I didn’t realise that although Hampshire are 4th in the table, they’re only 12 points above the last relegation place.
Therefore this match isn’t really a dead rubber. Last weeks farce at Middlesex wouldn’t really have helped their cause either.
c’mon 'ampsheer
Take a bow Kyle Abbott. 9 down! 
76 all out.
Blimey. Not often you get to enforce a follow-on on the back of a first innings of 254. Brilliant bowling performance, especially from Abbott. I saw earlier that Essex needed 11 runs with four wickets left to avoid the follow-on. Didn’t look too likely at that point!
I can see this being lost now
Well, assuming there’ll be no more play today then we’re halway through the match. Essex lead by thirty runs and have three wickets down. To set any sort of a target they’ll need to score another 200 or probably more; tomorrow morning the new ball will be due in a few overs and our bowlers will have had a night’s rest.
We’ll see I guess, but the balance of the match is very much in our favour as things stand.