County Championship: Essex and Kent draw after run-drenched four days
- Published
Dan Lawrence (right) took 3-98 for Essex as they spent a mammoth 187.3 overs in the field
LV= County Championship Division One, The Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford (day four): |
Essex 514: Critchley 132, Browne 107, A Cook 100; Bird 3-85 & 68-1: Westley 32* |
Kent: 581-9: Compton 129, Cox 129, Milnes 67; Critchley 4-114 |
Essex (12 pts) drew with Kent (12 pts) |
Essex and Kent completed an inevitable draw at Chelmsford on a final day where bat once again dominated ball.
Kent moved on from their overnight 405-5 with Jordan Cox (129) and Matt Milnes (67) adding 75 for the sixth wicket.
Jackson Bird (53 not out) also enjoyed the chance to score some lower-order runs before they reached 581-9 in reply to Essex's first-innings 514.
Essex batted again after tea, reaching 68-1 before the two sides shook hands early on a draw.
Both sides come away with 12 points from their opening fixture in a game that featured five different centurions.
Cox fell for the same score as team-mate Ben Compton after he had resumed on 100 not out overnight, nightwatchman Milnes batted well into the afternoon session to make 67 and then Australia seam-bowler Bird enjoyed the chance to play his shots with 53 not out off just 46 balls.
Matt Critchley finished with 4-114 and Dan Lawrence 3-98 with their part-time spin.
Essex did lose the wicket of Nick Browne in their second innings for just nine, but Cook (26 not out) and Westley (32 not out) batted through the remainder of play with few concerns.
Former England captain Cook also came on to bowl at one stage in Kent's innings for an over, but his part-time medium pace failed to make an impact.
Essex play Somerset at Taunton on Thursday while Kent host Lancashire at Canterbury.
Essex captain Tom Westley told BBC Essex:
"I suppose it wasn't the normal Chelmsford wicket, although it happened this time last year against Worcester.
"It's a little bit out of our control, but it was pretty dead and killed the game after day two with the amount of runs being scored.
"Still, 12 points at the start of the campaign is positive, and the way the bowlers kept going, and the three centurions including Critch (Matt Critchlety) on debut - that was a special performance from him.
"This is one of the strongest squads I've been part of and when Harmy (Simon Harmer) joins us, he's only going to make us stronger."