Roderick makes immediate impact on return from illness

Gloucestershire 256 for 7 (Roderick 88*, Gurney 3-56) vs Nottinghamshire
Scorecard

This was a tough day of cricket that asked as much of the players as it did of the spectators. Scoring came tough, taking wickets was tougher, but of those who persisted, Gloucestershire's Gareth Roderick was the most satisfied, flicking the bails himself before walking off at stumps with bat under one arm and an unbeaten 88 under the other. He had good reason to smile on his first appearance of the season.

Roderick, Gloucestershire's four-day captain, missed the start of the season with what the club simply stated was "an illness". Head coach Richard Dawson was keen to offer as little detail as possible, with rumours of various ailments, physical and mental, being thrown around Nevill Road ever since he missed the opening fixture of the summer against Kent.

Wicketkeeper Phil Mustard has unofficially taken over as captain and continues in this match, though Dawson confirmed that Roderick will claim his usual position behind the stumps when Gloucestershire take to the field. It is now a case of easing him back into the team and allowing him the freedom to bat. "I wanted him to get back into the team, enjoy his cricket and score some runs," Dawson said.

This innings went some way to ticking all three of those boxes. The speculation is bound to continue until the full details are revealed at a time that is suitable for Roderick, but one thing is for certain - they have missed his determination. Without it, Nottinghamshire would have run them ragged for the second time in a month.

Chris Read's decision to forgo the toss and bowl as the away skipper was something of a no-brainer. The clouds were plentiful, the air thick and the pre-match odds stacked heavily in their favour. But once play commenced, there was a sneaking suspicion that this Bristol pitch may have stayed up through the early hours to count every last election vote.

It was tired and dull throughout the morning session - maybe even regretting a lot of its social media output from 4am onwards - and was in no mood to engage with anyone. The second ball of the day, delivered by Luke Fletcher, was close to removing Cameron Bancroft for a duck, but from then on there was little to encourage the bowlers. There were 25.4 overs of dot balls in the opening session of 31, and only part of that can be attributed to pressure built up by Read and his attack, aware that patience was needed.

In that time, they were able to snare a couple of wickets. Harry Gurney fooled Chris Dent, striking the left-hander on the pads as he left a ball he thought would move away from him. Then, with the last ball before lunch, Fletcher yorked Will Tavare superbly to make it 67 for 2 at the break.

And so, Roderick strode out after lunch with Bancroft, an absolute humbling at Trent Bridge still at the forefront of their minds, even if last week's round off allowed for an extended period of wound-licking. Their innings defeat began by conceding 430 before crashing and burning in their reply of 149 all out. Of course, Roderick was not there for that, but he was hardly coming into this match totally at ease.

Big scores in 2nd XI cricket against Surrey and Worcestershire allowed him to feel meaningful bat on ball, but the real test came against a Nottinghamshire side ruling Division Two. He began warily: it took him 33 balls to get into double-figures and 115 for his 22nd first-class fifty. Brett Hutton's two-in-two balls accounted for Bancroft and Graeme van Buuren, before Mustard edged the hat-trick ball through a vacant third slip.

It was with Mustard that Roderick continued on until after tea, when their partnership was ended on 83 as the former nicked Gurney, whose skills shone brighter than most, through to Read. Another flurry of wickets was in the offing but Kieran Noema-Barnett's calm-yet-cavalier 35 saw him and Roderick put on 65 in the evening session to frustrate a Notts attack that was starting to fray around the edges.

It was at this point that Roderick began working balls from off to leg and playing with a degree of comfort that suggested he might make it to three figures before the the day was done. Instead, he will have to sleep on 88. But, whatever tomorrow brings, if the cheers of the Gloucestershire balcony and the members that greeted his every boundary and the pride with which his coach spoke of his return is anything to go by, it had already been a day worth savouring.