Early Years

Essex CCC was formed in 1876 as a result of a meeting held at the Shire Hall, Chelmsford on 14 January of that year.

A ground was acquired at Brentwood and a number of matches were played, some against First-Class opposition. However, it was not until 1894 that Essex were accorded official First-Class status and they competed in the County Championship for the first time in 1895.

In 1886, the Club moved from Brentwood to Leyton and this remained the headquarters until the 1933 season. During this impecunious time, Essex developed a policy of taking cricket around the County, venturing to Clacton, Southend, Chelmsford, Colchester, Westcliff and Romford as well as continuing to play at Brentwood and Leyton. Because of pressure on the Club’s finances and a need to serve the rapidly expanding centres away from London, the Club had to sell the Leyton ground in 1933 – offices were set up in Chelmsford and Ilford was added to the festival weeks.

The Dominant Years

In 1979 the Club won its first honours – the Benson & Hedges Cup and the County Championship. These successes heralded relative prosperity and further success for the Club, making it a cricket force to be reckoned with in the eighties, nineties, and beyond.

Keith Fletcher built a team in the late 1970s that dominated domestic cricket from 1979 to 1992, when Essex won six of thirteen County Championship titles. Two cricketers wrote their names into club history and earned legendary status. Both were integral in the side of 1979 that lifted the County Championship title just a few weeks after they had won the Benson & Hedges Cup to secure their first piece of silverware in the club’s history. East had a memorable career during which he took nearly 1300 and scored more than 8,300 runs ensured he was an influential force in four more title achievements for the County until he retired.

Limited Overs success in mid 2000s

Essex found a winning formula in limited overs cricket in the mid-2000s with the signings of David Masters, Chris Wright and Jason Gallian. They lifted the Totesport League trophy in fine style in 2005 and followed that up by retaining the crown in 2006. Essex continued their impressive Limited Overs form in 2008 with the Friends Provident Trophy and NatWest Pro40 Division Two titles.

In the Friends Provident Trophy Essex were runners up to Kent in the group stage, but comfortably qualified for the quarter-finals. Essex inflicted a crushing defeat on Leicestershire in the quarter final with a margin of 118 runs. Ravi Bopara scored a memorable 201 not out off just 138 balls to lead Essex into the semi-finals much to the delight of the Essex fans. The Eagles then beat Yorkshire at Chelmsford before winning the Battle of the Bridge contest at Lord’s against Kent in front of 30,000 people.

Essex clinched the Pro40 Division Two title and sealed the Limited Overs double in 2008 with a victory against arch rivals Kent again. Needing a win away, the Essex fans turned out in force at Canterbury cheering The Eagles onto the victory target of 247. Mark Pettini was given out first ball of the innings before an unbeaten 68 from Grant Flower and fifties from Jason Gallian and Ravi Bopara helped Essex pick up the Pro40 Division 2 title.

Although Essex did not win the Twenty20 tournament in 2008, making the finals at The Rose Bowl with a young team was a success. The tournament also saw the emergence of club legend Graham Napier as a big-hitting batsman (hitting a world record 16 sixes in his 152 not out off just 58 balls against Sussex at Chelmsford).

One point promotion in 2009

Essex secured top flight cricket for the first time since 2003, beating Northamptonshire to promotion by a single point. Ryan ten Doeschate smashed a stunning 108 off just 59 balls as Essex snatched a shock five-wicket win at Derby to earn promotion back to Division One. Dutch international ten Doeschate hit eight sixes in an unbroken stand of 156 with Mark Pettini (85) as Essex won the match with five overs to spare.

All-rounder ten Doeschate spoke following promotion and said: “The belief in the camp is very strong and it was a must- win game, so there wasn’t really any other choice. Whatever Derby had set us we would have given it our best try.”

Although Essex would only stay in Division One for a season, some of the younger players gained valuable experience of the highest level in the game which would only stand the club in good stead going forward.

Coaching changes bring Championship success

Three consecutive third place finishes in the County Championship, plus two years of Quarter-Final appearances in both Limited Over competitions, saw Paul Grayson leave his position as Head Coach towards the end of the 2015 season. In December, Chris Silverwood was announced as his replacement and the County embarked on a fresh start. A considerable focus on youth ensued with players such as Jamie Porter, Dan Lawrence and Tom Westley forming the backbone of the side for 2016. Chris Silverwood was looking to claim the one promotion slot on offer in his first season in charge.. He did it and Essex were crowned Specsavers County Championship Division Two Champions.

Graham Napier and David Masters embarked on their final seasons in professional cricket looking to claim silverware and go out on a high. Napier went on to have his most successful season ever being the leader in all three formats, including 63 wickets in his final County Championship season. Jamie Porter backed up 50 wickets in a Championship season again, claiming 55 wickets to continue to show maturity beyond his years. Tom Westley and Nick Browne both scored 1000 runs again whilst captain Ryan ten Doeschate was to prove to be the leader Silverwood expected and score over 1100 runs with the bat in Championship cricket.

Essex clinched the title after the second day against Glamorgan at Chelmsford attaining the 5 bonus points required to be promoted. Although Chris Silverwood’s team went on to lose the game, they claimed a draw against rivals Kent and lifted the trophy in front of jubilant fans at Canterbury.

Championship promotion was the number one aim at the start of the year but The Eagles also had some success in the shorter forms of the game. Essex reached the quarter-finals of both the NatWest T20 Blast and Royal London One-Day Cup before being knocked out by Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire respectively.

