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Elgar & Critchley put Essex in control against DurhamImage source,pinnacle tower wembley park Rex FeaturesImage caption, Dean Elgar and Matt Critchley have shared an unbroken 154 for Essex's fourth wicketPublished9 September 202536 CommentsRothesay County Championship Division One, Ambassador Cruise Line Ground, Chelmsford (day two)Durham 333: McKinney 121, Lees 94; Porter 4-77Essex 312-3: Elgar 140*, Critchley 97*; Ackermann 1-47Essex (5 pts) trail Durham (3 pts) by 21 runsMatch scorecardDean Elgar, batting for more than five-and-a-half hours for a well-paced first century of the season, and Matt Critchley, smashing the ball to all corners of Chelmsford, took Essex within touching distance of a first-innings lead against fellow relegation candidates Durham with an unbeaten fourth-wicket stand of 154.The left-handed opener Elgar had not strapped on batting pads for five weeks, having spent August back in his native South Africa, but after a scratchy start that echoed his season's form, he quickly rediscovered the fluency of old with 140 not out from 264 balls. Critchley, meanwhile, has been in decent nick for most of the summer and finished on 97 out of Essex's 312-3 at the close, a deficit of just 21Under heavy cloud cover, the rate of Essex's steady acceleration through the gears was illustrated by Elgar's partnerships of 76 for the second wicket with Tom Westley, 75 with Charlie Allison for the third and for the fourth with the freewheeling Critchley.Durham had been dismissed at the start of the day for 333 with Jamie Porter extending his season's wickets tally to 39 with figures of 4-77. A punchy ninth-wicket stand of 41 between Graham Clark and Sam Conners took the visitors past 300 and what might prove a valuable second batting point in their fight to avoid dropping into Division Two of the County Championship.When Essex batted, their determination to grind it out initially and establish a stable platform, trundling along at little more than two an over, highlighted by Elgar and Westley taking 17 overs to post their fifty partnership, it looked like becoming a battle of attrition and willpower.Indeed, the start was so cautious that Essex had just seven on the board by the seventh over when Paul Walter was the first to depart, hanging his bat out against Ben Raine and being snaffled by first slip falling backwards.Things perked up significantly straight after lunch with a flurry of boundaries to take the run-rate above two-and-a-half. But the pair were parted when Callum Parkinson found some hitherto unsuspected turn and rapped Westley on his back pad to win an lbw decision.Elgar reached only his third half-century of the season from 107 balls with a single off his legs and then drove Parkinson through the covers for his ninth four. Allison was even more aggressive against the spinner, taking 14 off one over, including a six over the bowler's head.Elgar slowly but surely found his rhythm and lofted Parkinson over long leg for six as the third-wicket pair passed fifty inside 10 overs. By that point the run-rate had risen above three an over.The introduction of Colin Ackermann broke the blossoming partnership, though. The part-time off-spinner pushed one through lower and faster and bowled Allison for 33 from 51 balls. Critchley dented the South African's figures a couple of overs later with a lofted four and a straight six.Three balls before tea, Elgar drove Parkinson to the far reaches of extra cover for the three runs that took him to his 53rd first-class century from 169 balls.Compared to the earlier obduracy, Critchley raced to fifty from just 56 balls with his eighth four, driven straight past Raine, and had scored 65 when the stand passed one hundred in just 25 overs. It continued in much the same vein to stumps.Doug Bracewell and Porter both added a wicket each to their respective overnight hauls in the 19 minutes it took Essex to wrap up Durham's first innings in the morning. Conners got a leading edge to give Bracewell a return catch and figures of 3-70 before Porter sent Parkinson's off-stump cartwheeling out of the ground for a fourth wicket.Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network, supported by RothesayRelated topicsEssexDurhamCounty CricketCricketMore on this storyGet cricket news sent straight to your phoneComments can not be loadedTo load Comments you need to enable JavaScript in your browserCommentsJoin the conversation36 commentsShowLatestOldestHighest RatedMost RepliedRComment by RobyCodino10 at 18:29 9 SepRobyCodino1018:29 9 SepGiven the Circumstances it's good to see Elgar back in his PompReply320Show comment linksRComment by rj34 at 18:21 9 Seprj3418:21 9 SepAn excellent day for Essex, not something I’ve been able to say too often this season! Elgar is still pure class, and Critchley must be a shout for the team’s player of the season. Have to push on and hope the weather holds.Reply251Show comment linksRComment by robert danes at 18:24 9 Seprobert danes18:24 9 SepWithout Cox and Cook Essex will have to fight hard to stay in Div1. So far so very good.Critchley has turned into a top batter.Reply190Show comment linksSComment by Stevecufc at 18:58 9 SepStevecufc18:58 9 Septo robert danes"Without Cox and Cook Essex will have to fight hard to stay in Div1. So far so very good. Critchley has turned into a top batter."And possibly without Snater. Not so worried about Cox as the other batsmen are going well. It’s the bowling that could be the issueReply110Show comment linksMore replies (2)TComment by tuves at 19:36 9 Septuves19:36 9 SepAn excellent day for Essex following up the momentum they gained in yesterday's post Tea session. Batting wise, they withstood the early very good Durham bowling and then accelerated through