One of Anderson's wickets was his England captain Alastair Cook...
Thursday 24 September 2015 10:49, UK
Lancashire - already assured of promotion, but chasing Surrey for the Division Two title - struggled in their LV= County Championship Division Two clash against Essex despite James Anderson taking four wickets, including removing his England captain Alastair Cook for one.
After day one at the County Ground in Chelmsford was washed out by rain, Anderson made an early breakthrough in the morning session of day two, trapping Cook lbw in the third over.
Tom Westley was back in the hutch for a duck soon after, falling to 41-year-old Glen Chapple (2-64), who then added the scalp of Nick Browne (29).
That left Essex struggling on 29-3, but Jesse Ryder hit 116 and Ravi Bopara 99 in a 186-run partnership to help turn the tide in the hosts' favour.
Ryan ten Doeschate (59) also hit fifty, before Anderson (4-56) grabbed three more late wickets - that of Ten Doeschate, Bopara and Mark Pettini (eight) - as Essex closed on 328-7.
Surrey advanced their claims for the title on day two of their clash against Northamptonshire at The Oval, scoring 378-8 with Kumar Sangakkara notching a century.
Day one of the encounter was also washed out by rain but their quick-scoring efforts when play did finally get underway means that silverware is likely, helping somewhat ease the pain of their Royal London One-Day Cup final defeat to Gloucestershire on Saturday.
Sangakkara showed his classed once again with his 101 runs coming off just 140 balls, with 13 fours and one six, but the rest of the top-six will be disappointed having all made double-figure starts but no-one else passing 32.
Gary Wilson added 49 useful lower-order runs and 17-year-old Sam Curran continued his fine form with 52 not out, his maiden first-class fifty.
Chris Dent hit an unbeaten 102 for Gloucestershire but the home side still trail Glamorgan by 190 runs at the County Ground in Bristol, finishing day two on 243-3.
Glamorgan batsmen James Kettleborough (81) and Aneurin Donald (98) hit career-best first-class scores as the visitors scored 338-4 on the opening day of their match, but Donald - still unbeaten on 91 overnight - fell two short of a maiden first-class century.
It was James Fuller (4-59) who made the breakthrough - the first of two in one over, as he also bowled David Lloyd for 47 three balls later.
Graham Wagg (24) and Craig Meschede (28) made handy contributions before Benny Howell (3-28) ran through the tail to dismiss Glamorgan for 433.
Gloucestershire lost Will Tavare (eight) and Gareth Roderick (nine) early, but Dent and Hamish Marshall (58) put on 137 together for the third wicket, and after that, Howell (40no) further supported Dent through to his ton.
Derbyshire captain Wayne Madsen fell five short of a hundred as his side closed day two of their clash against Leicestershire on 281-7, 48 runs behind.
Madsen follows Leicestershire's teenage all-rounder Zak Chappell - who wrote his name in the county's record books, but also fell short of a century on day one.
The 19-year-old from Grantham scored 96 from 122 balls, the highest ever innings by a Leicestershire number 10, before Mark Footitt yorked him to complete career-best figures of seven for 71.
Chappell's outstanding innings led a recovery that took Leicestershire from 131-7 to 329 all out with the last two wickets adding 175.
Having closed day one on 54-0, Derbyshire lost opener Billy Godleman (31) early on day two, and Chesney Hughes (14), bringing Madsen to the crease.
His search for a hundred was well supported by Ben Slater (70), Wes Durston (29) and Tom Knight (25), before he was bowled by Ollie Freckingham (3-64), one of three such dismissals he picked up on the day.
That reduced Derbyshire to 262-5 before Ben Raine (2-57) added the scalp of Tom Poynton for a duck and Freckingham bowled Knight before the close of play.
