Essex Eagles travel to the Kia Oval where they meet Surrey on Tuesday in the Royal London One-Day Cup South Group match, with play scheduled to start at 11am.
The Eagles have retained the same 14-man squad that was named for Sunday’s match with Hampshire when they opened the campaign with a 25 runs victory at The Cloudfm County Ground on Sunday.
Opponents Surrey contrived to lose their first match when Somerset prevailed by 4 wickets at Taunton after the visitors had reduced their opposition to 22 for 5 at one stage in pursuit of 291 to win. They responded in positive manner beating Glamorgan by 8 wickets under the Duckworth/Lewis method.
Eagles Head Coach, Chris Silverwood stresses that Tuesday’s opposition presents a stiff challenge for his side.
“It’s a big game for us and Surrey are a difficult side to beat at The Oval. We do respect them and the talent that they have and we will be coming up against some good players on Tuesday.
“But having said that, it’s more about how we do and how we perform in any given game. If we get our skills right, hopefully we’ll come out on top. But if we get our skills right and the opposition still come out on top, then all credit to them.
“All I ask from our boys is that they give 100 per cent every time and if they do that, then you can’t ask more of them. But we do have a lot of talent in our side and we are an evolving side.”
Reflecting on Sunday’s success, Chris enthused: “I was naturally delighted with the win over Hampshire, they came here and played a hard game of cricket and at one point, the result could have gone either way.
“But one thing I love about our side is that they show a lot of character and spirit and we do enjoy the white-ball format.
“Tom Westley was disappointed that he didn’t get his hundred and we are disappointed for him as well but at the same time, he did a great job for us and put is in a good position by laying the platform and showing what a good player he is.
“Then when you have people like Ashar Zaidi that can come in down the order and blast 70 odd as he did off 40 balls, then we are in a good place with a lot of ammunition down the order.
“From a bowling perspective, it was good to see Neil Wagner take four wickets.
“We fought really had to beat Hampshire, we’ve fought really hard in the three Championship matches we’ve played and people keep putting their hands up. We know there are areas where we need to improve but we’ll keep driving the squad forward.
“So a good start in the One-Day Cup, now it’s onto Surrey and we’ll see what that brings.”
Essex Eagles squad:
Varun Chopra (6)
Nick Browne (10)
Simon Harmer (11)
Neil Wagner (13)
Tom Westley (21)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Alastair Cook (26)
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) Captain
Dan Lawrence (28)
Adam Wheater (31) Wicket-keeper
Jamie Porter (44)
Callum Taylor (67)
Matt Quinn (94)
Ashar Zaidi (99)
