Gloucestershire v Worcestershire, Day 2

Ian Harvey is hungry for first class runs following a disappointing debut season with the bat for Gloucestershire.

The talented Australian all-rounder averaged only 22 last summer, despite a highest score of 123, and was generally regarded as more effective in one-day cricket.

But when he gets his head down Harvey can battle it out with the best bowlers in the world, as he proved by rescuing his side from the perils of 31-5 on the second day of the rain-ravaged Championship match at Bristol.

Coming in at 19-4, Harvey had to face fellow countryman Glenn McGrath and Alamgir Sheriyar with their tails up. It was no time for the flamboyant shots which too often cost him his wicket last year.

Worcestershire skipper Graeme Hick had won the toss following the first day washout. With a fair amount of cloud still hovering, the decision to field was not the most difficult he will face.

Sheriyar soon rewarded it with three early victims, while McGrath settled for one in a miserly opening stint. Harvey needed every ounce of application he could muster to survive until lunch.

By then he had made 23, losing Kim Barnett and Jack Russell in the process as Gloucestershire hobbled to 84-6. Refreshed by the break, McGrath and Sheriyar resumed their assault after lunch. But Harvey and Jeremy Snape summoned up a resolution the earlier batsmen lacked, scoring only nine runs in 10 overs of attrition.

Suddenly, Harvey cut loose, smashing 15 of a Sheriyar over with a hooked six, two crisp boundaries and a single. It was time for the counter-attack. Snape hit 5 fours himself in a valuable 43, helping to add 98 for the seventh wicket. His partner was starting to take the bowling apart when a return to last year's bad habits cut him short.

On 70, having battled for two hours and 49 minutes and moved into cruise control, Harvey stepped back to cut a short ball from left-arm spinner Richard Illingworth and guided it straight to Stuart Lampitt at backward point. A frustrated swish of the bat preceded a slow walk back to the pavilion. As so often happens, Snape followed soon afterwards, top-edging a sweep of Illingworth and being well claimed on the run by McGrath at fine leg.

It was 176-8 and still Worcestershire's day when the wretched rain returned at 3.20pm, wiping out another 50 overs. Umpires George Sharp and Trevor Jesty delayed the day's abandonment until nearly 6pm, but it was inevitable. The early play had been dominated by Sheriyar, who produced some late swing to remove Tim Hancock, Rob Cunliffe and Mark Alleyne, the latter two with successive balls at the start of the tenth over.

McGrath forced Matt Windows to edge to Steve Rhodes, while Kim Barnett's brief resistance was halted when he chopped a ball from Lampitt onto his stumps. Jack Russell helped Harvey add 38 for the sixth wicket before falling lbw pushing forward to Lampitt, but it was an all too familiar top order collapse by Gloucestershire.

As Worcestershire coach Bill Athey observed: "It was never a 31-5 wicket. The bowlers had to work hard to get anything out of it."

That will concern opposite number John Bracewell, desperate to improve four-day fortunes after bottom place in the Championship last season.