County Championship 2022 | Lawrence, Browne save bacon for Essex

As the Day 1 of the Lancashire-Essex clash beckoned, it had the ups-and-downs for both the teams, keeping the match in the balance.

Opting to bat first, Essex faced an early blow, losing the in-form batter Alastair Cook to Tom Bailey. 

With Cook gone and their batting failures now a regularity, a collapse was in the waiting for Essex, but Nick Browne and Tom Westley helped the team escape from a precarious situation, guiding the side with their 87-run partnership.

As Essex tended to push the pressure back on Lancashire, they, in return, got hit with a roadblock. Matthew Parkinson, the joint highest wicket-taker of Division 1, sent Westley on the route that took him back to the dressing room.

James Anderson led to dangerman Browne's wicket as the latter perished for a well-made 71 runs.

It was the time of a Daniel Lawrence special as he, along with Paul Walter, set on the path of resurgence. Lawrence was returning after a hamstring injury, but it did not seem like he was away from the game for a month.

Although the duo had done enough to stabilise the innings with their 93-run stand, Walter, after gaining a start, fell off Bailey's delivery.

Bailey wasted no time adding another wicket to his tally, making Matthew Critchley caught behind for a duck.

Adam Rossington aided Lawrence as Essex's innings again went into recovery mode. However, the two batters worked hard during their 43-run partnership, but a mix-up led to Rossington's run-out.

Lawrence brought up his century in the penultimate over of the day. But the celebrations were limited as Essex lost another wicket on the very next delivery in the form of Simon Harmer.

At the close of the day's play, Essex's score reads 280/7, with Lawrence and Shane Snater unbeaten at 100 and 3 runs, respectively.

Brief scores:

Essex - 280/7 (1st innings)

Daniel Lawrence 100*, Nick Browne 71;

Tom Bailey 3-36, James Anderson 1-41