Essex Eagles v Middlesex
Royal London Cup
The Cloudfm County Ground
Sunday 25 July
11am start
Essex Eagles continue their Royal London Cup campaign on Sunday when they meet Middlesex at The Cloudfm County Ground.
The home side launched their 50-over season with a win against Hampshire at Southampton on Thursday.
Eagles skipper Tom Westley led the scoring with 69 after his side set off in reply to the hosts 273 all out. Paul Walter and Michael Pepper contributed 35 and 34 respectively but the match-winning partnership came from Simon Harmer and Aron Nijjar, who posted an unbroken 8th wicket liaison worth 54 runs taking the visitors to 275-7 with Harmer on 32 and Nijjar 27 not out and victory with 33 balls to spare.
Squad:
Westley’s View:
With his side missing three players to The Hundred competition, skipper Tom Westley acknowledged the increased demands that could place on the shoulders of other members of the squad.
He said: “Some guys are going to have to carry out some challenging roles in the 50-over competition but I know that everyone is willing to put their hands up and do that.
“I think that message and that ethos within the squad is going to carry us forward for the next few years.
“It was good to get the win on Thursday and plenty of people made significant contributions and we are going to need more of those in the weeks ahead.
“We set out to win every game but obviously things didn’t go our way in the Championship or the T20 competitions but it certainly hasn’t been through lack of effort or desire.
“In the last five years, we’ve won a lot of competitions although I’ve also been at Essex when we haven’t won anything for a number of years. It’s definitely a lot better winning things of course so the Royal London Cup is potentially another trophy that we could win and it’s something we will be aspiring to achieve.”
The Opposition:
Middlesex, who are coached by former Essex favourite Stuart Law, play their first match of the Royal London Cup at Chelmsford on Sunday but they arrive without a number of key players.
Whilst the Eagles are missing only three players (Sam Cook, Dan Lawrence and Jimmy Neesham), due to their involvement in The Hundred, their opponents have provided six players for the new tournament.
Tom Helm, Eoin Morgan, Blake Cullen, Steven Finn, John Simpson and Nathan Sowter have all been picked up, whilst New Zealand international Daryl Mitchell has now ended his stint with the side to return home.
How to Watch:
There will be a Live Stream service from The Cloudfm County Ground which will be broadcasting ahead of play from 11am via the Essex Cricket Matchzone. The stream will also be available via the Essex Cricket YouTube Channel.
Access via the Essex Cricket Matchzone is available here.
