Nottinghamshire frustrated by rain

Essex 61 for 2 v Nottinghamshire
Scorecard

Title-chasing Nottinghamshire were frustrated by the weather in their attempts to overhaul County Championship leaders Yorkshire, with only 17 overs of play possible on day one against Essex at Trent Bridge.

After waiting until 1700 for the game to start, Nottinghamshire skipper Chris Read unsurprisingly chose to field in the damp conditions after winning the toss. Faced with a potentially tricky session, the visitors managed to reach 61 for 2 at the close.

Openers Tom Westley and Jaik Mickleburgh were the men out, leaving Ravi Bopara and Matt Walker to resume in the morning. Nottinghamshire, two points behind Yorkshire and with two games in hand, were able to call upon the services of Ryan Sidebottom with the left-arm seamer not picked for England, but it was one-cap wonder Darren Pattinson who struck first.

Westley had taken advantage of a short boundary on the Bridgford Road side of Trent Bridge to clip a six off his legs in Pattinson's fourth over, but the seamer responded in the next over with a good length delivery resulting in a thin edge to Read.

Sidebottom's England colleague Bopara had a bit of luck to get off the mark with a thick edge to the third-man boundary but Mickleburgh then departed lbw to former Essex all-rounder Andre Adams. Bopara and Walker survived until to the close and, with better weather forecast for the remainder of the match, the hosts will be looking for early wickets tomorrow against the struggling visitors.