Peters pleased with his charges’ opening effort

The County closed on 103-4, 60 runs adrift of the hosts who were dismissed for 163, and captain Peters stated that his bowlers were yet again on the money.

He said: “It was another good performance with the ball.

“There was a bit in the wicket all day, we bowled in heavy, overcast conditions and there was always some nibble there.”

And he reserved praise for Andrew Hall who took 5-30 against one of his former clubs.

He added: “In conditions like those, Hally is a past master. He bowled stump to stump and got enough movement to cause problems.”

With Essex on the verge of claiming a full set of bowling points against Hampshire in Southampton, the County need to reach 250 to guarantee promotion regardless of the result.

And while Peters acknowleged that this is a factor that can’t be ignored, he is looking at winning the game to make the bonus point situation irrelevant.

He continued: “It’s in the back of our minds and it’s hard not to look at the batting points but we obviously want to win the game.

“If we’re going to do that then the first task is to get past their score and then we’ll need to bowl well again.”