With Peter Such leading the way, Essex bowlers stuck manfully to their task against Yorkshire at Chelmsford on Wednesday to restrict their opponents to 304-7.

That's still a healthy total but it threatened to be much bigger as the visitors moved beyond 200 with only two wickets down.

But it was then that off-spinner Such spun the county back into the match with two wickets in three balls.

First he got rid of opener Michael Vaughan for exactly 100 and then persuaded in-form Tony McGrath to put up a simple catch to Ian Flanagan at short-leg.

Such also ended a troublesome fifth-wicket partnership to emerge with a creditable 3-48 from 23 overs.

The day had started encouragingly when Mark Ilott trapped Greg Blewett lbw in the third over, but that was to be their only success until after lunch.

However, Essex only had themselves to blame for having to wait for so long.

When on 29, Vaughan edged Jamie Grove to second slip but the normally-safe Stuart Law failed to accept a shoulder-high catch. Vaughan went on to collect 15 boundaries.

Law belatedly made amends for his earlier lapse by taking the catch to end Vaughan's innings, this time at short midwicket.

Vaughan had earlier shared a second-wicket stand of 131 with David Byas.

That was broken when the visiting skipper, having made 44, drove to Ronnie Irani at mid-on to give Paul Grayson his solitary success against his former county.

Matt Wood and Craig White were the other main Yorkshire contributors, putting on 79, which carried the total to 282-4.

At that stage Essex were on the ropes but they were to fight back determinedly in the final 40 minutes.

Wood (53) was magnificently caught by Ashley Cowan at short mid-wicket to give Such his third success, and White was superbly taken low to his right by wicket-keeper Barry Hyam after scoring 44 which included two sixes over long on.

Grove was the successful first bowler on that occasion and just before the close Cowan continued the Essex fightback by finding a way through the defences of Chris Silverwood.

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