BRISTOL

(Day one of four; Essex won toss)

Essex 318-5, 83.4 overs (Foster 68*, ten Doeschate 3*, Ireland 3-85).

Lunch

To the fate of the Championship and the outside world this game is an irrelevance but for the individuals there was still much at stake. John Maunders, sacked by Leicestershire last season, strode to the crease wanting to cement his place in the Essex side. The left-hander made 105 in the defeat by Warwickshire last week, and runs here could have given him some credit in the contract he is expected to sign shortly.

A rising delivery in the tenth over from Anthony Ireland put paid to that as Maunders pushed forward defensively and edged behind. Eight overs later, the hope that a brilliant knock from Ravi Bopara would light up this encounter was extinguished, as he wristily turned a half volley on his pads from Ireland straight to square leg. Varun Chopra ground on to make sure there was no more drama for Essex.

The team have included some youngsters for experience but unfortunately Mervyn Westfield and Maurice Chambers, the two quicks interesting England, were not amongst them. They are injured, again.

With characteristic opacity, Gloucestershire introduced Rob Woodman to the line-up at 10am yesterday in place of Alex Gidman, the vice-captain, with no explanation. Otherwise they are unchanged from the side beaten by Derbyshire last week.

Tea

Varun Chopra must wish he played against Gloucestershire every week. After a miserable season in which he passed fifty just twice and averaged in the low twenties, Chopra completed his second Championship hundred of his career, also his second against Gloucestershire, and went to tea unbeaten on a career best 112. The 21-year-old Chopra looked far more fluent after lunch on a pitch where the ball is not quite coming on.

Once he had reached 50 off 105 balls, Chopra took 62 balls to make his second fifty, getting there with a cover driven two.

The arrival of James Foster, Essex’s most consistent batsman after Ravi Bopara, put Essex in firm control. Foster rattled up an unbeaten 33 off 35 balls before tea.

Two wickets fell for 142 runs in 34 overs. Mark Pettini went in the 12th over after lunch. Two balls after being almost caught top-edging a pull, Pettini gave Anthony Ireland his third wicket, driving without feet to second slip.

The highly-rated Jaik Mickleburgh, 19, undid sound foundations as he cut a wide one from the Rob Woodman and was caught behind. It gave Woodman, a leftarm seamer playing as a batsman, his first wicket for Gloucestershire after being drafted into the team in the morning.

Close

Bad light at 4.55pm robbed the last 13 overs of the day. Umpires Peter Willey and Tim Robinson did not seem keen to re-emerge. Varun Chopra was the only man to fall in the session as Steve Kirby struck with the new ball. Chopra was caught in the crease and pinned leg-before with the sixth ball of the 81st over for a well-constructed 155 off 246 balls.

Chopra’s partnership of 138 in 29 overs with James Foster has gone a long way to ensuring that Gloucestershire will finish a dispiriting season without a win in the Championship.

Foster, unbeaten on continued to be aggressive and eccentric after tea, running down the pitch to the seamers and pulling out the reverse sweep to the spinners.