Essex on brink

ESSEX were closing in on a first County Championship title for 25 years after taking a firm grip of their match against Warwickshire and seeing nearest rivals Lancashire falter.

Opener Varun Chopra fell two runs short of a century against his former county on day two at Edgbaston but the platform he provided allowed others to contribute.

Dan Lawrence and James Foster weighed in with half-centuries as Essex declared on 369-9 with a healthy first-innings lead of 168 before Warwickshire ended 7-0 in reply.

And with second-placed Lancashire following on against Somerset at Taunton, trailing by 174 with all second-innings wickets intact, the title looks to be heading Chelmsford’s way for the first time since 1992 with two games of the season still to play.

Ashes hopeful Tom Westley was unable to press his England claims to any meaningful degree when out for 28 in Essex’s first innings, while Lancashire opener Haseeb Hameed fell for just four from 64 balls in Lancashire’s first innings against Cidermen.

Former England Test captain Alastair Cook has been cleared to play for Essex in their final two County Championship games of the summer. Cook scored 667 runs for Essex in seven appearances earlier in the season.

There was a century for England’s back-up wicket-keeper-elect at the Oval as Ben Foakes made best use of a battingfriendly pitch to poach a timely 110 for Surrey against Yorkshire.

Kumar Sangakkara, set to retire from first-class cricket at the end of this campaign, hit 164 for Surrey – his seventh championship century in 12 innings.

England fast bowler Stuart Broad will not play any more cricket before the start of the Ashes tour in November after England stood him down for the remainder of the season.

The England seamer, 31, complained of pain in his heel while bowling in the final Test match against West Indies at Lord’s.

While a precautionary scan on the heel has shown no serious damage, Broad will have a complete rest from competitive cricket. the