County Championship Round 8: Leicestershire v Gloucestershire

 

Preview:

While not a “must win” game, this is definitely a “must not lose”. Gloucestershire burgled a win at Bristol, in a match that Leicestershire had dominated and cannot afford another bad match after having managed just two bowling points against Surrey. After a jet-propelled start to the season, both the batting and bowling have been stuttering in recent games. With the top four in Group Two separated by just 13 points, every dropped bonus point becomes critical. As the table stands, Gloucestershire have the lowest number both of batting and of bowling points in the Group. In reality, Gloucestershire’s position is still a very strong one as they lead the group by three points from Somerset while Surrey, in third, have played a game more and, to boot, Somerset and Hampshire play each other and one or other will drop off the pace as a result: probably the best result for Gloucestershire at Taunton would be a Somerset win, followed by a low-scoring draw as next best.

Kraigg Brathwaite has returned home and is replaced by Glenn Phillips of New Zealand, who is slated to replace James Bracey at #3. Although both Phillips and Tom Lace can keep wicket, Jonathan Tattersall’s loan has been extended after his excellent debut and he will take the gloves and bat at #7. Miles Hammond, the success story of the Surrey game, will open the batting. For the Shire, getting a solid start will be crucial, so one hopes that Chris Dent will combine more successfully with Miles Hammond than he did with Kraigg Brathwaite. Tom Lace, Ian Cockbain and Ryan Higgins will bat from 4 to 6, followed by Tattersall and Tom Smith.

Josh Shaw looks set to replace Matt Taylor in the attack, although there is a strong argument for giving Dominic Goodman another chance to impress: the last place should be between them. George Scott looks likely to miss out, barring an injury to a batsman. At The Oval, there was a strong temptation to drop Dan Worrall to allow two spinners to play (having seen the way that the pitch played one wonders if the Shire wish that they had done so – one suspects not) but, this time, Graeme van Buuren is not in the XIII, suggesting that Plan “A” is a balanced attack with three specialist seamers, Ryan Higgins as all-rounder and Tom Smith as spinner.

Leicestershire, managed their third highest successful Championship chase against a Middlesex side that has now lost six of its eight matches. Having dominated almost every game for the best part of three days, Middlesex will be wondering where to turn. In contrast, Leicestershire will come into this match full of confidence, knowing that that they would, but for rain and an injury, have earnt at least a draw at Bristol.

For Leicestershire, their batting has been feast or famine. They have twice scored more than 400 in the first innings and twice more have passed 300, but have managed only 84 and 136 in their last two matches. Gloucestershire need to keep the pressure on their batsmen in the first innings rather than have to chase the game, which they have been doing too frequently for comfort: it had to come unstuck some time and did against Surrey.

Day 1: 

Gloucestershire’s strategy all campaign has been to pack the side with seam options and bowl first. It has left them vulnerable to sides that prepare dry pitches to negate the seamers and pick two spinners, aiming to exploit a deteriorating pitch on the last day. It is fair to say that spin is not a Gloucestershire strength and the loss of Graeme van Buuren has not helped, although recollection of GvB’s powers as a spinner have been enhanced greatly by his absence. That said, there is no question that being able to pick both Tom Smith and Graeme van Buuren would give the opposition pause for thought when preparing pitches. The fact that Leicestershire picked two spinners in their squad was due warning that all of Gloucestershire’s opponents have identified now this major vulnerability. So, it was no surprise that Leicestershire chose to bat on winning the Toss and picked two spinners, hoping to reverse a sequence of four defeats and a draw in their last five matches against the Shire.

The playing XI was as expected, with Dominic Goodman missing out to Josh Shaw for the last place.

Cloudy conditions for the start, although the Sun broke through quickly, albeit briefly and, unlike the amazingly green strip at The Oval, which never broke up because of the amount of grass, the strip at Grace Road showed not a hint of green. Dan Worrall and David Payne opened the bowling and got plenty of movement, although struggling a little initially to control the line. The pitch seemed to have little bounce: one delivery from Worrall bounced twice through to Jonathan Tattersall. Another, from David Payne, went down leg, bounced awkwardly just in front of Jonathan Tattersall and went for four byes. The breakthrough though was not long in coming: the penultimate ball of the fourth over, Azad edged a David Payne delivery that swung and squared him up to Tom Smith in the Gulley. Leicestershire 10-1, just the start that the Shire needed. After that, though, alarms were limited and Josh Shaw was on for the eleventh over. The batsmen were not being made to play enough, particularly from the Pavilion End, from which plenty of balls swung away a lot, but without threatening bat or stumps.

