Staffordshire will need to produce something special on the final day if they are to earn some reward from their opening NCCA Championship fixture against Buckinghamshire.
Bucks, the defending champions, hammered home their advantage on the second day of the Division One East encounter at Chesham.
They declared on the stroke of stumps on 316-9 – a lead of 384.
Bertie Foreman (60), Matt Pardoe (47), Josh Lincoln (37), Ed Bragg (33no) and Billy Dodds (30) all pushed Bucks further into the ascendancy.
Sam Keeling-Wright, Tom Brett and Joe Hawkins all took two wickets.
There may have been a element of surprise that Bucks didn’t declare earlier to try to have a dart at Staffordshire’s top order in the closing stages.
But that suited Staffs, although the visitors know that they have one heck of a task on their hands going into the final chapter.
They will approach it with a positive mindset – there is no other way – and they have to believe that they can produce a herculean effort to avoid kicking off the three-day schedule in disappointing fashion.
‘Recovery ends’
Staffordshire had started the second day on a precarious 95-5 in reply to Buckinghamshire’s first innings total of 211.
Dan Lincoln and Joe Hawkins had battled gamely on the first evening to rescue Staffs from 44-5 as they batted for almost 25 overs in seeing their side to stumps.
There would have been optimism in the away ranks that the duo could pick up where they left off on the second morning to eat into Bucks’ lead.
However, that soon went out of the window when Hawkins departed in the first over of the day when he nicked an Ed Bragg delivery through to keeper George Harvey.
That left Staffs on 103-6 – and they managed to add just 40 more to their tally before the innings came to a conclusion.
Day One report: Staffordshire forced to show fighting spirit against Bucks
It was Bucks’ seamers who were up to their old tricks again of putting pressure on the visitors’ line-up.
After Bragg (4-41) made the day’s initial breakthrough, it was new-ball partner Tom Weymes (5-56) who worked his way through to a five-wicket haul.
His accuracy was demonstrated by bowling Liam Hurt (9), Sam Keeling-Wright (6) and Dan Lincoln (44).
Jake Garlick then had his timbers disturbed to bring the curtain down on Staffordshire’s first foray to the middle.
‘Looking to build’
Buckinghamshire then managed to negotiate a tricky passage of play before the lunch interval to reach 21-0 – a lead of 89.
Time was certainly on the hosts’ side as the afternoon action unfolded.
Staffordshire, to their credit, plugged away as the mercury rose in the afternoon and the bowlers continued to run in hard to their bid to make inroads into Bucks’ second innings.
And after openers Billy Dodds and Archie Dodds had put on 62 for the first wicket, Staffordshire struck twice in two balls.
Billy, having made 30, danced down the track to left-arm spinner Tom Brett and was easily stumped by Lincoln.
Brett then accounted for Aaryan Sawant from the next delivery when the Middlesex youngster could only edge to a diving James Kettleborough at slip.
Bucks then lost their third wicket for just five runs when Archie Dodds (21) was run out at the non-striker’s end after bowler Sam Kelsall finger-tipped the ball on to the stumps.
Staffordshire might have viewed that as a window of opportunity, but the experienced Matt Pardoe and Aum Raykar soon put paid to any aspirations of keeping the run chase within a reasonable range.
They advanced the score to 126 before Raykar (29) feathered a catch to Lincoln from off-spinner Hawkins.
Still, Bucks were in command at that juncture and they reached tea on 141-4, leading by 209.
‘Upping the rate’
There seemed to be a change in tempo from the Bucks batsmen as the evening session started.
Pardoe was the first man to fall after tea, though, when Hurt induced him to edge to Kettleborough at slip to depart, leaving the home side on 160-5.
Josh Lincoln was a man in a hurry as he joined Bertie Foreman in a passage of play which saw them pepper the boundary.
They put on 57 in just five overs, with Lincoln hitting 37 off 15 balls before falling to Keeling-Wright.
Foreman played impressively in reaching 60 prior to chopping on to Keeling-Wright.
George Harvey also played a useful knock of 24, but was the castled by Hawkins to leave Bucks 293-7.
There was still no indication of a Buckinghamshire declaration as the close of play loomed into view.
Staffs continued to battle away with the ball as stumps loomed and Garlick was rewarded when he had home captain Connor Haddow caught behind by Lincoln in the penultimate over.
The workmanlike nature of Staffordshire’s efforts – in the main – were to be applauded.
But they will need more of the same, and plenty of grit and determination, on the third day if they are to head back home with something to show for it.
Main image: Tom Brett picked up a couple of wickets for Staffordshire on day two against Bucks.