Nasser Hussain and his Essex team-mates again displayed a ruthless streak as they continued to make Middlesex suffer at South-church Park on Thursday.

For the second successive match they topped 400, once more putting the boot in when they had their opponents on the ground.

Replying to a total of 113, they amassed 429 to gain a huge lead of 316. Middlesex were due to resume their second innings on 45-1.

Essex needed 152 overs to score their runs. True it was not spectacular and failed to set the pulse racing, but the way they went about their task was highly professional and rewarding.

The lack of backbone in their batting was the main reason the County finished bottom of the Championship last season. So it is refreshing to see them performing with a collective determination which should secure a position in the top half of the table and a place in next year's First Division.

Hussain led by example as he carried his overnight score to 99, a deserved century being denied him when he chopped a delivery into his stumps to provide England colleague Phil Tufnell with his solitary success from 50 overs of toil.

The Essex skipper, whose efforts included eight fours and a six, resisted for 281 minutes during his 249-ball stay, while Ronnie Irani's 70 embraced nearly four hours.

Middlesex's suffering continued when they were removed from the scene. Ashley Cowan shared in a seventh-wicket stand of 66 with Barry Hyam, who made 47, and 65 with Peter Such (20) for the ninth and final wicket.

Cowan was left unbeaten on 52 when Such was out - Mark Ilott being unable to bat after suffering a knee injury while bowling on the opening day.

The left-arm seam bowler turned up on crutches in the afternoon yesterday but has yet to discover the extent of his injury. This should be revealed later today following a scan.

In Ilott's absence, Irani shared the new ball and it was he who separated the visiting openers when he had Ben Hutton snapped up in the slips by Stuart Law.

Essex could well enjoy the luxury of a day off tomorrow but they will return to Southchurch Park on Sunday to do National League battle against Hampshire with a 1.30pm start.

This one-day encounter, with the promise of decent weather, could have crowds around the five to six thousand mark packing into the park.

Nice knock - Ronnie Irani made 70 as the county topped 400 runs of the second successive match - the last coming against Glamorgan

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.