Weatherald's brisk fifty ended by painful elbow blow

Test opener Jake Weatherald continues to be among the runs in England with his brisk 61 from 77 balls setting the early tempo for Leicestershire's first-innings 333 against Essex.

Weatherald started watchfully as Leicester were asked to bat first at Chelmsford on the opening day of their round seven county clash – the left-hander's last appearance before returning to Australia ahead of Tests against Bangladesh in August.

He took more than 10 overs to find his first boundary after losing opening partner Rishi Patel (9) but exploded to life with three consecutive fours off one-Test quick Sam Cook, the first two of which were pulled powerfully in front of square on the leg side.

Weatherald had fine support from fellow left-hander Sol Budinger (89), who made the initial running in their 125-run second wicket stand that came in just 22 overs as the pair counterattacked on a lively surface.

Weatherald hit seven fours and a six in his fourth score of 50 or better for the Foxes, driving with authority off the front foot and peppering the midwicket fence off the back foot where he hoicked South African allrounder Wiaan Mulder's first delivery of the match over the rope.

After scoring a century against Glamorgan last month, Weatherald raised the bat again with a quick single to mid-off from his 61st ball faced.

Having been reprieved a ball earlier when Cook spilled a skied chance off spinner Simon Harmer at mid-off, Weatherald's luck ran out immediately as Mulder struck back with a painful blow – both physically and figuratively.

Beaten on his inside edge, the ball cannoned into Weatherald's elbow before ricocheting off his leg and onto the off stump.

The 31-year-old dropped his bat immediately in agony, forced to pick it up with his opposite hand as he made his way off the ground just before lunch, bowled for 61 to leave Leicestershire 2-142.

Weatherald was sent for a scan following his dismissal to determine his involvement in the rest of the match.

His wicket, and that of Budinger's after the break, proved a turning point as their side lost their ascendancy, Mulder leading an Essex fightback with 3-70 from 16 overs as Leicester were bowled out with a handful of overs remaining on day one.

The hosts sent out Cook as a nightwatcher with three overs remaining in the day, but he didn't last long as former Victorian allrounder Ian Holland bowled him second ball.

Nightwatchman No.2 Jamie Porter fared better, lasting until stumps with Essex to resume at 1-10 on Saturday with all their recognised batters still intact.

2026 County Championship division one standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Nottinghamshire Men NOT	5	2	0	3	0	11	13	80
2 Warwickshire Men WAR	5	2	1	2	0	11	15	74
3 Surrey Men SRY	5	1	0	4	0	14	10	72
4 Sussex Men SSX	5	3	1	1	12	14	11	69
5 Glamorgan Men GLA	5	2	1	2	0	8	13	69
6 Somerset Men SOM	5	2	2	1	0	9	15	64
7 Essex Men ESS	5	2	2	1	0	7	13	60
8 Yorkshire Men YRK	5	1	2	2	0	3	13	48
9 Leicestershire Men LEI	5	0	3	2	0	13	12	41
10 Hampshire Men HAM	5	1	4	0	0	1	12	29

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points

Australians in the 2026 County Championship

Derbyshire: Caleb Jewell

Glamorgan: Ryan Hadley (first six matches), Nathan McAndrew (June-July)

Gloucestershire: Cameron Bancroft, Gabe Bell (first six matches), Liam Scott (June)

Hampshire: Jake Lehmann

Lancashire: Marcus Harris, Chris Green

Leicestershire: Jake Weatherald

Northamptonshire: Nathan McSweeney, Harry Conway (first two months only)

Nottinghamshire: Fergus O'Neill (April-June only)

Surrey: Sean Abbott (first half of season)

Sussex: Daniel Hughes

Warwickshire: Beau Webster (first half of season)

Yorkshire: Sam Whiteman, Jhye Richardson (until mid-May)