If Charl Langeveldt, the South Africa fast-medium bowler with six Test caps, faces no objections when he reports to Lord's today to complete registration, Derbyshire may boast six fresh faces in their team on Sunday. It has been like the first roll-out of a new airliner: it remains only to be seen whether it will fly.

Certainly they survived turbulence yesterday. Ravi Bopara, the last Essex batsman, went for 137 after a late start at 4.30pm and the legacy of the rain was immediately clear. With the ball nipping about nastily, Chris Rogers was superbly held for 13 in the reply by Bopara at third slip, but, to their great credit, Steve Stubbings and an even more self-denying John Sadler (12 from 59 balls) buckled down and fought hard to the close.

Bopara's contribution - his 137 camefrom 195 balls compared with a combined total of 108 runs from his ten colleagues - eventually ended to the eighth ball of the day when, on the back foot, he was leg-before to one from Tom Lungley that cut back lavishly. Lungley's return of three for 68 was deservedly bettered by Jon Clare's final three for 41, although the 21-year-old from Burnley may well have to give way to accommodate the South African, Langeveldt.

Rogers gained a single Test cap for Australia against India in January but was then unceremoniously, perhaps harshly, omitted from Cricket Australia's contracted list of 25 players. Having hidden his disappointment with 114 against Gloucestershire last week, he confronted four slips and a gulley here and another rain-enlivened surface. After several scares, he edged an Andre Nel ball that lifted and left him in the ninth over.

His two fellow left-handers, however, held on for the ride, a particularly gratifying sight for John Morris, the new coach, who suggested that this examination might have a crucial bearing on the side's evolution this summer. Stubbings's typically stolid, unbeaten 23 came from 86 balls.

Essex: First Innings (overnight 269-9)
R S Bopara lbw b Lungley 137
A Nel not out 0
Extras (b 7, lb 2, nb 16) 25

Total (85.2 overs) 270

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-54, 3-54, 4-68, 5-76, 6-181, 7-252, 8-265, 9-268.

Bowling: Lungley 22.2-7-68-3; Clarke 20-1-58-1; Wagg 14-1-47-2; Clare 16-4-41-3; Doshi 13-2-47-0.

Derbyshire: First Innings
S D Stubbings not out 23
C J L Rogers c Bopara b Nel 13
J L Sadler not out 12
Extras (b 3, lb 7, nb 6) 16

Total (1 wkt, 28 overs) 64

F D Telo, *R Clarke, F A Klokker, D J Pipe, G G Wagg, T Lungley, J L Clare and N D Doshi to bat.

Fall of wicket: 1-25.

Bowling: Nel 9-2-21-1; Masters 10-4-17-0; Wright 6-4-9-0; Bopara 2-0-7-0; Middlebrook 1-1-0-0.

Umpires: R K Illingworth and R T Robinson.

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