Glamorgan reach 188/8 at the close of play at Chelmsford

For the second successive day yesterday, Glamorgan enjoyed the better of the morning and afternoon sessions, before Essex surged back into the match after tea. The common denominator on each day was the presence of Reece Topley - first with the ball as he took 4/9 in 38 balls on the opening day before yesterday, scoring five singles from 34 deliveries in 86 minutes as Essex's last two wickets added 82 in 20.1 overs with James Foster, the home captain farming the strike to make a forthright 86 as Essex clinched a 36-run lead on first innings.


Glamorgan's openers - Tom Lancefield and Jacques Rudolph - faced two deliveries last night before the light, even with the assistance of the floodlights, deteriorated and led to the loss of 5.4 overs. Despite early morning rain, conditions were much brighter this morning allowing the match to resume on time at 11a.m. with Lancefield running a quick single from Tom Moore's second delivery of the day.


Topley took the new ball at the River End before Matt Salisbury returned at the Hayes Close End, with Rudolph striking three boundaries in four deliveries from the young seamer - two to square-leg and the other to fine-leg but in the eighth over of the day, and with the total on 29, he lost his partner as Lancefield edged Topley to Mark Pettini at third slip.


Will Bragg duly joined Rudolph as drizzle started to fall, but the light shower did not inconvenience Rudolph as he wiped off the arrears by cover driving Moore when he returned to the attack. But the precipitation soon intensified and the umpires took the players off the field for half an hour.


Play resumed at 12.15pm without any overs being lost but still under a heavy cover of cloud and Bragg greeted the return of Salisbury by glancing him to fine-leg for four before two balls later despatching him through extra cover. Bragg then steered the seamer to the vacant ropes at third man. Rudolph then brought up the Glamorgan fifty by again deftly flicking Moore to long-leg before Bragg regally cover drove the tall seamer from Brentwood.


Bragg did have a moment of good fortune against Salisbury as he involuntarily inside-edged a defensive stroke for four, just out of the reach of James Foster behind the stumps. But there was no fluke about the next boundary as Rudolph drilled Salisbury through the covers. Jesse Ryder then came on shortly before lunch and with his seventh delivery he had Rudolph caught behind.

A deluge of monsoonal proportions fell during the lunch interval and washed out the afternoon session with play resuming at 3.45pm with the loss of 28 overs.

46.5 overs were remaining when play resumed at 3.45pm under sunny blue skies with Ben Wright joining Will Bragg as Jesse Ryder completed the over from the morning session. Reece Topley duly resumed the bowling at the River End and was glanced to fine-leg by Wright who continued his assertive start by despatching the left-armer through point for another boundary later in the over.


Wright also edged Topley for four through the slips before firmly clipping the seamer to the ropes at mid-wicket to bring up the hundred in the 28^th over. Bragg then despatched Ryder to square-leg but next over, with the total on 104, Wright dragged a delivery from Topley onto his stumps as he attempted to drive the left-armer.


With Chris Cooke as his new partner, Bragg welcomed the return of Tom Moore by glancing him to long-leg and square-leg for further boundaries. Cooke opened his account by steering Topley over the head of the slip cordon, but the seamer then switched to bowling around the wicket, and with his second delivery, he bowled Cooke with the total on 118.


Jim Allenby joined Bragg who for the second time in the contest defended stoutly as another large bank of threatening cumulo-nimbus rainclouds built up on the Pavilion skyline. Matt Salisbury replaced Topley at the River End but it was Moore who ended Bragg's diligence as the left-hander edged a ball to slip where Jesse Ryder completed the catch tumbling to his left.


His departure saw captain Mark Wallace join forces with his vice-captain who responded by driving Salisbury through extra cover. Shortly afterwards, the floodlights came on as the overhead conditions worsened, and even with the artificial assistance, it was deemed by the umpires to be too dark for the seamers to continue as Greg Smith's spin was re-introduced, together with Tom Westley's off-breaks, as well as Tom Craddock's leg-spin. But the gloom briefly intensified and after 48 overs, bad light stopped play and a further half a dozen overs were lost.


Play resumed at 5.55pm with Glamorgan on 133/5 and with the light having improved the seamers returned. Wallace duly greeted the re-appearance of Topley by pulling him for four and three in consecutive deliveries, whilst Allenby also glanced him to the boundary boards at fine-leg before clipping him to square-leg for a further four. However, in his 17^th over of the innings Topley claimed his tenth wicket of the match as Wallace was pinned leg before by an in-swinging delivery.


159/6 then became 160/7 as Graham Wagg chipped Moore into mid-wicket's hands with Cosker joining Allenby. The new batsman sweetly on-drove Moore but then bowler then claimed his third scalp of the innings as Cosker miscued an on-drive into Smith's hands at mid-wicket. Michael Hogan then joined Allenby and clubbed a couple of boundaries before Allenby struck Moore for successive fours through the offside as the ninth wicket pair survived the remaining four and a half overs before a belated close of play shortly before 7pm.