Walter’s knock helps rescue Essex
- Daggers host Gateshead in National League opener - 06/07/2022
- Blues face Boreham Wood in league opener - 06/07/2022
- A useful workout in Wales for U’s - 05/07/2022
Essex v Northamptonshire – LV=Insurance County Championship Division One – Cloud County Ground – Summary
Northamptonshire 390
Essex 193 and 328/9
Essex won the toss and elected to bowl
Match Drawn
Paul Walter helped ease Essex’s troubles as they batted out the final day to force an LV=Insurance County Championship Division One draw after winless Northamptonshire had forced the follow-on.
Walter’s dogged 93 off 246 balls, coupled with 47 off 122 from Matt Critchley were the highlights as the home side redissolved some form and dug deep with the bat following a difficult couple of weeks.
Essex’s second-innings had slumped to 58 for three on the third day. However, Walter and Critchley put together a fourth-wicket stand of 100 before Feroze Khushi and Walter added a further 69 for the fifth.
Wicketkeeper/batter, Adam Wheater hung around for 174 balls as Northamptonshire toiled fruitlessly to rediscover the winning position which seemed so evident during much of the contest.
Earlier, the visitors had posted a sizable 390 with Luke Procter scoring 113, Gareth Berg 75 and Will Young 63 (Shane Snater 3/56).
The game appeared to be up for Essex as they slumped top 95/8 on the second day. Ben Sanderson doing the bulk of the damage with 4/32. But
Snater had started the salvage operation with a career-best unbeaten 79, top-scoring as the hosts went on to reach 193.
Having batted out five sessions, Essex was on 328/9 when the sides shook on a share of the spoils. Rob Keogh’s 4/51 and 3/62 from Gareth Berg, was unable to break Northamptonshire’s early-season sequence of draws.
Essex return to LV=Insurance County Championship Division One action when Yorkshire visit the Cloud County Ground on Thursday, May 5-8 (11am).
Essex: Tom Westley (Capt), Nick Browne, Alastair Cook, Sam Cook, Matt Critchley, Simon Harmer, Feroze Khushi, Jamie Porter, Shane Snater, Mark Steketee, Paul Walter, Adam Wheater (WK)
Northamptonshire: Ricardo Vasconcelos (Capt), Gareth Berg, Josh Cobb, Emilio Gay, Matt Kelly, Rob Keogh, Simon Kerrigan, Lewis McManus (WK), Luke Procter, Ben Sanderson, Tom Taylor, Will Young, Saif Zaib
Officials: Nigel Llong, Tom Lungley and Stephen Davis
Points: Essex 10 Northamptonshire 13
