WITH 34 further overs washed out by rain, lunch saw Chelmsford hit by a squall so savage that there were serious concerns for the press-box roof. This was nothing compared to the battering Ian Harvey has inflicted on opposing attacks. After not-out innings against Northamptonshire a fortnight ago, the Australian had made 228 championship runs from only 290 balls since his last dismissal, when he was eventually bowled for 114.

Confirmed last week as Gloucestershire’s second overseas player for the season, Harvey now divides his assaults between South Africa and England, no longer playing in his native Victoria. His departure, eighth out, left Gloucestershire to finish four runs short of a final batting point.

In Essex’s reply, Varun Chopra and Mark Pettini, the opening pair, had put on 69 by the fifteenth over when Pettini played on. Chopra, a former England Under-19 captain who was dropped at slip before scoring, went on to an elegant fifty on his championship debut but two more fell in 20 minutes, Ravi Bopara leg-before and Andy Flower top-edging to slip. Chopra requires 20 runs today to become the youngest Essex batsman to record a championship century.