Essex won out in a thrilling finish against Worcestershire in the County Championship today (April 21), with the injured Ethan Brookes' efforts in vain after a controversial final wicket.
When they were reduced to 202-9 in the fourth innings of the game in Chelmsford, Worcestershire were staring down the barrel of consecutive Championship defeats. Still in the morning session of day four, they needed another 94 runs to chase down their target.
However, when No.11 New Zealand pace bowler Jacob Duffy came to the crease to join Brookes, the pair brought their side into genuine contention to emerge as winners. They put together a 64-run partnership, and got to within 29 runs from victory. Brookes scored the entirety of the runs in the partnership, with Duffy only having to block out 12 balls as the No.8 marshalled the chase expertly.
Brookes' efforts were even more extraordinary when taking into consideration that he was battling an injury sustained to his right hand during the game, compounded for the latter part of his innings after being hit by a ball from Jamie Porter. The ball from Porter hit Brookes' in the midriff and left him on the floor in considerable pain and requiring treatment from the physio. After some time spent recovering on the field, Brookes was fit to continue however and was soon eyeing up a century.
Disaster struck when Brookes 88, however. Dealt another ball from Porter which hit the splice of his bat, it ballooned back towards the bowler who dived to take the catch low to the ground. As the Essex fielders celebrated taking the final wicket and the umpire raised his finger, Brookes stood his ground pointing at Porter in doubt that he had taken the catch cleanly. Porter gesticulated to Brookes that he had taken the catch before the ball had touched the ground, but Brookes continued to refused to walk off.
Eventually, he was persuaded to walk off the field and shake the Essex players' hands. On the replay of the catch, there is some doubt over whether Porter managed to get his hands under the ball before it landed on the pitch. The umpire giving the decision had an obscured vision with Porter's back towards him.
However, as the umpire gave the decision as out and with no third umpire in the County Championship, the result was sealed as a Worcestershire loss by 28 runs. They currently sit bottom of the Division One table with other matches in the round still in progress.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
