by MARTIN SMITH

SIMON Harmer bowled 39 overs on a sultry day at Chelmsford - 32 of them unchanged in one marathon spell - to claim six for 92 in Warwickshire’s first innings and help Essex force the follow-on.

The rest of the Essex team formed a guard of honour as the off-spinner went off to a rousing ovation from a sizeable third-day crowd after taking his first five-wicket haul since joining Essex at the start of the season.

The South African, who has now taken 25 Specsavers County Championship wickets, helped dismiss Warwickshire for 283 in 109 overs, well short of the 392 target to make Essex bat again.

The indefatigable Harmer was then back in action after six overs of Warwickshire’s second innings and had Jonathan Trott lbw not playing a shot to the final ball of the day.

Warwickshire were 27 for two in the 11 overs available before the close, still 231 runs short of avoiding their fourth innings defeat in six Championship games this summer.

Essex, on the other hand, will be looking to winkle out the final eight wickets and extend their lead at the top of Division One.

Harmer bowled at the Hayes Close End from 11.30am until 4.35pm, with only breaks for lunch and tea.

During a marathon stint in the afternoon session he had figures of 17-10-20-1.

So difficult was he to get away that the usually belligerent Rikki Clarke took 30 balls to get off the mark.

Only some big-hitting late on by Jeetan Patel – who claimed 36 of his run-a-ball 71 from the 28 deliveries he faced from Harmer – dented his figures.

At times Harmer had five close-catchers around the bat and there were frequent loud entreaties to ‘catch it’ or appeal for lbw.

It was never easy for the batsmen as they had to beware balls bouncing off a length and others that kept low.

Even when Harmer was taken out of the attack, what might have been a well-deserved rest was only brief as he immediately switched to the River End.

In his first over from the opposite end, he had Keith Barker lbw to break an entertaining eighth-wicket stand of 76 with Patel.

Seven balls later, he gained a measure of satisfaction by removing Patel to a return catch.

Apart from Patel, the only other Warwickshire innings of note was from Sam Hain, whose 58 was his best score of a scratchy season punctuated by numerous single-figure innings.

Essex took the prized wickets of Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell in the morning session, but it was not until 5.20pm that they finally had Warwickshire all out for 283 - 258 behind.

Trott went to the fifth ball of the day, taking the bait dangled invitingly by Wagner.

The former England batsman had got away with it the ball before when he ducked under a bouncer, left his bat hanging in the air and inadvertently top-edged for four over the wicketkeeper’s head.

Wagner dug in another short-pitched delivery and Trott pulled it firmly but straight into Varun Chopra’s hands at square leg.

Bell was watchful if not entirely comfortably against Harmer.

The spinner got one to turn and took the outside edge, but the ball dropped just short of Alastair Cook at slip.

However, an hour and a half into the session, by which time he had eked out another 24 to his overnight eight not out, he followed one from Harmer straight into Cook’s hands.

With Hain, he put on 66 for the fourth wicket in 21 overs.

Hain reached a deserved 50 from 93 balls to the first delivery of the afternoon, turning Aaron Beard off his hip to fine leg for the required single.

Tim Ambrose was reprieved on 15 when Ryan ten Doeschate dived a fraction late at forward shot leg and Hain received a let-off when he edged Paul Walter between first slip and wicketkeeper and Cook only got half a hand to it.

Next ball, however, Hain nicked in a similar direction and James Foster swooped to his right to claim.

Hain batted for 127 balls for his 58 and had taken Warwickshire from 65 for three to 171 for five in 44 overs at the crease.

The return of Wagner did for Ambrose. He over-stretched to reach the ball outside off-stump, was unable to control the shot and fired straight to Varun Chopra at point for 25.

Clarke stuck around for 45 balls for his seven before he was trapped lbw by Harmer.

Patel changed the tempo of the innings when he came in and hoisted Harmer into the gardens at the Hayes Close End in the over after tea and followed with another over midwicket.

Patel’s 50, passing his previous best for the season, came from 48 balls and when Barker departed, Patel had scored 58 of their 76-run partnership.

Boyd Rankin became Harmer’s fifth scalp, his second lbw victim after changing ends.

His sixth was not long in following.

Walter made a breakthrough in Warwickshire’s second innings in his first over when Ian Westwood got one that left him to be caught behind.