- BATSMENRBM4s6sSR18.2 breakthrough for Surrey, Atkinson strikes with his second ball! Back of a length and nipping away, Browne fends at it and a thick outside edge is gobbled up at third slip 62/128.2 brilliantly held down the leg side! Atkinson extracts Cook, who had enjoyed a couple of lives but is taken this time by Ben Foakes, diving one-handed to his right. Atkinson beat Cook on the outside edge with the previous ball, then grazed the inside with one coming back in, but it needed the athleticism of Foakes to complete the dismissal 95/269.4 pitched up, Westley drives... and gets a thick inside edge into his timbers! Essex lose both of their set batters in short order 224/568.2 Burns takes a screamer at slip! Floated up wide of off, Critchley chases the drive and squirts a thick edge high and to the right of slip... only for Burns to fling up his right paw and cling on. Ends a century stand for the fourth wicket 218/470.2 Pepper attempts to reverse-sweep - and is given caught behind! It looked an awkward shot, close to the gloves as it bobbled through to Foakes, and up went the finger. Essex have lost 3 for spit 224/675.1 nibbling back in, Bracewell chops on! Third wicket for Atkinson, Surrey battling back brilliantly since tea 241/7Extras33 (b 4, lb 22, nb 6, w 1)TOTAL314 all out (91.2 Overs, RR: 3.43)Fall of wickets: 1-62 (Nick Browne, 18.2 ov), 2-95 (Alastair Cook, 28.2 ov), 3-104 (Dan Lawrence, 34.2 ov), 4-218 (Matt Critchley, 68.2 ov), 5-224 (Tom Westley, 69.4 ov), 6-224 (Michael Pepper, 70.2 ov), 7-241 (Doug Bracewell, 75.1 ov), 8-245 (Shane Snater, 77.2 ov), 9-307 (Sam Cook, 89.3 ov), 10-314 (Simon Harmer, 91.2 ov)
- BATSMENRBM4s6sSR16.6 fullish length, seaming away... and a low edge is taken at first slip! A Cook holds on going to his right, and S Cook has the breakthrough. An Essex Chefs special does for Burns 56/128.1 drives at a length ball in the channel - gone! Bracewell coaxes an edge, slightly crooked bat from Sibley and Pepper swallows it behind the stumps 105/234.1 first ball of a new spell and Porter strikes! Maybe stayed a touch low, Pope was pinned on the front pad and up went Mike Burns' finger. Looked pretty adjacent. Surrey have lost 3 for 5 here 110/430.4 jaffa from Bracewell! Speared in and then nipping away on off stump to graze the edge through to Pepper! Two in quick succession for the Kiwi 107/352.3 pitched up, Foakes goes for the drive... and drags on! Off stump out of the ground, Foakes is comprehensively done for. Surrey lose their seventh 167/743.4 stays low, trapped on the crease! Jacks was back in front of his stumps and could do very little as the ball cannoned into his pads. Pretty simple decision for umpire James Middlebrook 149/551.3 dragged down... and slapped straight to deep square leg! Steel gifts Harmer a wicket on the stroke of tea, and the champions are in a little strife, having lost 5 for 58 during the afternoon session 163/6Extras11 (b 6, lb 3, nb 2)TOTAL240 all out (76.5 Overs, RR: 3.12)Fall of wickets: 1-56 (Rory Burns, 16.6 ov), 2-105 (Dom Sibley, 28.1 ov), 3-107 (Jamie Smith, 30.4 ov), 4-110 (Ollie Pope, 34.1 ov), 5-149 (Will Jacks, 43.4 ov), 6-163 (Cameron Steel, 51.3 ov), 7-167 (Ben Foakes, 52.3 ov), 8-212 (Jordan Clark, 66.4 ov), 9-235 (Sean Abbott, 74.6 ov), 10-240 (Gus Atkinson, 76.5 ov)
Bowling O M R W Econ WD NB SJ Cook 17 5 38 2 2.23 0 0 SR Harmer 18 4 71 1 3.94 0 0 JA Porter 14.5 3 51 4 3.43 0 0 S Snater 14 3 31 1 2.21 0 0 DAJ Bracewell 11 1 37 2 3.36 0 1 MJJ Critchley 2 0 3 0 1.50 0 0
- BATSMENRBM4s6sSR37.3 short ball, Browne heaves across the line... and is caught at midwicket! Well held above his head by Jacks. Atkinson gets another, Surrey chipping away 119/411.6 lovely delivery from Roach, and Cook has been cleaned up in the first over of the day! Round the wicket, just enough inswing to beat the attempted drive, and off pole is out of the ground 24/125.6 angled in and curling away, feathered behind! Westley survived a tight appeal earlier in the over, but he turns and heads for the pavilion this time. Clark picks up Surrey's second wicket of the morning 62/235.6 bowled 'im! Lawrence tries to get funky and walks across his stumps, only to miss the ball and see it clatter into leg stump 116/345.1 now Critchley holes out to deep midwicket! Banged in short by Clark, he's hitting to the longer boundary, where Jamie Smith takes a good, tumbling catch 154/640.6 charges down, throws the bat... and slashes a thick edge to deep third! Pepper goes cheaply looking for fast runs straight after