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Essex ended the third day in a strong position to achieve their second win of the season, leading by 313 runs with two wickets intact

At the end of a day when 42 overs were lost to rain, Northamptonshire finished the day trailing Essex by 87 runs with six first innings wickets standing in this compelling encounter between two of last season's promoted teams

Although Essex were well served by a vigilant 61 from Darren Robinson, it was the visitors that enjoyed the better of the opening day's play

Essex gained promotion to the First Division with a six-wicket victory over contenders Warwickshire after the two captains had agreed to declare innings in an attempt to set up a positive finish

Playing on the pitch that had been used for the Championship match between the two sides, Essex won the toss and elected to bat

Warwickshire gained consolation for their championship defeat when they cruised to a six wicket win against Essex in their National League encounter at Chelmsford

Drizzle delayed the resumption until 1.30 and with play underway in the other three promotion matches, both captains, Ronnie Irani and Neil Smith agreed to declarations to set up the possibility of a positive conclusion

The home side were given an immediate boost this morning when Mark Ilott bowled Dougie Brown with the first ball of the day

Warwickshire declared immediately on reaching 400 which gained them their first batting point as they narrowed the gap on third placed Essex to just two points

Essex ended a fascinating day's play still needing 43 runs to avoid the follow-on with five wickets intact

Despite missing four first team players, including Allan Donald, Warwickshire enjoyed a good start in their vital promotion contest at Chelmsford as openers Michael Powell and Mark Wagh batted through the opening session

Pakistan ended England's interest in the Costcutter U15 World Challenge by winning their semi-final at Chelmsford by 58 runs

Essex won their third consecutive victory in the National League as they beat Derbyshire by just six runs in a close conclusion at Chelmsford

Essex beat Worcestershire by four wickets at Chelmsford thanks primarily to Stuart Law's third county championship of the season

Essex struck back at Worcestershire after yielding a 109 runs first innings lead at Chelmsford

Paul Pollard and a determined innings by David Leatherdale took Second Division front-runners Worcestershire to 232-7 in their championship match against Essex at Chelmsford

The quarter-finals of the ECB 38-County Cup will be a direct shoot-out between four Minor Counties teams, and four first-class Board XIs

England player Michael Vaughan took time out from his busy summer schedule to meet the six young players from the Yorkshire region who have been selected to represent England in the Costcutter U-15 World Cricket Challenge 2000

New Zealand "A", who have taken this four day game with the West Indies as seriously as playing a Test match, had a very difficult task on their hands

Starting the 3rd day at 50-0, the West Indies, generally, made excellent use of the good batting conditions to give their early order batsmen some very much needed batting practice in their last first class innings before the 2nd Test, despite the