the gears as the bowling attack, with limited options, tired.Reply140Show comment linksSComment by Spondulex at 20:42 9 SepSpondulex20:42 9 SepI managed to make the trip to Chelmsford (from London), as I was invited to the Essex Business Club. With the sun shining, and Essex managing to score runs, it was a pleasure to be there.Reply143Show comment linksCComment by Chelmpad at 21:06 9 SepChelmpad21:06 9 SepTry to get the maximum batting points then declare and see what we can get done between the rain but probably a draw if the forecast is right. Should move above Yorkshire and whoever loses the south coast game so good week.Reply101Show comment linksSComment by Steve at 11:24 10 SepSteve11:24 10 Septo Chelmpad"Try to get the maximum batting points then declare and see what we can get done between the rain but probably a draw if the forecast is right. Should move above Yorkshire and whoever loses the south coast game so good week."I agreeWorcestershire are goneAnd Essex to good to go downReply01Show comment linksMore replies (2)MComment by MajorityWorld Steve at 19:49 9 SepMajorityWorld Steve19:49 9 SepGood day for the boys -But . . . bone to pick with BBC headlines - 'in control'??? No way - stop hyping things that do not need hyping - destroys cricket Might be better "Essex looking ahead after day 2"Poor show BBC - too much wham bam, 20/20 hundred nonsense - STOP misusing the language!Reply136Show comment linksBComment by benrichards4 at 20:25 9 Sepbenrichards420:25 9 Septo MajorityWorld Steve"Good day for the boys - But . . . bone to pick with BBC headlines - 'in control'??? No way - stop hyping things that do not need hyping - destroys cricket Might be better "Essex looking ahead after day 2" Poor show BBC - too much wham bam, 20/20 hundred nonsense - STOP misusing the language!"They are in control of the game.Reply50Show comment linksMore replies (3)JComment by jtr at 14:39 10 Sepjtr14:39 10 SepLooking across the whole fixtures for county championship, the only the constant is the rain. Stealing the whole of August is nothing short of criminal and frustrating. Play the Hundred in September instead!!!Reply61Show comment linksGComment by Gadders72 at 18:59 9 SepGadders7218:59 9 SepA brilliant day for Essex - well played Elgar and Critchley. Porter has out bowled Potts. If the rain stays away then Essex will be firmly in the driving seat for a win. Is Snater likely to bowl in the second innings?Reply72Show comment linksJComment by JGM at 18:52 9 SepJGM18:52 9 SepDraw. Weather coming.Reply50Show comment linksMComment by MajorityWorld Steve at 19:46 9 SepMajorityWorld Steve19:46 9 Septo JGM"Draw. Weather coming."Sadly - yes We could do with a win - perhaps get to after tea tomorrow - 550 / 600 and go for it??Reply00Show comment linksMore replies (1)PComment by Paul from Aycliffe at 19:19 9 SepPaul from Aycliffe19:19 9 SepAs I said yesterday, I feared for our lads with only four front line bowlers.Full credit to Essex for their batting but we need to WIN games to stay up and you don't do that by packing team with batsmen.Reply40Show comment linksSComment by Stevecufc at 23:50 9 SepStevecufc23:50 9 Septo Paul from Aycliffe"As I said yesterday, I feared for our lads with only four front line bowlers. Full credit to Essex for their batting but we need to WIN games to stay up and you don't do that by packing team with batsmen."Essex have 4 front line bowlers as well. 1 who limped off injuredReply20Show comment linksJComment by John-not-in-hendon at 08:38 10 SepJohn-not-in-hendon08:38 10 SepEssex in a good position and need to push on at speed to get a result in this game.They won't get relegated but it's been a poor season and major changes are needed for the future of this club,not less a decent ground, Chelmsford looks decidedly dated.Reply41Show comment linksRComment by RRFC at 11:51 10 SepRRFC11:51 10 SepI never thought I'd read 'fellow relegation candidates' about Essex in a report...Reply20Show comment linksSComment by Steve at 12:19 10 SepSteve12:19 10 Septo RRFC"I never thought I'd read 'fellow relegation candidates' about Essex in a report..."Essex won’t go down Worcestershire willWorse teams than EssexDurham for exampleReply12Show comment linksHComment by howard west at 09:12 10 Sephoward west09:12 10 SepBedingham has had a really disappointing season partly due to injury and test call ups and was ridiculously run out in the first innings. Despite all that I would back him to get a big score in the second innings. Also think that Alex Lees would be a good option as a solid batter for the ashes as he’s been consistent all season. Come on Durham!Reply10Show comment linksPComment by peeper at 19:33 9 Seppeeper19:33 9 SepElgar didn't hit the spinner for six to long leg! lol....... it was long off, I believeReply11Show comment linksJComment by jerrywesterby at 22:37 9 Sepjerrywesterby22:37 9 Septo peeper"Elgar didn't hit the spinner for six to long leg! lol....... it was long off, I believe"Long on in fact - watch it again.Reply10Show comment linksTComment by Tig at 18:53 9 SepTig18:53 9 SepThat’s Durham relegated unfortunate for us but we have some hope if Mark Wood plays for us in the game against Yorkshire hopefully Somerset destroy them we get a draw against Essex beat Worcestershire and Yorkshire to stay up but it could also be the complete opposite of thatReply04Show comment linksDComment by Diogeues at 18:58 9 SepDiogeues18:58 9 Septo Tig"That’s Durham relegated unfortunate for us but we have some hope if Mark Wood plays for us in the game against Yorkshire hopefully Somerset destroy them we get a draw against Essex beat Worcestershire and Yorkshire to stay up but it could also be the complete opposite of that"What a sentence!Reply200Show comment linksMore replies (4)Back to toploading comments module
