Ollie Price's birthday best leads Gloucestershire fightback

Ollie Price celebrated his 22nd birthday with a career-best first class score as Gloucestershire fought back strongly on the second day of the LV= Insurance County Championship match with Leicestershire at Bristol.

Struggling at 118 for five early in the morning session, the hosts battled hard to post a first innings total of 368, Price contributing 85 off 172 balls, with 12 fours.

The was also a career-best 52 from Ajeet Dale, sharing a ninth-wicket stand of 111 with Danny Lamb, who marked his Championship debut for Gloucestershire with a battling 70, including three sixes.

By the close, Leicestershire had responded with 23 for no wicket from five overs.

Gloucestershire began a day twice interrupted by showers on 108 for three, with Price on 26. They lost skipper Graeme van Buuren to the first ball of the morning as he edged good length ball from Chris Wright to wicketkeeper Peter Handscombe.

With only ten runs added, James Bracey was pinned lbw on the back foot by the accurate Wright, who was the pick of the Leicestershire attack with three for 40 from 23 overs.

Price edged Josh Hull just short of first slip before bringing up his half-century off 91 deliveries, with nine fours. On 55, he was dropped at slip by Colin Ackermann off Callum Parkinson.

By then Ollie had been joined by elder brother Tom, who contributed 20 to a sixth-wicket stand of 46 before edging a back-foot shot off Tom Scriven to slip where Ackermann pouched the chance.

A Price boundary to third man off Scriven took him past his previous best first-class score of 68, made against Yorkshire at Headingley last season.

Tom hit his maiden first-class century versus Worcestershire at New Road in April and Ollie looked set to follow his sibling to the milestone when reaching lunch on 83, with Zafar Gohar having helped take the score to 208 for six.

But after adding only two in the afternoon session, Price feathered an attempted pull shot off left-arm seamer Hull through to Handscombe to make it 217 for seven.

Gloucestershire looked in danger of failing to claim a batting point five runs later when Gohar, who had played and missed at a couple of short balls from Hull, miscued a third and was caught at backward point for 28.

It was just reward for the tall 18-year-old pace bowler, who had proved expensive on day one, but used his height to good effect in getting extra bounce from a docile pitch.

Five overs were lost when rain began falling at 2.40pm and, with thunder rolling around the ground, the players headed for the pavilion.

By then Lamb and Dale had added 19 and the restart saw Lancashire loanee Lamb go on the attack, pulling a six off Hull over fine leg to earn a first batting point at 254 for eight.

The 27-year-old all-rounder had not played a first-class match since June last year and clearly relished the opportunity offered by a temporary change of county.

Another six followed, straight down the ground off leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed before a third maximum off Parkinson brought up Lamb's half-century off 82 balls.

Dale lost little by comparison as the partnership flourished, despite Leicestershire having taken the second new ball. A straight driven four off Scriven took the Berkshire-born seam bowler past his previous best first class score of 36 not out.

When tea was taken at 316 for eight, Lamb and Dale had added 94 to transform Gloucestershire fortunes. A second shower delayed the restart until 5.20pm, with a further 15 overs lost and 19 to be bowled.

On the resumption, a Lamb single off Hull brought up the century stand, which had occupied 24 overs. A defiant innings ended when he pulled a short ball from Hull (three for 109) and was caught at fine leg, having faced 106 balls.

At the end of the 110th over, the scoreboard read 352 for nine, both sides claiming three bonus points. Dale brought up his maiden first class fifty with two through the off side off Ahmed, having faced 90 balls and hit six fours, before being last man out, stumped off Parkinson.