 4 23 0 2.09 0 0 SR Harmer 24 7 72 1 3.00 0 0 MJJ Critchley 1 0 4 1 4.00 0 0
Match Details
Toss
Middlesex , elected to field first
Season
Match days
6,7,8,9 April 2023 (4-day match)
Match Referee
Points
Essex 20, Middlesex 3
Close of Play
- Thu, 6 Apr - day 1 - Essex 1st innings 162/3 (DW Lawrence 74*, MJJ Critchley 0*, 56 ov)
- Fri, 7 Apr - day 2 - Middlesex 1st innings 170
- Sat, 8 Apr - day 3 - Middlesex 2nd innings 77/5 (SS Eskinazi 24*, TG Helm 0*, 38 ov)
- Sun, 9 Apr - day 4 - Middlesex 2nd innings 210 (83 ov) - end of match
Match Notes
- Middlesex 2nd innings
- Batting and bowling points: Essex 4, Middlesex 3
Match Coverage
All Match NewsEssex state their Championship case with comprehensive victory over Middlesex
Champions of 2017 and 2019 - and Bob Willis Trophy winners in 2020 - as ruthless as ever
Middlesex face chastening defeat as Essex rip through batting once more
Flimsy batting leaves hosts on brink of defeat in first match back in top flight
Jamie Porter's duck-shoot leaves Middlesex with top-flight reality check
Vithushan Ehantharajah witnesses stunning collapse after Lawrence century, Roland-Jones seven-for
Lawrence stays true to himself and Essex to show he fits the England mould
Free-spirited innings in tough conditions reaffirms sense that Essex batter is a coming man