The home side had looked set to bowl their close rivals out for a score of under 200, before the intervention of David Nash (41 not out) and Jamie Dalrymple (49) lead Middx towards a commanding score, the later being involved in a 5th wicket partnership worth 91 with Ben Hutton (60).

Owais Shah, captaining the blues of Middlesex in the absence of Andrew Strauss, who is away on international duty, won the toss and elected to bat on what was a glorious day for so early on in the season; clear blue skies for most of the day with bright, warm sunshine and a good crowd to boot, considering the match was just a pre-season friendly.

Ashley Cowan was playing in his comeback match after a year out with persistent knee trouble and not surprisingly was taking it easy, bowling off just a few paces and nowhere close to as quick as Ash can bowl.

Essex made an excellent start in this match, as deputy wicket-keeper Mark Pettini (with James Foster, along with Andy Flower, Graham Napier and Alastair Cook playing at Lord's for the MCC vs Sussex) taking a smart catch to his left from the outside edge of Sven Koenig's bat off the impressive Adrian McCoubrey for just 2.

Cowan then got in on the act, by dismissing Shah for just 3, as a fierce cut was brilliantly caught by James Middlebrook at backward point.

The two class acts of the visiting team, Ben Hutton and Ed Joyce, then got together to add 61, before change bowlers Andy Clarke and John Stephenson produced a wicket each in the space of two overs, to leave Middlesex in some trouble at 86-4. Ash Cowan was the man on the end of the edges as Essex took control.

Then enter Jamie Dalrymple who blitz his way to 49 with three sixes, before Andy Clarke had him caught on the mid-wicket boundary by Stephenson and David Nash, who saw the innings through to a close with a typically brisk unbeaten 41.

Hutton provided the anchor role with his knock of 60 and were it not for a freak injury, where the grandson of legend Len was struck on the knee by a Ronnie Irani throw attempting a quick single, he might have made more.

As it was, a Chad Keegan six from the last ball enabled the seaxes to reach 246-7 from their 45 overs. Despite a good start with the ball, Essex let themselves down conceeding 32 extras, albeit 12 of those were leg-byes, although Andy Clarke was the pick with 3-50 from his nine (16 of those came in his last over), while Ash returned figures of 8-1-31-1 in a promising comeback. McCoubrey was also impressive, with 1-27 from his nine and deserved more for his efforts.

Will Jefferson got the Eagles persuit of 247 off to a quick start with 16, before being unluckily trapped in front by Paul Hutchison and when Paul Grayson played down the wrong line to Chad Keegan the very next over, the scoreboard read 24-2.

Mark Pettini started off brightly, but he became the first of three victims for Simon Cook inside just two overs and at 59-5, left the hosts in some trouble.

Pettini was dropped at short cover by Shah before edging a drive to Dalrymple at backward-point the next ball. Middlebrook edged to Nash at the wicket and Bopara shouldered arms to a straight one, both without scoring and the game looked up at this stage.

But the healthy crowd didn't go home without seeing a fight and some fireworks to boot, as Ronnie Irani and Ashley Cowan added 105 for the sixth wicket with a series of big straight hits and cuts.

The fun saw one six a piece into the river behind the Tom Pearce Stand, as both hit five fours and two sixes in reaching their half-centuries, with Irani facing 79 balls and Cowan nine fewer.

Both plundered more blows, including 18 off the one over Paul Weekes bowled, but the resistance was ended by Jamie Dalrymple, who took 3-35 in four overs, knocking over the stumps of both Ron and Ash.

Irani scored 72, while Cowan's 60 was a nice tonic in his first game for a year.

After that, John Stephenson smacked 20 before holeing out going for glory, but in truth, despite reaching 217-9 from the allotted 45 overs, Essex were never in the hunt after losing five wickets at the top cheaply.

Still, plenty of entertainment in the colour kits for the fans in the Easter sunshine.

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