Two glorious days at Chelmsford weather-wise allowed Kent and Essex some useful time in the middle ahead of the start of the LV County Championship season on 8th April.

Essex started their innings under the Chelmsford sun on day 2 and, in contrast to the Kent innings, boundaries flowed from the start. 

Harry Podmore made an early breakthrough, trapping Alastair Cook leg before with the score at 23, but Nick Browne cut and drove well through the off-side, bringing up a half-century from 60 deliveries (12 fours), while Tom Westley hit 8 boundaries in reaching 40 by lunch. 

No Kent bowler was able to contain the scoring rate, with only 4 maiden overs before lunch.

Kent’s attack fared better in the afternoon session. Fred Klaassen induced a nick from Tom Westley, with Ollie Robinson taking a fine tumbling catch to his left to break a 104 partnership. 

Podmore returned to trap Lawrence leg before, and Marcus O’Riordan eventually dismissed Browne 3 short of a century on the stroke of tea.

Matt Milnes found the edge of Ryan ten Doeschate’s bat to give Robinson an easier catch for Kent’s 5th wicket, but Paul Walter batted patiently to a half-century, supported by Adam Wheater in a 62 run partnership, as Essex passed Kent’s score in the 79th over; ending on 299-5.

So, nominally a win for Essex, but overall a useful exercise for both teams; bowlers with 2-3 spells in their legs and most of the batsmen spending a fair amount of time in the middle.

Kent Innings
DJ. Bell-Drummond*      retired out                                     101 (164)
JM Cox                                          b Allison                9 (52)
Z Crawley               lbw                     b Snater                 2 (13)
JA Leaning              retired out                                     57 (127)
OG Robinson+            lbw                     b Quinn                 13 (21)
Z Crawley               not out                                         30 (68)
JM Cox                  not out                                         36 (70)
Extras  (b-1, lb-10, w-1, nb-10)                                        22
Total                                                                   270-5

FoW:    1-28 (Cox)      2-42 (Crawley)  3-180 (Bell-Drummond)   4-196 (Robinson)
        5-203 (Leaning)

Essex bowling   Ov      M       Runs    Wkts    Wd      Nb
JA Porter       15       5      45       0              2
SJ Cook         14       7      21       0
BMJ Allison     12       7      15       1
AP Beard        3.5      0      37       0
S Snater        12       4      35       1      1       3
T Westley       2.1      1       8       0
MR Quinn        11       5      20       1
DW Lawrence      7       0      45       0
PI Walter        4       0      14       0
RN ten Doeschate 4       0      19       0

Essex Innings
NLJ Browne              ct Leaning              b O’Riordan             97 (167)
AN Cook                 lbw                     b Podmore               10 (17)
T Westley*              ct Robinson             b Klaassen              40 (77)
DW Lawrence             lbw                     b Podmore               21 (35)
PI Walter               not out                                         55 (128)
RN ten Doeschate        ct Robinson             b Milnes                19 (30)
AJA Wheater+            not out                                         37 (55)
Extras (b-1, lb-8, w-1, nb-10)                                          20
Total                                                                   299-5

FoW:            1-23 (Cook)             2-127 (Westley) 3-159 (Lawrence)        4-194 (Browne)
                5-237 (ten Doeschate)

Kent Bowling    Ov      M       Runs    Wkts    Wd      Nb
HW Podmore      15       3      46       2              1
ME Milnes       12       3      31       1
G Stewart       12       1      41       0              3
ML Cummins      13       4      46       0              1
FJ Klaassen     10       3      27       1      1
TD Groenewald   13       2      44       0
MK O’Riordan     8       0      53       1
JA Leaning       1       0       2       0

Essex v Kent
ECB 2-Day Friendly
CloudFM County Ground
Monday 29th – Tuesday 30th March 2021

Teams:
Essex – Alastair Cook, Nick Browne, Tom Westley ( c ), Dan Lawrence,
Paul Walter, Ryan ten Doeschate, Adam Wheater (w), Feroze Khushi, Aaron
Beard, Shane Snater, Ben Allison, Sam Cook, Jamie Porter, Matt Quinn

Kent – Daniel Bell-Drummond ( c ), Zac Crawley, Jordan, Cox, Jack
Leaning, Marcus O’Riordan, Ollie Robinson (w), Grant Stewart, Harry
Podmore, Matt Milnes, Miguel Cummins, Tim Groenewald, FJ Klaassen

Umpires: Richard Kettleborough & Robert White

Toss uncontested, Kent to bat first