What was disconcerting for the bowlers was that big swing only seemed to be available when the ball was well wide of off. After some difficult, early overs, Evans and Harris settled into their task and accumulated steadily. Up came the fifty in the twentieth over and you started to think that the Shire had missed the boat by failing to take more early wickets when conditions were in their favour. Even so, Ryan Higgins produced a magnificent delivery that swung in and moved off the pitch and just failed to catch the edge of Evans’ bat: it was going to turn out to be that kind of day. On came Glenn Phillips to bowl his off-breaks in the twenty-first over, ahead of Tom Smith or Miles Hammond, with the 50 partnership coming up in the same over. However, as would happen several times during the day, the change brought the wicket. In his second over, Glenn Phillips had Evans dropped by Tom Lace at Short Leg when he could not hold on to a full-blooded shot but, four balls later, Evans prodded another one very gently, again to Tom Lace, who took the catch: 64-2, Evans 27 and, next delivery, Ackermann must have been perilously close to being LBW first ball. Suddenly, things were happening again and Ryan Higgins was causing all sorts of problems too at the other end. Chris Dent put three men around the bat for Glenn Phillips and brought on Tom Smith to a similar field, pressurising the batsmen. Gloucestershire bowling two spinners in tandem before Lunch on the first day? And facing the prospect of batting last on this pitch…

Glenn Phillips was Action Man in person: every delivery was an event… an appeal, bat beaten (or not), runs – there was always something happening. The pitch was giving a little help, although not excessively. And then, suddenly, a ball from Glenn Phillips turned a long way. 89-2 from 31 overs at Lunch and batting last was not looking like an attractive proposition with the two Gloucestershire spinners having shared 8 overs already and finding some real encouragement.

After Lunch though, slowly but surely the batsmen consolidated. The 100 came up in the 35^th over. Ackerman then ran out and hit Glenn Phillips for a huge six over Long On: once again, the bat was getting right on top and, this time would stay there for a long time. Harris reached his 50 out of 129-2 and the score started to mount rather faster than Chris Dent will have wanted: nine came off a Tom Smith over, although he was bowling as tightly and meanly as ever; even Ryan Higgins was unable to keep a lid on scoring, going at 4-an-over. The milestones kept coming: Ackermann’s 50 in the 59^th over, the 200 up (Harris 99*, Ackermann 52*) in the 60^th, then Harris’ 100 (175 balls, 15x4). The batsmen were carrying straight on from where they left off against Middlesex. Ten came from a Josh Shaw over and, with Glenn Phillips also taking some stick, it was time for Miles Hammond, bowling in sunglasses and a headband, to try his luck. Almost immediately he had a confident bat-pad catch appeal against Harris rejected, much to the displeasure of the close fielders who were already in a huddle, celebrating: 211-2 and yet another bad day was looming for the Shire. The 150 partnership came up in the 62^nd over.

A deflection down leg was just fractionally out of reach of Jonathan Tattersall’s dive: on another day Harris might not have got away with it, but earnt four runs instead of being dismissed. Last ball before Tea, Harris produced a Chinese Cut against Josh Shaw that just passed Off Stump and defeated the despairing dive of Jonathan Tattersall: 224-2 from 64 overs, the partnership 160 and lady luck was just not on the side of the bowlers.

Back after Tea, Miles Hammond immediately produced a beautiful delivery that pitched well outside off and turned and bowled Ackermann for 57: 224-3 and a first bowling point.  Back came the close fielders for the first time for what seemed like ages, surrounding the batsman. Again, there was a sudden change in the tempo of the match, particularly as Miles Hammond was looking to be the biggest threat since the early overs of the morning. However, once again a stand started to build, edges flew agonisingly out of reach of flying fielders, there were more Chinese Cuts that went for four: pure frustration. Back came Glenn Phillips and again the change brought a wicket. A delivery turned, hit pad and flew into the air. The umpire’s finger went up and, for a few moments no one could work out if it was LBW or bowled (poor Ed Seabourne’s face was a picture as he tried to work out what the decision was). In the end, the umpire ruled that Harris was LBW Phillips 148 (236 balls, 21x4). The score was then 299-4 in the 79^th over and the Shire were two wickets short of a second bowling point. Up came the Leicestershire 300 in the following over – the fifth time this season that their batsmen have reached 300 in the 1^st innings.

