DERBY

(day two of four; Derbyshire won toss)

Essex 269-9 (RS Bopara 136 not out; JL Clare 3-40) against Derbyshire

Lunch

A brief but torrential downpour at 12.15pm, precisely when the umpires had hoped to make a belated start, dictated an early lunch with no play possible in the morning. Ravi Bopara remained unbeaten with an outstanding 136: his ten Essex colleagues have so far managed a total of 108 runs between them.

The rain has dogged Derbyshire in their opening three fixtures, stealing 132 overs in the championship match at Bristol last week, though this probably saved them from defeat. Since they were unable to bowl a ball there on Saturday against Gloucestershire, they failed to improve their over-rate and thus lost four penalty points – effectively the points they gained for the draw. They then suffered a complete wash-out in the Friends Provident Trophy match against Lancashire the next day.

Tea

A further heavy shower in the early afternoon meant that no play was possible before an early tea . The umpires, Richard Illingworth and Tim Robinson, hoped to inspect again at 3.30pm, weather permitting, with at least the limited prospect of some cricket in the evening, when the worst of showers are forecast to have passed.

Charl Langeveldt, the 32-year old medium-fast bowler who has played six times for South Africa and had two seasons of county cricket with Somerset and Leicestershire, is expected to make his first appearance for Derbyshire this Sunday against Yorkshire at Headingley Carnegie in the Friends Provident Trophy. This remains dependent on his gaining clearance from the ECB on Friday.

Close

Play eventually got under way at 4.30 and Ravi Bopara, the last Essex batsman, fell to the eighth ball after adding only a single to the overnight score. His final 137, from 195 balls, ended when Tom Lungley nipped one back to leave him leg-before on the back foot.

With the ball continuing to move markedly off the seam, Derbyshire faced a truly testing final two hours, often against four slips and a gully. Chris Rogers, who opened for Australia in his single Test last January before losing his contracted status, was superbly held low at third slip by Bopara off Andre Nel but, with real character, two more left-handers, Steve Stubbings and John Sadler, fought through 19 more overs to the close.