Essex rise from 182 all out to take control against Durham

It was the last ball of the day that really rubbed it in. A ball that said that Essex would take some beating from here. A ball that said their Championship defence was growing in intensity. A ball that said that Durham might be about to suffer more anguish after their heartache in the same fixture last month.

David Bedingham had been Durham's highly-fancied representative in the race to be first to 1,000 runs before it became apparent that the only winner would be a sour-faced English Spring. And when Sam Cook shaded a delivery away from him to strike his off stump, and held out his fists in exultation, it already had the makings of a decisive moment.

Sixteen wickets fell on the first day and with Durham resting on 58 for 6, Essex's 182 suddenly looked indomitable. Massive credit for that goes to Michael Pepper, whose previous three first-class matches had brought 61 runs at 10.61, but who stood in for England-bound Dan Lawrence with such alacrity that he posted 92 and must have had visions of his maiden first-class century when he fell lbw.

Bedingham's wicket - Cook's third - had added impact because he actually hit the stumps. As many as 11 batters fell leg before as the ball nipped around, including all five of the other Durham wickets to fall, which has only been surpassed on the first day of a Championship match on one occasion - an extraordinary day at Luton in 1995. It can all become a bit repetitive, especially if somebody close to you wants to discuss the intricacies of the lbw Law. On days like this, umpires deserve double pay.

You couldn't argue with any of them, but people do. Durham's captain, Scott Borthwick, appeared to contest his even though replays suggested Cook had him bang to rights, and emerged from his crouch to gesture at the umpire. He appeared to be suggesting the ball had done too much (it hadn't), but he could have been signalling "can you bring me the bill please?" - a practice gesture perhaps for the evening ahead now that the restaurants have reopened.

Borthwick has had a lean time with the bat since he made a century against Essex at Chelmsford - all to no avail - but he has supervised a sturdy Durham recovery which even if they lost here (players must not give up, but journalists are obliged to forecast) would still leave them in contention when the final two rounds take place in July.

There has been no finer recovery in this Championship season than Essex's victory over Durham in that fixture in mid-April. Blown away for 96 and 163 runs adrift on first innings, they still triumphed by 43 runs. Durham, as hard as they tried to block it out, endured the creeping realisation for several hours that all would not turn out well.

Six weeks on, and Group One remains in the balance. Without that victory, Essex would have been out of contention. Despite that defeat, Durham have proved a resilient bunch. Essex, who began three points ahead of them in second place, but who have only three matches left to Durham's four, have reached a pivotal point in their Championship defence - and they have the leaders, Nottinghamshire, up next.

Scourge of Durham in that first meet-up was Simon Harmer, whose match return of 10 for 136 suggested that once more county batters would collapse before him. But a decidedly cold April has been followed by a markedly wet May. Now the seamers hold sway and everybody is expected to be permanently menacing. Half an hour without a wicket, with 20 added, is a recovery.

Virtually the first warm weather of the summer sucked the dampness from the ground, the ball seamed and the relaid Riverside square is so uneven that wicketkeepers are learning the art of stopping the ball with their ankles. (Perhaps David de Gea could try it in the next penalty shoot-out). The square has been known to go flat this season, but it would be a surprise if it did so in the next couple of days.

Unsurprisingly, Chris Rushworth had a say in things. Having now passed graham Onions as Durham's leading first-class wicket-taker, he can make himself unassailable. He only took one new-ball wicket on his way to 4 for 32, but it was that of Alastair Cook, a left-hander who was lbw to a ball from around the wicket, a difficult art but not as difficult as everybody imagined before ball tracking which is why what was once a sign of desperation has become the norm.

Pepper was also a victim for Rushworth, so annoyed to be hit in front that he walked off instantly. He survived a couple of early lbw appeals, but it did not inhibit his off-side drives and cuts when the opportunity presented itself and he played all of them with a flourish. When he fell, Essex capsized, losing their last five wickets for three runs in 17 balls.

If Rushworth had been around in 1659, he would assuredly have led the Rising of the North and it would probably have got further than Bramham Moor, with the Earl of Sussex imagining that he was about to emerge victorious and then being struck on the ankle by an arrow.

Ben Raine did not bowl as well, but he found enough movement to finish with four cut-price wickets, including the Essex skipper, Tom Westley, who made a 14-ball duck before he - you've guessed it - was lbw, too. In his England days, that used to be presented as a weakness, but 11 in the day does provide a decent-enough alibi.

Durham's response was a disaster, played out over 33 overs. Michael Jones left his delivery and was aghast at his error. The most successful batter was Cameron Bancroft. There again, when you have had to suffer the nonsensical over-analysis of a guarded and thoroughly responsible answer to a rewarmed question about ball tampering the treachery of a Chester-le-Street pitch is nothing to worry about at all.