Essex Eagles return to white-ball action on Friday for the sold-out NatWest T20 Blast opener against Surrey at The Cloudfm County Ground.
Chris Silverwood’s men turn their attention to T20 cricket after two stunning wins in the Championship to leave Essex top of the pile.
The Eagles will look to go one step further in the Blast in 2017 after falling at the quarter-final stage last year, and will be bolstered by overseas signing Mohammad Amir alongside the likes of Ashar Zaidi and Ravi Bopara.
Head Coach Silverwood will hope Amir can strengthen a squad already brimming with confidence.
He said: “I believe Amir will prove to be an excellent signing for the Club. He has been with us for a couple of weeks now but adds real firepower to our bowling attack.
“He also complements the group we have assembled and putting him alongside the calibre of player we already have here will stand us in good stead.”
Silverwood is wary of the array of stars Surrey have available to them and added: “Everyone knows Surrey are a good team and they have some very good players in their squad. They always recruit their overseas players well but we are more focussed on what we can do.
“We beat them in the One-Day Cup and in the Championship so we know we are capable of doing that again. If we continue to implement the processes we have been working so hard on all year, we will be fine on Friday.”
Essex Eagles squad:
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) Captain
James Foster (7) WK
Mohammad Amir (5)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Varun Chopra (6)
Matt Dixon (30)
Simon Harmer (11)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Jamie Porter (44)
Callum Taylor (67)
Paul Walter (22)
Adam Wheater (31)
Tom Westley (21)
Ashar Zaidi (99)
There is very limited availability for all other NatWest T20 Blast fixtures so make sure you get your tickets as soon as possible to avoid disappointment! Buy them here or call 01245 254010.