With the return of Essex academy players’ Adam Wheater and Varun Chopra who have proven Division One credentials, and the influx of some exciting signings over the winter, Essex will look to maintain their position in Specsavers County Championship Division One in 2017.

DIVISION ONE CHAMPIONS 2017 & 2019

After being promoted from Division Two as champions the previous season, not many would have predicted what was to happen over the following months.

Essex drew their first game of the season at home to Lancashire in April, a match which most notably saw Daniel Lawrence save Essex with his second innings score of 141 after a first-innings collapse saw the side all out for 159.

The teams first win came the following week, when they beat Somerset by 8 wickets and Alastair Cook made 110 whilst Roelof van der Merwe took 3 wickets for 26 runs.

Lawrence scored a respectable 75 in the following match in which Essex drew with Middlesex at Lord’s.

Essex then beat Hampshire by an innings and 97 runs with Cook again making a century and Jamie Porter taking 5 wickets for 24 runs, but they couldn’t make it back to back wins and drew the next match with Surrey, with Lawrence knocking up 107 and Porter taking 9 wickets for 160 runs over the two innings.

Essex then found some consistency and momentum and unexpectedly to most won five consecutive games in a commanding fashion.

The first saw them beat Surrey by 8 wickets with both Ryan ten Doeschate and Tom Westley recording centuries. In the following match, Ravi Bopara top-scored with a huge 192 whilst Simon Harmer took 14 wickets for 128 runs over the two innings as Essex beat Warwickshire by an innings and 164 runs.

Harmer’s form with the ball carried on into the next match against Middlesex as he took 9 wickets for 95 runs whilst Nick Browne scored 221, making him the first Essex player to record a double century that season and resulted in Essex winning by an innings and 34 runs.

Mohammad Amir took 5 wickets for 18 runs against Yorkshire, a match Essex won by 8 wickets, which was followed up by another emphatic victory against Somerset. Porter recaptured his form and took 12 wickets for 95 runs over the two innings and Essex won by a comfortable 179 runs.

The five-game win streak had lasted three months and finally came to an end in August. The match with Lancashire was heavily interrupted by the weather and with no play possible on day one, the game resulted in a draw.

It wasn’t long before Essex were back to winning ways and Simon Harmer took 8 wickets for 72 runs over two innings in a match Essex won by an innings and 56 runs against Warwickshire.

Essex made it two wins in a row in the penultimate game of the season as Sam Cook took 5 wickets for 18 runs and Lawrence again recorded over a ton against Hampshire.

Going into the final game of the season, the Division One title was long-secured, and Essex were still unbeaten (winning 9 and drawing 4). Yorkshire were the visitors and were now the only team standing in-between Essex and a historic undefeated season.

Yorkshire elected to field first and Simon Harmer made 64 as Essex were all out for 227. Essex replied quickly and Neil Wagner took 3 wickets for 21 runs as Essex bowled Yorkshire out for just 111. Lawrence top scored with 83 for Essex as they declared on 334 for 7 in their second innings and set the visitors a target of 451 to win. Yorkshire’s second innings lasted just 28.5 overs, as Cook took 5 wickets for 20 runs and Yorkshire were bowled out for a low 74.

This completed a near-perfect season for Essex, which saw them lift the Division One title after many tipped them as potential relegation candidates just five months earlier.

Much of their success was built around a home-grown product – Daniel Lawrence was particularly impressive with the bat whilst Jamie Porter finished with 75 wickets (with an average of 16.83) making him the leading wicket-taker in the country.

Essex repeated the feat in 2019 by successfully fending off strong competition from Somerset. The season went down to the wire with Ryan ten Doeschate’s men taking on Somerset at Taunton for a final match showdown. After heavy rainfall disrupted the first two days, it came down to the final day where Alastair Cook guided Essex to a draw in Marcus Trescothick’s final appearance for the hosts.

The match was broadcasted on Sky Sports as Tendo lifted the County Championship trophy for the second time in three years.

INAUGURAL T20 TRIUMPH

The 2019 season will forever be synonymous with Essex’s double trophy triumph. The competition started with a 7-wicket defeat to Middlesex but the opening home match of the campaign was a memorable one. After rain restricted play versus Surrey to 15 overs aside, opener Cameron Delport announced himself to the Chelmsford crowd by hitting 129 off 49 balls. The South African was duly supported by Dan Lawrence who struck an 18-ball half-century to help the Eagles to a 52-run victory.

Three wins in the final four games of the campaign saw the Eagles sneak into a qualification place where Lancashire Lightning awaited. With Emirates Old Trafford hosting Test cricket, the game took place at Durham’s Emirates Riverside ground. Fireworks from Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate set up a thrilling finale to win the match by 6 wickets.

Essex Eagles went into Finals Day with a clash against Derbyshire Falcons. A half-century from Cameron Delport and career-best figures of 4/19 from Simon Harmer helped to book a place in the Final against Worcestershire Rapids.

The Vitality Blast Final did not disappoint after Simon Harmer won the toss and elected to bowl first. More magic from Harmer saw the spinner take 3/16 to record the best-ever bowling figures witnessed at Finals Day. After restricting the Rapids to 145 runs it was Tom Westley (36) who got the Eagles off to a good start after Delport fell early for 1.

In a low-scoring game, it came down to Ravi Bopara (36) and Simon Harmer to try and see their team over the line. The victory came in a dramatic fashion with 11 runs required off the final over. Following his heroics with the ball, Harmer was the man to strike the winning blow off the final ball with just one run needed to win, sending the Essex faithful into raptures.