[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

County Championship, Group One

vs Essex

Day One

Morning: Essex won the toss and elected to bat on a typical late-April Thursday of patchy sunshine and cloud. After a couple of early boundaries, Worcestershire bowled tightly and with great discipline on a slow pitch, but chances were few and far between, and difficult when they came. Nick Browne had a couple of early let-offs - one low, one high - that flew sharply to second slip and weren't held, and from there the Essex openers dug in, with Sir Alastair Cook offering only one half-chance from an Ed Barnard delivery that looped up and fell just short of a diving mid-on. For the fifth consecutive session the Pears went wicketless, and trudged off for lunch at 64-0.

Afternoon: Having had a couple of decent LBW shouts turned down already, the much-needed breakthrough came just after two o'clock with a full, curving fast ball from Alzarri Joseph dismissing Browne LBW for 26. However, it wasn't to be followed up with any further scalps as the visitors progressed comfortably to 150-1 at tea.

Evening: Cook brought up his century with few concerns, but on 115 Joseph produced another wickedly curving lightning-fast delivery that deceived the England legend as he shaped to cut, instead bottom-edging onto the stumps. But again, it was to be the solitary success in a long, barren session as Essex closed on 266-2; the match currently following the same pattern as the first fixture at Chelmsford, but with the champions in a better position. If the pitch holds good for batting, another draw is on the cards already; if not, it's difficult to see how the Pears will claw a foothold in this one.