Having suffered a 72 run defeat by Middlesex on Thursday night, Essex Eagles have named a 14-man squad for the NatWest T20 Blast encounter against Gloucestershire on Saturday evening.
Young fast bowler Sam Cook has been added to the squad after impressing for the Second XI in recent weeks and will be in line for a T20 Blast debut, should he appear.
Head Coach Chris Silverwood admitted that he was bitterly disappointed with the defeat to Middlesex. “We came here knowing that a win would put us in a strong position in the South Group but obviously, those hopes have taken a knock.
“We said we would go hard down the order but on Thursday, it didn’t work. Against Hampshire recently we were excellent but unfortunately, it hasn’t worked against Middlesex, but we’ll keep going.
“There were a couple of positives to take from Thursday’s match. Dan Lawrence was our stand-out bowler against Middlesex and he also did well with the bat and he is emerging as a real strong talent for us. It was also great to see James Foster play the way he did and it was a fantastic innings.
“It can be frustrating with the inconsistency in our performances but what I will say is that we’ve got some good kids in our team who are learning all the time, so you are going to get inconsistencies.
“Obviously, there is plenty of work to be done but at the same time, I think that it is very important that we keep positive and keep pushing towards our goals and keep aiming to win every game we can.”
Essex Eagles squad:
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) Captain
James Foster (7) Wicket-keeper
Mohammad Amir (5)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Varun Chopra (6)
Sam Cook (16)
Matt Dixon (30)
Simon Harmer (11)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Jamie Porter (44)
Callum Taylor (67)
Paul Walter (22)
Adam Wheater (31)
Ashar Zaidi (99)
