The Cricketer wraps up the best of the action on day three of the fourth round of LV= Insurance County Championship matches in 2023
Bristol (third day of four): Sussex 455-5, Gloucestershire 198-9 - Gloucestershire trail by 257 runs with one first-innings wicket remaining
Substitute fielder Tom Clark's direct-hit run out of Marcus Harris unlocked Sussex's bid to push for victory in their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Gloucestershire.
Australian opener Harris' dismissal, after his despairing dive failed to beat Clark's throw from midwicket, began a chaotic 10-minute period for the hosts as Nathan McAndrew claimed the key wickets of James Bracey and Graeme van Buuren from successive balls on his way to a five-wicket haul.
Gloucestershire were suddenly four down at tea – after Cheteshwar Pujara's 58th first-class century had underpinned Sussex’s 455 for 5 declared – as a rain-affected match came to life.
Sussex claimed a further five wickets in the final session, McAndrew finishing the day with figures of 5 for 53, as Gloucestershire slumped from 99 for 1 to 198 for 9 at the close, still 257 runs behind.
Chris Cooke made a century for Glamorgan (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Leicester (third day of four): Leicestershire 407, Glamorgan 446-8 - Glamorgan lead by 39 runs with two wickets remaining
For the second year running, this fixture prompted a revision of the record books as Glamorgan mounted an impressive fightback against Leicestershire on the third day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match.
It may not have been quite in the same league as last July, when Sam Northeast made his historic unbeaten 410 and combined with Chris Cooke to add an unbroken 461 in the highest sixth-wicket partnership in English first-class cricket, but it was impressive nonetheless.
Cooke, who backed up Northeast with an unbeaten 191 on that occasion, was again at the heart of it, sharing a stand of 211 with Australian pace bowler Michael Neser that enters the record as the highest for the eighth wicket for Glamorgan against any opponent.
Neser, seeking a third first-class career hundred to go with his 330 wickets, didn't quite make it, dismissed on 90, but Cooke was still there on 121 not out as Glamorgan closed on 446 for 8, giving them a first-innings lead of 39 to take into the final day, although it is difficult to see the match producing a positive result.
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