Staffordshire and Northumberland face an intriguing final chapter in their NCCA Championship encounter after bad light and rain brought an early end to the second day.
The players exited the field at South Northumberland Cricket Club at just after 5pm due to the light – and with rain then making an appearance, play was called off for the day at 5.33pm.
At that stage, Northumberland had put themselves in a good position after reaching 303-5 in their second innings to lead by 245 runs.
Staffs had started the day on 161-8 in reply to the hosts’ 155 all out.
The main objective was for them to reach 175 to earn the first batting point – but they powered past that mark in making 213 all out.
Joe Thorne was dismissed early in the day when his stumps were flattened by Matthew Oswell (5-62).
But Sam Atkinson, fresh from his first-day seven-wicket haul, motored beyond his half-century.
Atkinson hit eight fours in an unbeaten 74, while Brett unleashed some exquisite cover drives to contribute 23 to a last-wicket stand of 51.
Their alliance was only ended when Brett was unfortunate to play on to Joseph Stuart to bring the curtain down on Staffordshire’s first innings.
That handed James Kettleborough’s side a precious 58-run lead, but Northumberland went about their second foray to the middle with positive intent as they quickly wiped out that deficit.
‘Runs aplenty’
And by the close of play, Harry Crawshaw’s 93, Alasdair Appleby’s 43, 40 from Sol Bell and Ross Whitfield’s 35 put the home side a position of strength.
Staffordshire would have been hunting for some early scalps before Northumberland restored parity, but the north-easterners rattled along at a fair old lick before the lunch interval.
Openers Crawshaw and Bell put on 79 for the first wicket inside 15 overs before Staffs managed to make the breakthrough.
And it was a memorable moment for Newcastle & Hartshill seamer Thorne, who picked up his maiden NCCA scalp.
‘Team win was more important than personal glory’
It was Bell who was his victim as he casually flicked a delivery from the paceman to Jack Redman patrolling the boundary at deep square leg.
Still, Northumberland would have been pleased with the start to proceedings as they took lunch on 89-1.
And there was little doubt that the afternoon session belonged to the hosts, who pushed forward in ominous fashion.
The wicket appeared to have flattened out a touch, although slow spin was still on offer.
Kettleborough opted to use Brett and Matt Morris in tandem in the formative stages of the session to try to gain a stranglehold on the Northumberland batters.
However, the home side continued to tick along at a rate of five runs per over as they generally looked in little trouble.
‘Success’
It wasn’t all one-way traffic in the afternoon, though, as Staffordshire did chip away.
Appleby was the first to depart on the resumption, with the score on 148, when he was bowled by Morris.
But a feature of the Northumberland innings was that partnerships of varying degrees were built as they began to establish a handy lead.
They had advanced the score to 209 before Whitfield was the third wicket of the innings to fall.
He attempted to launch Brett into the middle of Gosforth, but could only top-edge the ball to Atkinson at short third man.
Staffs knew a couple of quick wickets could have put them back in control of matters, but as it was, Northumberland just developed another stand.
Crawshaw and Rory Mustard compiled 58 for the fourth wicket – but were parted on the stroke of tea.
Mustard, having made 27, was trapped lbw by Brett to secure another scalp for the visitors.
There was just over 35 minutes of action in the evening session prior to the premature end to matters.
‘Missing out’
Crawshaw was on course to reach three figures, but just seven runs short, he was dismissed.
Thorne, returning from the indoor school end, got a delivery to leap off a length and Crawshaw offered a return catch which was gleefully accepted.
There were no further alarms for Northumberland, though, as Jonny Bushnell (16no) and John Oswell (14no) laid the foundations for another partnership.
So all eyes will now be on what happens on the third and final day at South Northumberland.
All results are still possible, but the first hour will undoubtedly be crucial to which way the pendulum swings.
And it’s not just the destination of the points which are at stake, it will have a big impact on the final standings when the three-day action finishes next week.
Main image: James Kettleborough and his Staffordshire side face a big run chase on final day against Northumberland. Picture: Roger Byrne