Worcestershire Director of Cricket Steve Rhodes admitted the result was "inevitable" after the events of the first morning as his side lost by an innings and 92 runs to Essex at Chelmsford.
The county were bowled out for 84 after losing the toss on a green pitch before conditions eased considerably.
In their second innings, Moeen Ali made a fine 98 and Brett D'Oliveira and Jack Shantry added a defiant 91 for the ninth wicket but Worcestershire were always playing catch-up after the pre-lunch session on Tuesday.
Rhodes told BBC Hereford-Worcester's Trevor Owens: "In this game of cricket, to lose your 10 wickets in the first session of a game, it was a tough one for us and Essex batted well and put us under the cosh.
"We needed Moeen to bat for three sessions today but he played extremely well for his 98.
"There was some good reverse swing bowling. Essex managed to get the ball to reverse swing and Graham Napier is a good exponent of that.
"After that first morning, it was an inevitable result really."
Rhodes added: "The toss played a huge part. I'd like someone to find me a sport where the toss is more important than cricket. I can't find one.
"In cricket it is absolutely crucial and whoever won that toss was going to put themselves in a very strong position to win the game
"It didn't necessarily mean they were going to win the game, they still had to bowl and catch well, and that's what they did, but it was a massive feature.
"The wicket calmed down a lot from the second session onwards and that surprised me. I thought it would be a bit juicy for a couple of days."
