Sinking Essex lack self-belief

CRICKET

Notts 314; Essex 0-0

Keith Fletcher is now back in more comfortable surroundings - "gnome sweet gnome" as it were - although the brow remains as furrowed as it was last winter. Even with the consolation of a TCCB pay-off with more noughts than England clocked up in Australia, and media savagings largely confined to the Basildon Evening Echo, Essex currently represent the equivalent of leaving the Lusitania for a job on the Titanic.

The precise nature of Fletcher's current role is hard to gauge given his lack of an official title, and Essex themselves describe him as being responsible for "cricket awareness". This being the case, Fletcher is well aware that all is not well with a team which has made a distressingly swift transistion from vintage Essex to vin ordinaire.

Bookmakers are not renowned for their philanthropy, and yet Essex's current quote of 50-1 for the Championship could not be described as especially generous. They have haemorrhaged too many quality players, and even their knack of turning other counties' cast-offs may have deserted them. Neil Williams took eight wickets on his first Championship appearance after leaving Middlesex, but has now assumed his customary role on the physio's couch.

Yesterday, they were facing a Nottinghamshire side missing key personnel themselves, notably Paul Johnson because of a family illness, and Chris Lewis, whose next county (should his current one accede to his transfer request) would be well advised to confine him to appearance money.

Essex were also fortunate in that Nottinghamshire appeared to have employed Lewis's hairclippers for preparing the two ends of the same pitch used for last week's Texaco Trophy game. The odd ball is already turning quite sharply, and Essex at least came equipped for this eventuality.

Mark Illott is out with a groin strain, and, in terms of a pace attack, it is enough to say that the new ball was taken by Mark Waugh, who has a shorter run-up than Peter Such. Such and John Childs shared eight of the wickets, and after an opening in which it seemed as though Nottinghamshire would not be in any danger of not making 600, Essex would have been passably happy at bowling them out for 314.

Tim Robinson and Matthew Dowman put on 107 until two wickets fell just before lunch, and Robinson, who made 182 against Essex last season, completed another century with no bother at all until losing sight of a ball from Ronnie Irani. This was during a descent to 218 for 8, and the fact that the last two wickets put on 96 was a further comment on Essex's lack of self-belief.