Gloucestershire 306 (ahmmond 103, Dent 65, Archer 4-62) and 30 for 2 require a further 246 runs to beat Sussex 286 and 295 (Finch 98, Payne 4-69)
Scorecard

This day began with the completion of a domestic collapse fit to rank with that of Overend, Gurney and Company in 1866, six years before the Cheltenham Festival began. It ended with Gloucestershire batting again and seeking to atone for their previous frailty by making 276 to win. They have so far scored 30 of those runs but have lost their openers, both of whom were caught behind by Ben Brown off Jofra Archer. Thus, after three fluctuating sessions we are set for a climax to savour. Watching county cricket this summer has seemed an idyll without interruption; it has been good fortune without tariff.

Yet if Wednesday's cricket began and ended with Archer cruising in and scenting flesh, the heart of our cricket featured a gloriously disciplined innings of 98 by Harry Finch, who came to the middle when Phil Salt was bowled for 9 by Ryan Higgins in the sixth over of Sussex's second innings and did not depart until his side's lead was nearly 200. Finch's dismissal, caught behind off Craig Miles, came one ball after his 16th four, a faultless cover-drive, had taken him to within a single good hit of his second century of the season. His departure was surprising because his defence had hitherto been so compact and his attacking shots had been played without the showy flourish which so often suggests vulnerability. To borrow a term used by Mike Brearley in his book On Form Finch's batting was "centred" in the fashion of batsmen in decent nick and his fatal flirt with a ball just outside off stump was one of his few errors.

For most of the day the other Sussex batsmen played their innings around Finch's 205-minute vigil. Luke Wright's gloriously savage 48 included nine fours and a six but ended two balls after lunch when he drove David Payne low to Ryan Higgins at mid-off. David Wiese put on 39 for the sixth wicket with Finch and was seventh out for 40 when his attempted drive off Higgins skied the ball towards Prothero's chapel, only for Miles to hare some forty yards from mid-on and take a quite brilliant catch. Chris Jordan made a pleasant 30 before edging Miles to Roderick.

In contrast to Gloucestershire, who had lost the last seven wickets in their first innings for 11 runs in 8.5 overs, Sussex built modest partnerships. This was easier, perhaps, because Ben Brown leads a team with a clear top six in its order and four other batsmen each of whom could go in at No 7. If the home side mirror their careful approach, Dent's men may yet achieve a very fine victory.

The odds, though, are against it. A target of 276 is substantial on a pitch offering inconsistency of bounce. David Payne's four wickets on Wednesday were a just reward and included his 200th first-class victim but Archer, Jordan and Ollie Robinson will reckon they can more than match his contribution, albeit that Gloucestershire's batsmen are under no pressure to score quickly.

And it was also a day on which the packed tents and marquees - over 20 of them at this year's festival - could take in Cheltenham's many glories. Indeed, the College Ground is the sort of venue where visitors struggling to shake off the past suddenly find they have no wish to do so.

There are Sussex connections, too. Just to the left of the pavilion a fine Lombardy poplar commemorates the achievement of the KS Duleepsinhji who took 7 for 35 in 1921 against a Marlborough team whose eleven players boasted 27 initials. Duleep nearly steered Sussex to the County Championship in 1932 only for his health to break down in mid-August. He never played for the county again.

And perhaps spectators in Wednesday's cheery chaos of canvas, clinking glasses and jazz bands needed a sense of history and a tranquil approach to life as they watched George Drissell and Matt Taylor, two nightwatchmen if you please, defy the Sussex seamers in the final 25 balls of the day.

At least they could be grateful the scoreboard worked. On the first day of this game the damn thing had packed in and essential details had to be announced over the public address. This managed to be very irritating while also not mattering much at all. This is Cheltenham, after all. That wretched board will need to work properly on the final day, though.