Tom Westley banishes demons to set Essex on their way

“Our aims as a team this April are the same as every season: to win every competition,” Westley said. “We know we must not be complacent. We want to continue to set high standards for ourselves and focus on being as good as we can be.”

Westley featured in stands of 73 and 77, so far unbroken, with Dan Lawrence and Paul Walter respectively, although Worcestershire would have been disappointed when bad light denied them the chance of claiming second new-ball wickets that could have tilted the opening exchanges their way.

Worcestershire, who finished a lowly ninth in Division Two in 2019 before improving last year, still stuck to their task with a disciplined four-pronged seam attack augmented by Brett D’Oliveira’s accurate if unthreatening leg breaks.

Lawrence built on his England breakthrough with a well-made 46

JOE GIDDENS/PA WIRE

However, on a pitch described by Stuart Kerrison, the long-serving Essex head groundsman, as the driest he has been able to prepare at this time of year, Worcestershire will be understandably wary of Simon Harmer’s presence in the home ranks.

Essex will first want runs on the board and, after winning a potentially vital toss, Westley got his head down to anchor the innings from No 3 after the 14th-over loss of Alastair Cook for 15 — leg-before propping half-forward to one shaped into his pads by the excellent Charlie Morris — and batting for more than four hours on an easy-paced surface with calm assurance.

Lawrence, keen to impress after his winter Test breakthrough, played confidently for 46 after replacing Nick Browne, who spoilt steady progress to 26 by driving low to cover, where Jake Libby took a fine diving catch. Three balls after edging Ed Barnard just short of second slip, however, Lawrence was beaten by an off cutter from the same bowler and sent on his way by Neil Mallender, the umpire resplendent in a white snood designed to withstand the cold.

The tall left-handed Walter, scratchy at first, will resume on 26 but for Essex — champions too in 2017 and seeking a fourth red-ball trophy in five years — the new season’s long-awaited opening day belonged to Westley and a captain’s resurgence.

Durham’s late stutter gives hope to nervous Notts
Nottinghamshire v Durham
Trent Bridge (first day of four; Nottinghamshire won toss): Durham have scored 241 for seven wickets
By Neville Scott

Nottinghamshire’s fall from grace over the past three years might make even defrocked bishops blush. On June 23, 2018, they were the last side to beat Essex at impregnable Chelmsford, yet 26 subsequent four-day games have produced 17 defeats and not a single win. Their two losses last year came despite first-innings leads of 85 and 91.

Early hopes of turning the tide looked good when, in the fifth over, Jake Ball removed Mike Jones and Scott Borthwick without score, not quite the brace of ducks that Baron Botham, the Durham chairman and notable shooting enthusiast, had in mind. New-ball successes on April pitches can be deceptive, however: in all, seven men fell for nought around the country in the season’s first hour but Durham regrouped, only to stutter again after tea.

Carse and Raine added 45 for Durham before close of play

ZAC GOODWIN/PA WIRE

David Bedingham, the South Africa A overseas signing who spent three summers with Plumtree, just south of Nottingham, was crease-bound in edging behind, two balls from lunch, for 57, and Alex Lees, the one man to go in the afternoon. He was run out when Jack Burnham, working the ball to backward square, attempted a tight two but Joe Clarke, haring in from the boundary, picked up and threw intelligently to the bowler’s end where Lyndon James deflected onto the stumps. Lees went for a hitherto untroubled 58, and the soft dismissals did not end there.

In the first 13 overs after tea, Burnham flicked at a legside ball to go for 42 to a diving catch behind, Ned Eckersley’s flat-footed drive found the sole slip and Stuart Poynter’s rash back-foot shot at a rising ball from James, in the next over, carried the decline from 180 for four to 197 for seven.

With the lower order exposed to a new ball, taken under floodlights 21 balls later, Brydon Carse and Ben Raine at least inched Durham sensibly towards a second batting point, diligently adding an unbroken 45. In what, Essex apart, seems the weakest of the three championship groups, Durham can seek to play upon sensitive home nerves today.

Robson’s fast start is vital for Middlesex
Middlesex v Somerset
Lords: (first day of four, Somerset won toss): Middlesex have scored 293 for eight wickets

England opener Sam Robson made the first century of the County Championship and passed 10,000 first-class career runs in the process.

Robson, 31, has slipped well down the pecking order since his seven Tests in 2014, but was the stand-out player for Middlesex at Lord’s as they took on Somerset, the beaten finalists in last summer’s Bob Willis Trophy.

Robson hit his first century in first-class cricket since July 2019

ALEX DAVIDSON/GETTY IMAGES

Three late wickets with the second new ball for Lewis Gregory dragged Somerset back into a match that seemed to be getting away from them. That Middlesex had got themselves into a strong position — 254 for five at one point — was down entirely to Robson.

The Sydney-born opener made 165; the next-highest scorer, Stevie Eskinazi, made 22. While Robson was at the crease he made 63 per cent of his team’s runs and he hit 25 of Middlesex’s 41 boundaries.

It was Robson’s first century in first-class cricket since July 2019 and his highest score since he made 231 against Warwickshire in April 2016.

Middlesex closed on 293 for eight, Gregory finishing with four for 54, while Jack Leach also claimed his first scalp of the summer.