No state of Grace in search for the perfect pitch

Essex 188 and 191-9 dec Leics 201 and 104-5 Match drawn

Having spoken publicly about the poor quality of many county pitches and the problems they create in trying to develop international standard players, Nasser Hussain could afford a wry smile yesterday as he was hit twice on the gloves by innocuous deliveries that lifted steeply off a good length.

Except, of course, Hussain does not do wry. He does demonstrative and emotive, especially when having shaken his hand to alleviate the pain, he is nearly bowled next ball by one that keeps low.

Grace Road has been uneven for years so Hussain would have known that his first Championship match of the season was likely to be a testing one, but with the first Test in under three weeks, he would have hoped for better.

Surprisingly his demise was not to a shooter or a lifter, and thankfully not to the broken finger that was starting to look a distinct possibility, but to a regulation edge.

Still his competitive instinct took over and rather than make haste to the pavilion, he stood his ground waiting for the umpire.

Supporters of England should not worry, however, because his returns for Essex since central contracts were introduced in 2000 are abysmal – 127 runs in 11 innings. Clearly his county form bears no relevance to that for England, although that will need to change as he will be available during the NatWest one-day tournament.

However, his argument that poor pitches stop batsmen and bowlers learning the skills required to succeed in international cricket was borne out by the rest of play, as a series of Leicestershire batsmen gave their wickets away in pursuit of 179 in 30 overs.

Throughout, batters, wary of the bounce and unsure when they would be scuttled by an unplayable ball swung the bat in hope rather than expectation – Graham Napier in particular decided that a quick 20 or 30 was preferable to a slow death – and bowlers ran up knowing that all was needed was a reasonably straight delivery. Charlie Dagnall excelled at this, his post-lunch spell of 4 for 40 at least threatening a chance of a result until rain forced an early tea. Earlier, Scott Brant, Essex's second overseas player, finished the Leicestershire innings with three wickets in five overs, although some comical swipes by Devon Malcolm did ensure a lead.

Will Jefferson then provided the best batting of the day with some classical drives and punches off the back foot. His dismissal, when he planted his front foot, signalled the end of the quality cricket – a couple of Andy Flower cover drives apart – when on 43 he eventually fell lbw to Dagnall.