lunch. Are Essex thinking of a declaration here? 134/548.1 full and thumped - straight to long-on! Burns holds it safely, Essex lose their eighth, Harmer the latest to fall trying to give it a whack 170/846.5 top-edged swipe, Abbott pouches the catch! Bracwell was here for a good time not a long time, and Essex are six down, the lead 237. They seem pretty determined to set up a chase here 163/751.5 bowled 'im! Pitched up, full and straight from Clark, a big old swing and a miss from Snater and that is the end of the Essex innings 192/949.3 length ball, Cook chips to cover! Essex's innings is dribbling away in a flurry of shots. But maybe thy already think they have enough 181/9Extras11 (b 1, lb 6, nb 4)TOTAL198 all out (51.5 Overs, RR: 3.81)Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Alastair Cook, 11.6 ov), 2-62 (Tom Westley, 25.6 ov), 3-116 (Dan Lawrence, 35.6 ov), 4-119 (Nick Browne, 37.3 ov), 5-134 (Michael Pepper, 40.6 ov), 6-154 (Matt Critchley, 45.1 ov), 7-163 (Doug Bracewell, 46.5 ov), 8-170 (Simon Harmer, 48.1 ov), 9-181 (Sam Cook, 49.3 ov), 10-198 (Shane Snater, 51.5 ov)
Bowling O M R W Econ WD NB KAJ Roach 13 1 46 1 3.53 0 0 J Clark 12.5 0 58 4 4.51 0 1 WG Jacks 1 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 AAP Atkinson 13 3 37 2 2.84 0 0 SA Abbott 12 3 50 3 4.16 0 1
- BATSMENRBM4s6sSR13.4 brilliant grab at slip! Big flash at a full, wide delivery, Burns gets a thick edge... and Harmer goes one-handed high to his left to pluck an absolute blinder! And with that wicket, the players troop off for tea, Surrey needing 234 from 40.2 overs 39/21.2 gone for a duck, Sibley nicks low to second slip! Searching line and just a touch of seam movement away from the right-hander, takes the outside edge to be scooped up by the bucket hands of Harmer 0/120.1 Pope miscues to cover! Snater takes the big wicket, wasn't quite there for the drive and it popped up for a simple catch. Still no Surrey batter has passed 50 in this game. Time to batten down the hatches? 73/324.1 pitched up, and Jacks skews his drive to midwicket! Snater gets his second and Surrey might well now turn thoughts to trying to make this game safe 83/428.1 and he strikes first ball! Abbott fulfils his brief by attempting a takedown of the offspinner, but skies his slog towards cow corner, where Matt Critchley settles himself safely under the catch. The ECG crowd roar in approval, Essex halfway to their target 103/528.3 pinned in front second ball! Spin for Harmer and it catches Foakes on the crease, neither fully back nor forwards, and up goes Mike Burns' finger. Now then, the champions really are on the ropes 103/645.2 Steel goes, trapped in front by a full toss! Flicks and misses, the ball angling in towards middle and leg, and Middlebrook doesn't have to think long about the decision. Essex three wickets away, 8.4 overs left to bowl 128/7Extras12 (b 8, lb 2, nb 2)TOTAL153/7 (53.4 Overs, RR: 2.85)Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Dom Sibley, 1.2 ov), 2-39 (Rory Burns, 13.4 ov), 3-73 (Ollie Pope, 20.1 ov), 4-83 (Will Jacks, 24.1 ov), 5-103 (Sean Abbott, 28.1 ov), 6-103 (Ben Foakes, 28.3 ov), 7-128 (Cameron Steel, 45.2 ov)
Bowling O M R W Econ WD NB JA Porter 9 2 18 0 2.00 0 0 SJ Cook 11.4 1 45 1 3.85 0 0 S Snater 9 2 26 2 2.88 0 0 DAJ Bracewell 9 2 45 2 5.00 0 1 SR Harmer 13 9 6 2 0.46 0 0 MJJ Critchley 2 1 3 0 1.50 0 0
Match Details
Toss
Essex , elected to bat first
Season
Match days
4,5,6,7 May 2023 (4-day match)
Umpires
Match Referee
Points
Essex 10, Surrey 8
Close of Play
- Thu, 4 May - day 1 - Surrey 1st innings 1/0 (RJ Burns 1*, DP Sibley 0*, 2 ov)
- Fri, 5 May - day 2 - Essex 2nd innings 15/0 (NLJ Browne 6*, AN Cook 9*, 5 ov)
- Sat, 6 May - day 3 - Essex 2nd innings 24/0 (NLJ Browne 10*, AN Cook 14*, 11.4 ov)
- Sun, 7 May - day 4 - Surrey 2nd innings 153/7 (53.4 ov) - end of match
Match Notes
- Surrey 2nd innings
- Batting and bowling points: Essex 5, Surrey 3
Match Coverage
All Match NewsSurrey forced to retrench as their title defence gets serious
"No easy points for anyone," vows Batty after Essex make the champions work
Rain limits Essex's chance to put pressure on champions
Only 6.4 overs possible as hosts extend lead to 98 with all ten wickets standing
Surrey misplace their strut as Jamie Porter four-for puts Essex on top
Champions concede 74-run advantage on first innings after being rolled between showers
Essex sail a little rockily into uncharted territory
Gus Atkinson claims a maiden five-for to underline Surrey's strength in depth