Essex is in control as 19 wickets fall at Edgbaston

The seamers from Essex quickly took control of their Vitality County Championship match at Edgbaston, bowling Warwickshire out for just 78 runs.

On a surface that was favourable to bowlers, Shane Snater, Jamie Porter, and Sam Cook skittled the home team in 27.4 overs with 5 for 13. Only 29-year-old Will Rhodes, in his final home game before moving to Durham, provided persistent resistance.

Then, courtesy to clever contributions from Michael Pepper (37), Snater (33 not out), Matt Critchley (32) and Simon Harmer (31) Essex fell to 50 for 5, but rallied to end the first day on 189 for 9. Despite Ed Barnard’s 3 for 36 and Craig Miles’ 3 for 53, a 111-run advantage already seems assured.

As Warwickshire’s supporters process a final, mediocre installment of a distinctly lacklustre home championship campaign, Essex has set the stage for an even more decisive victory.

Rob Yates was out of the game with a leg before wicket and Alex Davies was caught at third slip by Porter, who began the day as the nation’s joint top wicket-takers with 46. It took the former just 16 balls to reach 48. With Sam Hain stranded in the crease and Cook lbw, Warwickshire were down to eighteen for three.

Before Snater hit two in seven balls, eighteen-year-old Hamza Shaikh was sent down for 37 balls for eight runs. Barnard would have been sent flying if his pads hadn’t been in the way of Shaikh’s off-stump.

Aware of the hole he will leave in Warwickshire’s top order, Rhodes was warmly greeted at the wicket by his supporters. He managed to score 29 runs in 98 minutes of work before edging an away-cutter from Snater to wicketkeeper Pepper. With the final ball of the morning, Cook removed Michael Burgess’s middle stump, ending any chance of a Bears comeback.

After being 73 for 7 at lunch, Snater’s innings collapsed in just 16 balls, and he finished with a leg before wicket decision against Hannon-Dalby to record his ninth first-class five-for.

When Essex answered, batting remained problematic at start, as they lost Robin Das to LBW to Hannon-Dalby on the thirteenth delivery. Westley, believing that positivity was the answer, hit seven fours in a 22-ball thirty, only to be caught in front by the large Yorkshireman.

Even though Essex were 50 for 5 after Barnard broke through twice in three balls (Dean Elgar caught at first slip and Paul Walter played on) and Noah Thain edged Chris Rushworth airily to second slip, the bottom order batted calmly and wisely as the surface relaxed in the late afternoon sunshine.

In an attack that saw Rushworth hurt, Pepper contributed 55 in 18 overs while Critchley controlled his aggressive impulses, taking 23 balls to reach the boundary. Although Harmer and Snater added a crucial 39, Critchley edged Barnard to second slip and Pepper led-edged a return catch to Miles.

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Harmer and Cook were dismissed by Miles in three balls, but Snater’s cameo, which featured three straight fours off Miles, increased the margin to over 100.