On a day when Stuart Law won the season's race to be the first in the country to record 1,000 first class runs it was Ricky Anderson who claimed the major honours as Essex dominated Middlesex at Southchurch Park.
The 22-year-old seamer destroyed the middle order with almost embarrassing ease as he recorded career best figures of 5-36.
With Mark Ilott, Ronnie Irani and Ashley Cowan sharing the other wickets, Middlesex were shot out for 113 in 39.1 overs.
Essex responded with 166-3 before the close, Law making 58 and skipper Nasser Hussain finishing unbeaten with 71.
It was only a few weeks ago that Anderson joined the County on a three-month trial after impressing in the nets.
He made his debut against Gloucestershire at the end of May and soon afterwards claimed five wickets in an innings for the first time when Derbyshire visited Chelmsford.
That prompted the award of a new contract which takes him to the end of next season - and yesterday's performance confirmed the wisdom of that decision.
Anderson, like the rest of his colleagues who made up the seam attack, underlined the value of nagging accuracy.
The ball only seamed a little, but they put it in the right areas and waited for Middlesex to contribute to their own downfall with some poor strokes.
Mark Ramprakash (30), Ben Hutton (25) and Phil Tufnell (15) were the only visiting batsmen to emerge from the debris with double figures.
Essex quickly lost Paul Prichard and Paul Grayson when they replied, but Law and Hussain were to put the County firmly in control with a partnership of 120 in 38 overs.
It ended when Law, who went into the match needing to score 28 to reach the 1,000 landmark, swept off-spinner Paul Weekes to square leg.
The only sour note for the County was an injury to Ilott. After capturing the first two wickets with only eight runs on the board, he fell to the ground in agony in the middle of his sixth over.
It is feared that he may have cartilage problems which will keep him on the sidelines for quite a spell - but the real extent of his injury will not be confirmed until a further hospital examination later today.
Dance of delight - Ashley Cowan broke the stubborn resistance of England man Phil Tufnell
Pictures: ROBIN WOOSEY
Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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