Anthony McGrath is looking for a repeat performance on Sunday when the Eagles take on Surrey in the next Royal London One-Day Cup contest at The Cloudfm County Ground, starting at 11am.
The Essex Head Coach watched his side beat Somerset by 40 runs on Friday with a display that saw them outpoint their opponents in all three disciplines, and now he is urging the Eagles to maintain that level of performance.
“I thought that we absolutely superb in all three assets of the game,” he said. “It was a little difficult early on when we batted, the ball seamed about a bit and just held in the pitch. However, Varun Chopra and Ravi Bopara were absolutely outstanding and showed all their experience.
“We had been talking about being more clinical with the bat and the need for one or two players to go on and make a big score, and Varun answered that call with 160. He was exceptional.
We were a little but disappointed that we only got around 10 runs an over from our last ten and we knew that we had to bowl better than we have done recently.
“But we got two wickets up front, which we haven’t been doing the past few games and we built on from that. Also, in the field, I thought we were excellent. I had been critical of our fielding recently but this time we were diving around, stopping singles and throwing better. So the effort and commitment were there for all to see.”
“You won’t often hear me say that I am disappointed with our group of players but I was when we were beaten by Hampshire last Wednesday. However, the reaction I got was outstanding.
“Shane Snater understandably was nervous on his home debut tonight and started a bit shakily but then to come back with five wickets in only his second game is a terrific achievement.
“So I was really happy with our overall performance against Somerset and now we’ve got the win we needed to get us back into the competition, I’m looking for us to build on that starting with the match with Surrey on Sunday.
“It’s another big game but I’ve said before that if we play to our potential, then we are a match for anyone. We’ve set the standard now and we’ve just got to maintain that consistency.
“So the team talk on Sunday will be more of the same.”
Essex Eagles squad to face Surrey:
27. Ryan ten Doeschate (C)
25. Ravi Bopara
6. Varun Chopra
1. Matt Coles
16. Sam Cook
7. James Foster
11. Simon Harmer
28. Dan Lawrence
19. Michael Pepper
29. Shane Snater
67. Callum Taylor
13. Neil Wagner
21. Tom Westley
31. Adam Wheater
99. Ashar Zaidi
Tickets for the match on Sunday for the Family Fun Day against Surrey are on sale now with the Eagles looking to make it back-to-back wins in the competition for the first this season. Tickets are priced £15 Adults, £10 Students/Young Adults and £5 Juniors (U18s) when purchased in advance online.
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