Leicestershire 402 and 41 for 0 lead Gloucestershire 544 for 4 dec (Charlesworth 210, Bracey 207*) by 101 runs
Ben Charlesworth and James Bracey both scored career-best double hundreds as Gloucestershire assumed the whip hand on day three of the Vitality County Championship match against Leicestershire at Bristol’s Seat Unique Stadium.
Replying to Leicestershire’s 402, Gloucestershire posted 544 for 4 declared to establish a first-innings lead of 142, Charlesworth top-scoring with a magnificent 210 from 311 balls and accruing 21 fours and six sixes in a marathon knock spanning seven hours.
Bracey contributed a flawless innings of 207 not out from 261 balls with 26 fours and three sixes, more than playing his part in an imposing fourth-wicket stand of 290 in 66.1 overs on a day when Leicestershire’s bowlers were made to toil on a characteristically flat Bristol pitch.
Required to negotiate 10 overs in the evening sunshine, Leicestershire reached the close on 41 without loss thanks to watchful openers Rishi Patel (20 not out) and Ian Holland (14 not out). But the visitors still trail by 101 and have further work to do before they can fully stave off the prospect of an unlikely defeat on the final day.
There is something about playing against Leicestershire that brings out the best in Charlesworth, who registered his maiden first-class hundred and shared in a record-breaking opening stand of 316 with Cameron Bancroft in a Championship match at Grace Road in May. It was a case of deja vu when the left-hander posted another century, his second, against the same opponents on day two of this game.
Resuming on 227 for 3 with Charlesworth 105 not out and Bracey unbeaten on 34, Gloucestershire were intent upon exerting pressure by building a meaningful lead. But their prospects of forcing a first red-ball win in Bristol since September 2022 were frustrated by the rain that caused 21 overs to be lost and delayed the start of play until 1.30pm.
Gloucestershire’s fourth wicket pair made up for lost time beneath clearing skies as bat continued to dominate ball. Bracey clipped a delivery from Tom Scriven through midwicket to raise 50 from 81 balls, while Charlesworth pulled Josh Hull for six over deep square leg to bring up the hundred partnership in style, that landmark materialising inside 25 overs.
Charlesworth surpassed his previous highest first-class score when straight-driving Rehan Ahmed for his fifth six, in the process eclipsing the 126 he made at Grace Road earlier this season. The 23-year-old cut Louis Kimber behind square for a single to go to 150 via 221 balls with 16 fours and six sixes, his third 50 occupying just 57 balls.
If the Foxes invested hope in the new ball, which was taken with the score on 315 for 3, they were disappointed as an essentially flat pitch remained unresponsive. Hull continued to prove expensive, the ball now flying to the boundary even quicker than before as his runs conceded column entered three figures from 18 overs.
Leicestershire skipper Lewis Hill also called upon Holland, on-loan Somerset allrounder Ben Green and Scriven without success, Bracey and Charlesworth remaining untroubled as they extended their alliance to 200 in 45.4 overs. Realising the futility of overworking his seam bowlers, Hill resorted to spin after 12 overs, recalling Liam Trevaskis to the attack.
Enjoying his best season since breaking into the England Test set-up in 2021, Bracey recorded his fourth hundred of the summer, going to that landmark from 158 balls with his fourteenth four, a straight drive at the expense of Scriven. He and Charlesworth added 163 in 36 overs during a lucrative session that advanced Gloucestershire’s score to 390-3 at tea, just 12 runs in arrears.
The home side were already in credit when Charlesworth, whose concentration had not once wavered, drove Rehan handsomely down the ground to register his 21st four and bring up his maiden 200, an achievement greeted by a standing ovation among those few hundred spectators privileged to have witnessed it. His double hundred spanned 299 balls.
Much to the relief of Leicestershire’s tiring players, Charlesworth’s marathon sojourn came to an abrupt end soon afterwards, the left-hander driving at a length ball from Green and offering a catch behind with the score on 447.
But the landmarks just kept coming, Bracey going to 150 from 218 deliveries as Gloucestershire banked a fifth batting bonus point with an over to spare. With quick runs needed, Graeme van Buuren came in ahead of Chris Dent and fulfilled his brief by scoring a breezy 37 not out in an unbroken stand of 97 for the fifth wicket, while Bracey opened his shoulders to hasten the advent of his second double hundred of the season and bring the declaration into sharp focus.
The left-hander faced 257 balls in making 200, clipping a delivery from Hull to the mid-wicket boundary for his 26th four to bring an appreciative audience to their feet once more. By the time the declaration arrived, Bracey had surpassed his previous highest score of 204 not out made against Glamorgan at Cheltenham last month and overtaken Sam Northeast as the Second Division’s leading run scorer with 970 at an average of 80.83.
