Jamie Porter claimed four wickets as Essex bowlers posed difficult questions to Surrey batters on a rain-interrupted day two of this LV= Insurance County Championship fixture at Chelmsford.
The Essex seamer took his season’s total to 18 in four Championship games after recording just 19 during the whole of the 2022 campaign. Porter’s four for 51 from 14.5 overs enabled Essex to dismiss Surrey for 240 and gain a 74 first-innings lead. This was extended to 89 by Nick Browne and Sir Alastair Cook in five overs before stumps.
Opener Dom Sibley top-scored for the reigning champions with a promising innings, mixing a degree of purpose and plan as he passed 7,000 runs in his 10-year first-class career.
But Sibley’s toing and froing, backwards and forwards from the pavilion between showers, finally ended after 83 balls, 48 runs and three big sixes off Simon Harmer. Sean Abbott chipped in with a lower-order 31, but his colleagues made starts without going on to make larger contributions.
There were hold-ups for four rain showers during the day. Indeed, one stop-start over from Sam Cook was interrupted twice and spanned three-quarters of an hour.
Surrey survived two dropped chances during the first spell of playable weather, Matt Critchley spilling Sibley at leg-slip and Dan Lawrence failing to grasp at third slip to reprieve Rory Burns. Later Abbott was given a life when Harmer floored what would normally be a routine chance at second slip.
Burns added 16 runs to his total before edging Cook to first slip to depart for 27.
Sibley celebrated reaching his personal milestone by greeting the introduction of Harmer with a six over square leg. He followed that by launching the off-spinner for a second out of the ground over midwicket before lunch was heralded by thunder and lightning circling the ground.
Lightning struck metaphorically when play belatedly resumed with Pope and Sibley both lofting Harmer over long-leg for sixes.
Doug Bracewell started a Surrey mini-collapse when got extra lift off the pitch and induced a faint tickle from Sibley.
The New Zealander added a second wicket in his next over when he found some late movement to take the outside of Jamie Smith’s bat.
A third wicket fell inside a six-over spell for the addition of five runs when Porter bowled the first ball of a new spell and tucked up Pope.
Will Jacks hit 26 of the 39 runs scored for the fifth wicket before he also received a ball that kept low from Shane Snater and was lbw.
Cameron Steel fell into Harmer’s honey trap, pulling a shorter delivery straight into Sam Cook’s hands on the square-leg boundary.
Ben Foakes had hung around for 68 balls while scoring 24 as wickets fell at the other end before he got an inside edge to Cook and was bowled.
Porter wrapped up the innings accounting for Jordan Clark, another victim to one that kept low, then Abbott, caught spectacularly in the covers by Nick Browne, and finally Gus Atkinson pinned on his crease.
