A splendid spell of bowling by Michael Cawdron put Gloucestershire firmly in charge of their CricInfo Championship match against Notts at Trent Bridge. At the close on the second day the home side had reached 207—7, still 117 runs short of avoiding the follow-on.

Having posted the substantial total of 473, the visitors reduced Notts to 80—5 by tea, with Cawdron picking up three of the wickets to fall. Openers Welton (22) and Bicknell (21), plus Paul Johnson (0) all fell to the seamer, while James Averis and Mark Hardinges also chipped in with a wicket apiece. Greg Blewett made 22 and Kevin Pietersen 10.

From their precarious tea position, Notts launched a counter—offensive which brought them 37 runs from the first threeoavers afterwards and propelled Chris Read and Usman Afzaal to a stand of 61 for the sixth wicket before Cawdron struck again. Michael Cawdron's return was greeted with a hooked six into the car park by Read but the next ball was of fuller length and trapped the Notts `keeper lbw in his crease.

Afzaal looked in reasonable touch as he moved into the 30s but lost another partner with the score on 158. Gareth Clough fended off a short delivery by Averis straight to Kim Barnett at short leg.

When Cawdron returned late in the day looking for his fifth wicket Afzaal hooked him for the boundary that brought up a dogged half-century (150 mins 130 balls 10x4s). David Lucas provided solid support as the pair took the total beyond 200.

Earlier Gloucs had batted until just after lunch, with Chris Taylor eventually being dismissed for 196 out of a total of 473.

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