The New Ball came and went. Yet another partnership started to build: this time Hill and Swindells. In came Dan Worrall for the 91^st over of the day. The first ball swung prodigiously, but well outside off and was ignored. The second also swung considerably and bowled Hill neck and crop for 56 (83 balls, 7x4): 337-5. Rather than play quietly for the Close, the batsmen kept up the attack and no fewer than 20 runs came from the last three overs of the day, as Leicestershire brought up the 350 and 4^th bowling point in the last over of the day, although with four legs byes, followed by four byes from the last ball of the day: 357-5 and 14 overs left to obtain the second bowling point.

Yes, it has been another tough day. When your luck is out… however, Gloucestershire know that these things always even-out in the end.

Day 2:

After a day suffering almost every misfortune that a side can suffer, not least the long-suffering Jonathan Tattersall, who kept wicket really well, yet saw 14 byes and 16 leg byes go past him: some of them he would have been pressed to stop even had he had the arms and the agility of an orang-utan. Meanwhile, Chris Dent may be wondering if he should have placed two men in the deep for the Chinese Cut. Yes, yesterday was that sort of day, even when you discount the extraordinary number of close LBW shouts that were turned down. New day. Turn things around? No. We saw another horrible collapse from a side that seems to have lost all batting confidence, the follow-on enforced and the captain out for the second time in the day. 

Action: plenty. Things to cheer for the Shire: very few. However, the side have shown powers of resilience that few would have imagined, even against Surrey, where it took a debatable umpiring decision to quench the growing flame of a stubborn last day fightback. Do not rule out another late twist.

A cloudy morning, with the threat of possible drizzle later and the talk of trying to restrict the Foxes to 400. Ryan Higgins, who had had an alarming moment when he trod on the ball and fell heavily during the afternoon session on Day 1 required a fitness test on his knee before play, but was able to bowl the first over of the day. In David Payne’s first over there was already one delivery that swung back in, just missing both the inside edge of the bat and the stumps and, three balls later, a Chinese Cut that again, evaded the stumps. Harry Swindells was the lucky batsmen who then, in Payne’s next over, inside-edged into his pad: David Payne could definitely feel swindled all three times. In Payne’s third over, he passed Swindell’s outside edge by a whisker and the ball just cleared the stumps.  If Harry Swindells plays the lottery, today is the day that he should buy a ticket.

The most impressive thing was that Swindells did not let his struggles get to him and stuck it out, not giving away his wicket, while Mike just got on with his own innings at the other end. The Bowlers were giving nothing away, but it was the batsmen who were winning the battle. Payne kept at it and Mike flashed at the last ball of his spell, just missing it as the ball moved away a fraction. It set the pattern for the day.

On came Tom Smith at the Pavillion End and, first ball, Swindells finally produced one edge too many and Ian Cockbain swallowed the catch in front of his face: 379-6, the second bowling point and, first ball, new batsmen, Parkinson was on the point of edging a ball that turned a little. Tom Smith’s penultimate ball turned and beat the edge again: this was the sort of bowling that the Shire have looked for from Tom Smith; it also begged the question of what the Leicestershire spinners might be able to do. On came Dan Worrall and extracted more late, banana swing from wide of Off. However, old habits die hard, so Parkinson Chinese Cut the fifth ball of the over down to Fine Leg to show that he too had mastered the shot. All the while, Tom Smith was producing a spell that looked more Bishan Bedi than Allan Border, with the ball turning and, occasionally spitting a little. Still though, Leicestershire edged (frequently literally) towards 400, which came when Mike saw a ball from Tom Smith to hit and launched it over Long On for a two-bounce four: 402-6 in the 115^th over. In the next over Dan Worrall took diabolic revenge for his colleague’s suffering by first hitting Mike in the unmentionables and, while his eyes we still, presumably, watering, produced a much quicker and absolutely straight full length delivery that Mike drove at and missed completely. The only doubt about it might have been if would tunnel under Middle although, thinking about it, that was presumably what the umpires had thought about a couple of the LBW shouts yesterday: 405-7 and the Shire working their way through the batting. Less appreciated by the public was yet another 50, brought up in the 120^th over, when 4 byes from Dan Worrall brought up the fifty for Extras. Of these, 22 were byes (almost none of which Jonathan Tattersall had any realistic chance of stopping) and 23 Leg Byes.

