Rain halts Nottinghamshire hopes

Persistent rain rescued County Championship title challengers
Nottinghamshire from the possibility of a second straight defeat as their clash
with Essex was abandoned as a draw

01-Jun-2010
ScorecardPersistent rain rescued County Championship title challengers
Nottinghamshire from the possibility of a second straight defeat as their clash
with Essex was abandoned as a draw.Even with the fast-drying Trent Bridge outfield, the weather never allowed the
Notts groundstaff to remove the covers and the two captains agreed to a draw
shortly before 4pm. The result would have been frustrating for visitors Essex, who were in a decent
position overnight to push for their first win since their opening game of the
season after finishing day three on 152 for 2, a lead of 264.Instead they picked up nine points to move to sixth in Division One, while
Notts claimed seven – enough to move them back to the top of the table, level on
103 points with Yorkshire having played two games less.Notts skipper Chris Read said: “It wasn’t a great game as far as we were
concerned, and we felt we were outplayed in most departments. But a key indicator of a strong team is how they bounce back, and we go to Tunbridge Wells to play Kent on Friday knowing that a good performance will
leave us top ahead of the break for the Twenty 20.”It’s important that we finish the ‘first half’ of the Championship season on
a high, and being able to turn to Twenty20 knowing we were top of the table
would be a fantastic boost.”