Worcestershire v Essex
LV= Insurance County Championship
New Road
Thursday 29 – Sunday 02 May
11am start
Following a rare defeat in red-ball cricket, Essex now travel to New Road to meet Worcestershire in another LV= Insurance County Championship clash commencing on Thursday.
Essex suffered their first defeat in 22 matches in the four-day format after Warwickshire completed a 7-wicket victory over the Champions last week.
After three rounds of matches, defeat left Essex in third position in Group One whilst Worcestershire moved into second place following their draw with Nottinghamshire.
Warwickshire head the group with 53 points, 12 more than their nearest pursuers with Essex currently on 37 points.
Squad:
Hear from McGrath:
The defeat by Warwickshire was Essex’s first loss in red-ball cricket since the opening match of the 2019 campaign.
Head Coach Anthony McGrath admits that his squad are relishing the opportunity to put the defeat behind them.
He said: “I know it’s a cliché but the games coming thick and fast and the lads are determined to put things right for the next game and I’m sure we’ll come back strong.
“I know that the lads were hurting afterwards, it was a strange feeling because they’ve not been used to defeats in red-ball cricket but we have to dust ourselves down and put things right.
“Having not lost for so long, we are certainly not going to get too down about it but we do have to make sure that there is no adverse reaction to that setback.
“The lads have been fantastic over the last few years and I suppose you are going to lose at some time, but you could see the lads fighting and scrapping right down to the last ball at Edgbaston.
“They showed great spirit and that’s there in abundance.
“We are still in a good position in the table and we need to make sure we come back from Worcester with a positive reaction and a positive result.”
Injury/Absentees News:
Essex have named a 13-man squad with Ben Allison and Shane Snater added to the team that played against Warwickshire.
Opposition:
Worcestershire finished ninth in Division Two when the last full Championship season was contested in 2019 but they made noticeable improvements during the Bob Willis Trophy campaign last year.
The emergence of Jake Libby as a consistent opening batsman has underpinned the revival in fortunes and the arrival of Gareth Roderick from Gloucestershire should add needed stability to the batting although the Pears do have the potential of runs right down the order nowadays.
In the match at Chelmsford, Ed Barnard, batting at 8, scored 128 whilst West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph and Captain Joe Leach scored 61 and 84 respectively when batting at 9 and 10 against Notts.
One to Watch:
Ed Barnard has already caught the eye against Essex this term. He scored a career-best 128 in the match at Chelmsford having earlier returned figures of 3 for 67 with his seamers that included the wicket of Dan Lawrence.
Head-to-Head:
In the 151 Championship clashes between the sides, Essex have won 48 matches and lost 34, whilst 69 have ended in draws.
Potential Milestones:
Dan Lawrence requires 75 runs to reach 4,000 first-class runs for Essex.
Adam Wheater requires 30 runs to reach 3,000 first-class runs for Essex.
Jamie Porter requires 8 more wickets to record 350 first-class wickets for Essex.
How To Watch:
Our Live Stream service will be available across all four days of this game from 11am, which also includes player stats, scorecards and clips throughout the day. Access via the Essex Cricket Matchzone is available here.