The Eastern Cape Action Man was dropping ever less subtle hints that he wanted a bowl and, finally, Chris Dent turned to him. The decision nearly bore fruit when Wright got in a tangle and came close to being stumped. However, it was a case of “tell me the old, old story” – 436-7 at Lunch, yet another partnership building and no signs of an end to the innings.

Straight after Lunch Josh Shaw hit Matt Parkinson on his unprotected bowling arm. For a while, it looked as if Parkinson was in trouble and, given that he is the main spinner, any problems for him that could affect his bowling would be a serious business. The ball then went out of shape and was changed before Miles Hammond could relieve Tom Smith. This was a clever move: first ball, yet another inside edge, but safe; the second, a massive Full Toss (one of the very few times that the Shire’s Björn Börg lookalike has lost his length), that Wright lobbed gently to Josh Shaw at Mid On. It was 436-8, just 8 balls had been bowled in 11 minutes after Lunch, but plenty had happened in those eight deliveries.

Miles Hammond was having problems with his length but, when he got one right, the ball turned, evaded the edges, hit Jonathan Tattershall’s gloves and evaded the grab of Ian Cockbain at First Slip, trying to catch the re-bound: two more byes to the total. The 450 came up in the 132^nd over, which was job done for the Foxes. Leicestershire honour satisfied, Josh Shaw tried a novelty: two, perfectly straight balls, which did for Barnes and Davis in the space of three deliveries, sending the Off Stump flying in identical manner each time. So, it was 451ao and the light roller came on.

So, what would Gloucestershire’s new opening pair of Chris Dent and Miles Hammond make of the bowling. The first two deliveries from Wright went down leg and produced a leg bye and a three as the two batsmen started confidently. Only 302 to save the follow-on. You wondered about the strategic collapse to hurry the game along and set up a run-chase after (just) saving the follow-on. However, it would be nice to see a decent opening partnership for a change. The batsmen were playing positively, even if one half-controlled edge from Mile Hammond went at a comfortable height, just where a Fourth Slip could have been: instead of a dismissal, it brought four runs. Chris Dent, with his crouched, rather chest-on stance, looked by far the more vulnerable of the two. Miles Hammond though was looking just as he good as he had against Surrey and despatched a delivery from Davis out of the ground with a confident pull for six to make the score 27-0.

On came Parkinson for the twelfth over and sent one down leg that went for leg byes and the next was a horrible full toss down leg that Miles Hammond launched so close to the Short Forward Square Leg that his life must have passed before his eyes. 47-0 from 12 overs and the commentators praising Miles Hammond for his kindness in not hitting that ball as hard as it deserved!!!

One started to think of the uncharted territory of a fifty opening partnership until Ackermann brought himself on after Parkinson’s solitary over. His first delivery was floated up, turned, lifted a little, beat Chris Dent’s defensive prod and hit the top of off: 48-1 and in came Glenn Phillips, known for his T20 hitting, but averaging 40.2 in the First Class game. Phillips was off the mark with a single third ball before Miles Hammond decided to bring out the reverse sweep to superb effect, to bring up the fifty, with the Shire still going at close to 4-an-over. The instinct of both Miles Hammond and Glenn Phillips is to attack, which was great entertainment for everyone except the Short Forward Square Leg, who must have been desperate to get off at Tea and check his insurance. There was also one bizarre incident where Glenn Phillips scuffed a drive, the ball slid just to the wicket-keeper’s right and it was a race between the dab down of the bat and the gloveman’s lunge at the stumps: Glenn Phillips won by a nose, but perished in Parkinson’s next over when he tried to hit a six and Harris took a tremendous diving catch close to the boundary as the ball came over his shoulder. 81-2, Glenn Phillips 16 and the start of an ignominious collapse.

Tom Lace was extremely lucky to get away with what looked suspiciously like a glove to the ‘keeper, but he made it to Tea and it was 85-2 from 26 overs, with Hammond 41* and Lace 1*.

Initially, things were altogether calmer and less frenetic after Tea until, after a period playing themselves back in, Miles Hammond started to attack, reaching his 50 with a boundary (80 balls, 6x4, 1x6). Immediately afterwards, though, Tom Lace snicked one behind to fall cheaply: 95-3. It could have been worse because Ian Cockbain edged his first ball to Slip, who juggled it three times before the ball finally fell to the turf. Then Parkinson fired one down leg and Ian Cockbain deflected it to the boundary to bring up the 100 in the 35^th over. Ian Cockbain could not take advantage: Parkinson floated one up, Cockbain tried to turn it to leg, the ball went to Second Slip off the pad and was given, caught: 114-4. Ian Cockbain was not happy, but he was out all the same. Then Ryan Higgins played down the wrong line and was bowled, Off Stump and Parkinson was on a hat-trick.

