County Championship Division Two: Alastair Cook scores ton for Essex
Cook scores century for Essex; Duckett with double for Northants
Tuesday 12 April 2016 07:02, UK
England captain Alastair Cook scored a century to help Essex take control of their opening County Championship Division Two clash against Gloucestershire on day two at Chelmsford.
England's skipper shared an impressive second-wicket stand of 222 with Tom Westley (122), who also scored a century, after Essex lost opener Nick Browne in the first over of their innings.
Cook reached his hundred off 182 balls before finally falling lbw to Jack Taylor for 105. It was the first of five wickets to fall for 53 runs, as Essex somewhat stumbled to 287-6, leading by 25 when rain brought play to a close early.
Northamptonshire's Ben Duckett bettered Cook's efforts, scoring a staggering 282 against Sussex at The County Ground.
Duckett added 104 to his overnight score on a stop-start day disrupted by rain and bad light, still unbeaten at stumps with Northamptonshire 481-7 in their first innings.
Teenage Sussex seamer, George Garton, took 3-93 - including two in two overs - on his County Championship debut.
Worcestershire and Kent were unable to start their Championship opener for the second day running, due to a wet outfield at New Road.
Despite a dry spell for a couple of hours, umpires Ian Gould and Richard Illingworth ruled out play at 12.45pm with heavy overnight rain not shifting from the playing surface.
