The final day of Essex vs Gloucestershire at Chelmsford came after the previous two days had been heavily rain affected, and with more forecast in the afternoon, it was really a bonus points grab for both sides from whatever play happened.
Essex resumed on 177-3 with Tom Westley (82) and Mark Pettini (18) batting and Westley was promptly dropped in the 2nd over, the edge flying to Alex Gidman at first slip when keeper Cameron Herring dived across and grassed the chance off Will Gidman. Runs came slowly with the 200 coming up in the 13th over with consecutive fours by Westley off David Payne through midwicket. Westley then reached his hundred with his 15th four in the next over as runs began to come more easily before Liam Norwell found some late inswing with the old ball to trap Pettini LBW for 35 at 234-4. Captain James Foster then came in and Norwell and Benny Howell kept the pressure on with four maidens before Westley thumped another four down the ground.
The new ball came and Essex saw out the three overs until lunch from James Fuller and Will Gidman at 267-4. The predicted rain hadn't come, so it remained if Essex could get to somewhere near 350 and if Gloucestershire could take two more wickets for another point. Soon after lunch, another three to the deep boundary off Fuller took Westley past 150, his 2nd big score of the week, following his 130 against the students and Fenners. The 300 and third batting point soon followed as the pitch looked flat and lifeless and unlikely to produce a result even without the rain, and Gloucestershire then dropped another easy catch, Howell giving Foster a life at short mid-wicket, but Westley fell at the end of the same over, edging Will Gidman to Herring for an excellent 163.
Not that it put Foster off, he carted David Payne's first three balls of the next over for four through the point/third man region and got another four off Gidman to third man as the 350 began to look on, even though the floodlights were on and the gloom closing in. Foster kept getting of strike and Greg Smith kept blocking, making the task harder. The umpires obviously were waiting for the 350, since it had started raining round about the 99th over, but we played on.
Essex needed 5, Howell bowled a full ball which Foster swept high down to fine leg for a one bounce four (bringing up his third 50 of the year), forcing captain Michael Klinger to bring in all the fielders to stop the single, and Foster went for the same shot, this time finding the top edge where Fuller at fine leg jumped high, caught the ball, dived backwards and clung on to take the catch to give Gloucesershire their 2nd bowling point, with Graham Napier running out to make sure one more ball was bowled before they went off, and Smith slapped that ball through point for four to bring up the 350. The rain closed in at the end of the over and the game was called off an hour later with Essex 353-6.
They take 8 points from the draw, and Gloucestershire 9.
