Essex won the toss and elected to bowl against Surrey at Chelmsford in the Rothesay County Championship First Division.
Sam Cook and Ollie Pope arrived from Lord's after being left out of the England squad for the second Test against Pakistan. Cook, replacing Charlie Bennett in the Essex XI, took 3-41. Pope scored 13 from 22 balls before being dismissed by Zaman Akhter.
The start was delayed by heavy rain, with 36 overs lost. Cook extracted swing and bounce on a green-tinged wicket. Pope came in for Nikhil Gorantia, who missed out on his first-class debut.
Surrey were put in and managed 183 runs in 54 overs. In the 25 balls possible before bad light stopped play, Essex reached 10-1. Paul Walter was given out caught behind to Dan Worrall, looking surprised. Dean Elgar and Tom Westley were both hit on the hands by deliveries from Worrall and Matt Fisher.
Cook entered the attack an hour after the delayed start at 1.30pm. He needed just 10 balls to strike, dismissing Dom Sibley, who nicked behind. Cook's initial six-over spell included four maidens and conceded only eight runs.
Bennett had bowled three overs before being withdrawn, troubling Josh Blake with lively deliveries. Surrey had already lost Rory Burns, lbw to Jamie Porter. Blake was caught at second slip, and Ben Foakes was lbw to Shane Snater.
Pope waited 17 overs before batting as Adam Thomas and Mahipal Lomror added 52 for the fifth wicket. After tea, Lomror turned Cook to square leg and was run out after a mix-up. Thomas followed, playing loosely to third slip. Pope played around a low delivery from Akhter, and Fisher was caught at mid-on. Rahul Chahar chipped to Westley, and Tom Lawes was the last wicket for Akhter, falling for 38 with eight fours.
Essex and Surrey have won the premier red-ball league six times between them in the last 10 years. They have lost a combined eight matches this season and are fighting to stay in the top division. Surrey have lost three of their previous four and may have the most to worry about.
Source: essexcricket.org.uk — Read the original article
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