No boundaries concedes by Cook in 17. 1 others. Leach comes in and gets 2 in 2!

Leachy

comment by Neo-Super European Champions (U9135)
posted 1 minute ago
Somerset choking
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The pitch is not easy and they've got very good bowlers. Essex all out for under 100 wouldn't surprise me.

comment by TCM (U8959)
posted 2 minutes ago
No boundaries concedes by Cook in 17. 1 others. Leach comes in and gets 2 in 2!
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Conceded in 17. 1 overs*!

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When did Simon Harmer become so good?

I can remember him playing for SA and being pretty much useless

I think he's always pretty decent but spinners tend to hone their skills with age and at 30, he's probably going through his peak years.

Van der Merwe is is producing a very handy and annoying knock here supported by Leach.

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Title changing knock this, Essex would have been happy with 150 all out and no big stands. Somerset wanted 200+ (and who knows how many more they might get) and this being a last wicket stand makes it all the more demoralising.

Perhaps it's starting to get flat

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van der Merwe definitely rattled Harmer there which not many batsmen have managed to do over the past 3 years.

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Well despite that late flurry of runs from van der Merwe, we may be about to lose another session of play which will be 3 and a half sessions lost in the first 2 days.

Essex will just be looking to take as much time out of the game as possible in their first innings.

Frustrating day. I thought there wasn't much rain forecast for the day but some more has come in on an already drenched outfield.

Somerset could do with some strong winds and warm sun.

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Seems very unlikely, we didn't start the season too well with the bat but we've been getting better as the season has gone on so I'd be surprised if we collapsed twice, even on a turning pitch.

Shame really, it would have been great to have 4 full days on a decent pitch with a hint of turn and watch Harmer vs Leach in a tough contest.

Elsewhere, Pope got his century which means he's managed 3 and over 500 runs in just 5 matches. Another failure for Foakes, hopefully Surrey can appoint a new captain so he can focus on keeping and batting.

Ben Foakes' form has deserted him at the worst possible time with both Buttler and Bairstow's places looking shaky.

Delighted for Ollie Pope though. He really could be England's next big star. Averaging 80 this season in Div1 at only 21 years old - county level just seems way too easy for the lad, he's a phenomenal talent.

I'd love to see Scott Borthwick play his way back into England contention since on paper he'd offer a lot to the side, but it won't happen. Too many years of unfulfilled potential. 133 and counting today though.

Amazing to see Surrey second bottom having won the title last year. Obviously a lot of reasons for that; Burns called up, Pope injured, Foakes potentially being hampered by the captaincy, Curran brothers being called up and playing T20 franchise cricket etc.

Either way, it's been a massive fall for them and with Pope getting back into the England squad, it could be another tough year next summer.

Indeed. Players like Will Jacks, Jamie Smith, Ryan Patel and Amir Virdi should all be getting better year on year, but that's offset against some of our best players like Morne Morkel and Rikki Clarke who can't be relied on forever.

Need big seasons from players like Borthwick, Elgar (if he rejoins), Stoneman, Plunkett and Foakes next year, on the assumption that most of those players probably won't be involved much or at all in international cricket, and also assuming that Burns, Pope and Sam Curran at least are all gone for basically the whole summer.

With no world cup distractions, you'll have Roy to bolster your batting ranks as well. I think you'll have a much stronger showing and should be up there fighting for the title. You've got some excellent players, they just haven't all shown up this year.

Essex should be there or thereabouts again as the squad is ageing but still playing at a decent level. Would like to see a young batsman come through or better yet, sign someone like Hameed to come and play with and learn from Cook. It could be a great boost for his confidence.

Play abandoned for the day. Amazing. There wasn't a lot of rainfall today either.

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A few games have already been abandoned for the day and this game will surely follow suit. They may try and hold out for a little longer due to the importance but with a wet outfield and more rain forecast, there's little chance of any play.

Lancashire county had one of the best teams in 90's. Players like Akram, Atherton, Flintoff, Cork etc.