Cricket: Essex cut down to size as Jarvis hits his stride

Yorkshire . . . . . . . . . . . . .397 and 307

Essex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250 and 215

Yorkshire win by 239 runs

AS Paul Jarvis sauntered across from mid-off to accept the dolly that would have put Essex out of their misery shortly after lunch here yesterday, it was suggested, mischievously, that selfishness prompted the resulting spillage. If only subconsciously, the desire of Yorkshire's stand-in captainE to deliver the coup de grace himself must have been strong ..TTHER write errorX.- In the following over Jarvis duly delivered, Richard Blakey sweeping to his left to swallow Mike Garnham's inside edge and so give the visitors their third consecutive Championship win over the County monarchs. Perhaps this was Yorkshire's way of telling Essex to forget any fanciful notions of a more significant Championship hat-trick, three titles in a row, a feat they themselves last accomplished 25 years ago.

There had been justifiable optimism about Essex becoming the second side in Championship history to meet a target in excess of 450. Instead, having resumed with 357 required, nine wickets standing and Graham Gooch sensing blood, the chase faltered with alarming haste, the champions losing 6 for 61 before the interval.

One over decided this hitherto riveting contest. Gooch had just flicked Jarvis to leg to reach 50 before the next delivery saw his off-stump auditioning for Gerry Cottle. Salim Malik poked prematurely at a slow one and Jarvis picked up a one-handed catch in his follow-through. A dozen deliveries later, Jeremy Batty leapt at point to intercept Nasser Hussain's fierce drive and that, bar another feisty 50 from Garnham, was that.

For Yorkshire, the knowledge that Richie Richardson and Martyn Moxon are waiting in the wings will only partially compensate for the loss of Jarvis to a higher calling. For Essex, the slapped wrist came in the shape of Captain Gooch's Old Fashioned Remedy - a dose of nets. Someone will pay for this, though Worcestershire, today's opponents, are more likely to be quaking than Australia.