Johnson enjoys holding court

Zimbabwe's visit to Lord's this week may be designated a Test, but it promises to be more like a trial. Which is not to say they will not come through it. It is just that the omens are not propitious. The weather has not helped them to acclimatise; one of their few players of class, the strike bowler Heath Streak, has been struggling to get fit.

Chelmsford has not prov-ided ideal preparation, either. What the Zimbabweans needed was serious time at the crease. Instead they lost all Thursday to rain, and most of Friday after lunch. When they could bat, the ball seamed and swung disconcertingly.

Conditions were still not ideal when Zimbabwe resumed yesterday at 143 for 4, but at least Neil Johnson and Andy Flower had the sun on their backs. They also had an advantage in both being left-handed. It took the Essex bowlers a while to find their range, by which time Johnson, 45 overnight, had gone past 50 with his eighth boundary.

Flower was content to play a captain's watching brief. With seven Test hundreds, he goes to Lord's secure in the knowledge he can do it at the highest level, and he probably knows that he and Johnson will repair more innings than this. Tidy and practical, both play close to their pads, willing to wait for a loose delivery rather than chance their arm. The way Ricky Anderson and David Thompson bowled early on, there was never too long to wait.

Johnson was quick on his feet to pull, though on 61 he might have been caught at third man, withdrawing from a pull shot, had the ball had more carry than height. The pair were one run off a century partnership when Anderson made the ball jag off the seam, cut Flower in two, and Barry Hyam took a diving catch to his right off the inside edge. Two balls later, Anderson removed Stuart Carlisle's off stump, leaving Johnson with another rebuilding programme.

The new man, Guy Whittall, did not start encouragingly. His first ball bounced off his body, perilously close to his leg stump; he was off the mark with an edgy four to third man. But he did hang on, and when Johnson was lbw to Peter Such, he batted more freely for a deserved half-century. As he and Henry Olonga added an unlikely 72 for the ninth wicket, the almost unrealistic thought occurred that Zimbabwe, who could have been all out by lunch, might keep Essex in the field till tea.

Nasser Hussain's miss at slip when Whittall was 51 - he was dropped earlier on 30 - made the reality more likely until Stuart Law showed the England captain how to do it. Even so, they almost made it as Olonga, with a career-best 45, and "Pommie" Mbangwa saw them beyond 300. It was a sterling recovery; a pity for Zimbab- we that the best batting came at the wrong end of the innings.

With 50 of his 83 coming in boundaries, Johnson looked good for 100. Such slowed him down because he didn't use his feet. When he did, the ball sailed far out of the ground into a neighbouring garden, destined to take no further part in proceedings. Instead of learning from this, however, Johnson went back to pushing out at the spinner and alternately picked the wrong line. Still, he won't have to worry about Such in the Test. The Essex off-spinner is not due for his next England recall for a few years yet.

Scoreboard

Essex won toss

Zimbabwe - First Innings

Overnight 143-4

A Flower c Hyam b Anderson 30 0 3 67 253 N C Johnson lbw b Such 83 1 11 123 309 S V Carlisle b Anderson 0 0 0 2 1 G J Whittall c S G Law b And'son 54 0 6 132 182 D P Viljoen lbw b Such 0 0 0 8 8 H K Olonga lbw b Thompson 45 0 7 129 159 M Mbangwa not out 9 0 0 33 43 Extras (b1 lb12 w12 nb12) 37 Total (105.3 overs) 315 Fall: 1-2, 2-51, 3-68, 4-69, 5-168, 6-168, 7-217, 8-217, 9-289.

Bowling: R S G Anderson 26-5-69-5, D J Thompson 26.3-8-76-2, D R Law 25-8-66-1, T J Mason 14-2-54-0, P M Such 14-5-37-2.

Essex - First Innings

P J Prichard not out 20 0 4 35 54 A P Grayson not out 14 0 2 43 54 Extras (lb1 nb2) 3 Total (for 0, 12.5 overs) 37 To Bat: N Hussain, S G Law, *R C Irani, D R Law, B J Hyam, T J Mason, R S G Anderson, D J Thompson, P M Such.

Bowling: H K Olonga 5-1-12-0, M Mbangwa 6-1-19-0, N C Johnson 1.5-0-5-0.

Umpires: J H Evans and R A White.