Again, the pitch was not playing badly. The bowling was not even that good. It was just a collective malaise of confidence that has been gathering pace for several games. Miles Hammond had used the reverse sweep to good effect, but tried one too many and the ball deflected off his leg onto the stumps: 123-6, Hammond 67 (107 balls, 8x4, 1x6) and the Shire in the proverbial. It was another batting freefall. And it got worse. Ackermann dropped one very short. Tom Smith swiped at it and only defected the ball onto his stumps. 128-7. After a flurry of boundaries, back came Wright. Jonathan Tattersall clipped the ball sweetly… straight to Mid-Wicket. 144-8. Painful viewing. Not long after, Josh Shaw missed one that turned and was hit on the back pad: fifth wicket for Parkinson and 153-9. Then Wright bowled David Payne, only to see the umpire signal No Ball. Payne and Dan Worrall hung around for a while but, finally, Wright bowled a straight one and Worrall missed it. 158ao and a very poor batting effort.

Would Leicestershire enforce the follow-on? The betting was that they would not.

There was a long conference between the Leicestershire players and to the surprise of some, it was enforced.

Now, as the former Essex captain, Tonker Taylor, would have said “same batting order, better batting!”

Leicestershire opened with their spinners and had five overs to make inroads. Chris Dent looked like a man out of form, out of confidence and out of luck. Surviving five overs was too much for him. Penultimate ball: an extra fielder was brought in to have four around him, outside off, ball did nothing, tentative prod and sent straight to Slip. 5-1, 288 behind and Day 3 was going to be a very, very long (or maybe, short) day for the fans of the Shire.

Day 3:

There has been a lot of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth overnight by a section of the Gloucestershire fandom and a lot of criticism of players, some merited, a lot, not. Not too many aspects of the team have escaped censure from the same people who lauded the team just a few weeks ago. The most glaring problem is that opponents have analysed the team and have realised that it is very vulnerable on pitches that encourage spin and negate the seamers. Tom Smith has done a job for the side, but will not often bowl sides out, even if he will keep things tight and help rest the seamers. He is a good, honest County pro, who would do a fine job as second spinner – and undoubtedly be much more effective if he had a dangerous spin partner at the other end – but asking him to bowl out sides on a regularly basis is like asking me to run a four minute mile.

The argument raised – completely erroneously – is that the nature of the Bristol pitch means that signing a top-class spinner (Dom Bess would have been an obvious target) is a waste of money. This is obvious nonsense because if Gloucestershire had had Dom Bess in their squad, Surrey would not have picked a used pitch for their game, Hampshire would not have prepared a pitch in which winning the Toss almost guaranteed them the win (we forget that remarkable last day effort in our rush to judge the side) and Leicestershire would have been much more leery of preparing a pitch that made winning the Toss critical. Even if Gloucestershire had won the Toss against Surrey or Leicestershire, the opposition knew that they would have a good chance of getting away with it.

So, back to the job in hand. What could Miles Hammond and Glenn Phillips do to rescue the situation? For fifteen minutes, things went smoothly. Then, Miles Hammond fell to a good piece of bowling and a diabolical piece of luck. Wright found his outside edge, Azad at First Slip, dropped the ball but, in falling, the ball stuck between his legs and he was able to pick it out and claim the catch. Nine times out of ten the ball would have gone to turf. That made it 17-2 in the fifth over of the morning and the one batsman that you could see resisting all day, was back in the hatch. The size of the job was shown starkly when Parkinson found his length and, when he pitched on the right spot, became almost unplayable.

Tom Lace has had one really good innings this season and one stinker of a decision against him. In recent innings his confidence has looked completely shot and, today, Wright produced a lovely delivery that moved away a little and he could only edge to Slip. It made it 23-3 in the sixth over of the day and it was just a matter of when defeat came today, not if. In the twelfth over of the morning Glenn Phillips misjudged a ball from Parkinson that was homing on leg and was given LBW, much to his disgust – the batsman had not realised how far he had moved across the stumps – making it 29-4. Then, in the fourteenth over, Ryan Higgins, who is completely out of form, launched a huge, premeditated slog-sweep that got a top edge and went high into the air, settling in the hands of Hill. So, at 31-5, the game was just about over.

Jonathan Tattersall brought up the 50 in the 24^th over, but it was just window-dressing now. Even so, seeing both he and Ian Cockbain in double figures was a small boost to morale. One started to raise expectations: perhaps a fifty partnership? Get the score past 100? Survive past Lunch?

As the mini-recovery grew, Parkinson had five men round the bat, with the wicket-keeper joined by a Silly Point, two slips and a Leg Slip. Jonathan Tattersall saw the gaps in the field, skipped down the pitch, took the ball on the full and clipped it sweetly through Mid-Wicket to take the score to 76-5. Up came the fifty partnership in the 34^th over and the Shire were making the pitch look much easier again. Of course, at a similar stage of the first innings they had been 81-1 and looking in control of their destiny. At Lunch it was 90-5, with Jonathan Tattersall 34* and Ian Cockbain 23*. Even if there was no growing bubble of hope, at least the partnership was dispersing a little of the gloom. Of course, the sad fact remained that Gloucestershire needed 203 more to make Leicestershire bat again and to score around 450 to entertain hope of victory. More remarkable was that Parkinson had taken the New Ball and bowled unchanged so far through the innings: 18 overs on the reel, although broken overnight.

Parkinson was rested finally after Lunch as Leicestershire went for an all-seam attack of Wright and Barnes. Up crept the score, closer to the hundred. Jonathan Tattersall brought it up with a clip off his legs to Square Leg. However, the seam experiment was brief and Parkinson was back soon with five men around the bat, wheeling away at the Bennett End off his surprisingly long run. Jonathan Tattersall was using his head and took it a bit too literally when he half ducked and headed the ball to Square Leg for four byes, possibly not too happy that the umpire signalled “dead ball” and chalked them off. After the standard checks, smiling and looking totally unconcerned, he resumed. Tough guys these Yorkies. Next delivery Wright bowled another bouncer that was ducked more safely.

A No Ball that went for four leg byes brought the partnership up to 99 and then Jonathan Tattersall clipped the offending Wright square for the boundary that brought up the hundred partnership. Ian Cockbain won the race to 50 with a lofted Cover Drive off Mike that went for four (112 balls, 6x4). Yet another clip off his legs gave Jonathan Tattersall the single that he needed for his own fifty (104 balls, 7x4) and the score to 145-5. And, in the 52^nd over, up came the 150. Only another 143 needed to make Leicestershire bat again… sigh! But, if these two could add another hundred, just maybe… But no! This is not Headingley and it is not 1981.

Parkinson put one on the spot. Jonathan Tattersall pushed forward. The ball turned a lot and went via the gloves of the ‘keeper to 1^st Slip. Tattersall waited, unconvinced that he had touched it but, while the fielders celebrated, the umpire lifted the finger and he had to go. 150-6 and another fine Tattersall innings had ended on 51. Once Jonathan Tattersall had gone, Ian Cockbain followed quickly: a genuine edge off Parkinson and a good, low catch at Slip. Parkinson’s 5-for, 155-7 and happy times over again.

David Payne did not last long. Turn from Ackermann, bails scattered. 160-8 and we were into the last rites. Tom Smith got a straight one from Ackermann and was palpably LBW, 165-9. A second consecutive defeat by an innings was coming. Dan Worrall came in and swung hard at his first ball and you knew that this last wicket partnership would be brief and merry. Out stepped Josh Shaw and lofted Parkinson over the sightscreen for a huge six. Dan Worrall’s first two scoring shots were a controlled edge for four and a six over Long On that mirrored Josh Shaw’s. Then a clip to leg for another four and one to Fine Leg stopped just short of the boundary: sixteen off the over and Dan Worrall 17* from 9 balls. Tea was delayed and Josh Shaw celebrated with consecutive fours that took the deficit below 100 and brought up the 200, something that had seemed unlikely an hour into the morning session. That though, was as far as the party got. Three balls and two runs later Josh Shaw went for an expansive drive and was bowled by the gate by Ackermann.

The partnership stood at 35 and some dignity had been restored, but you could not hide the fact that this was a second successive innings defeat, a second successive game in which Gloucestershire had just two bowling points to show for their efforts. And, with just two games left, were going to be out of the top two and no longer in control of their destiny.

What is evident is that if Gloucestershire are serious about qualifying for and competing in Division One, they are going to have to find an international spinner from somewhere and the club is going to have to put its hands deep in its pockets to do it.