Essex Eagles v Sussex Sharks
Royal London Cup
The Cloudfm County Ground
Tuesday 10 August
11am start
Essex Eagles face Sussex Sharks at The Cloudfm County Ground on Tuesday as they look to secure their place in the knockout stages of the Royal London Cup.
The Eagles forfeited top spot in Group A on Sunday when they lost to Durham by 2 wickets (DLS method) with the Scott Borthwick’s side taking over at the head of the table.
Despite their defeat, the Eagles turned in a plucky effort where Feroze Khushi starred for the visitors on his List A debut when he posted his maiden senior hundred.
The Eagles, missing several key players, posted 227-6 with 22-year-old Khushi scoring 109 and 20-year-old Josh Rymell 40 with the inexperienced duo putting on 101 for the fourth wicket.
Durham opening batsman Alex Lees then scored an unbeaten 126, his career-best List A figure, to guide his side to victory with 5 balls and 2 wickets to spare.
The Sharks have won just one match in the Royal London Cup this season and that came in their last match when they beat Worcestershire Rapids by 2 wickets when youngsters James Coles and Archie Lenham shared 6 wickets before Ali Orr scored his maiden List A hundred in only his third innings in the competition.
Squad:
Feroze’s View:
Feroze Khushi took the opportunity to showcase his batting talent with his first century for the County on Sunday.
His half-century arrived from 65 balls and the next 50 took only a further 36 balls as he moved into overdrive to reach three figures (1×6, 7×4).
The right-hander admitted that he had been desperate for the chance to shine, and said: “I’ve just had to be patient and make sure that when my opportunity did arrive, I was ready to grab the chance with both hands.
“It was great to score my maiden List A hundred on debut and that is so special. It was a great atmosphere here, but I’m disappointed that we failed to win the game because it would have made it all the sweeter.
“I think I proved that I am capable of playing in the First Team and hopefully, this innings will give me further opportunities.
“I was really happy with the way I played and together with Josh (Rymell) we managed to put together a century stand to give us a chance but it wasn’t to be.
“I tried to stay calm and composed just waiting for the bad ball to come along and make sure I took advantage of it and put it away when it did arrive.
“I did grow in confidence particularly after one over from (Chris) Rushworth when I scored 11 (including a six) and that really helped get me going. I think the wicket did start to get better and as I got more runs, I knew that I had role to play for the guys to get us to a decent total.
“I started to get nervous when I neared my century but when Tendo was batting with me, he kept saying, ‘Just relax, you are going to get your hundred, just carry on playing sensibly.’
“It was obviously disappointing to lose in the end but now we have to put that to the back of our minds and concentrate on winning the remaining games starting with Sussex on Tuesday.”
The Opposition:
Sussex Sharks have opted for a youthful line-up to contest the Royal London Cup and to replace a squad heavily-affected by call-ups to The Hundred, the England Test squad and injuries.
Ollie Robinson is with the England side for their series with India whilst Ravi Bopara, George Garton, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Phil Salt, Delray Rawlins and Luke Wright are all on duty with their respective teams in The Hundred. Jofra Archer, Jamie Atkins Tom Clark and Mitch Claydon remain unavailable through injury.
Sussex Sharks Squad:
Tom Haines (C), Will Beer, Ben Brown, Oli Carter, James Coles, Henry Crocombe, Travis Head, Sean Hunt, Danial Ibrahim, Archie Lenham, Ali Orr, Joe Sarro, Harrison Ward, David Wiese
On the 63 occasions that the Eagles and Sharks have met in List A cricket, the Eagles have a superb record having prevailed on 41 occasions and losing 19 games. 1 match has been tied and 2 declared as a no result.
How to Watch:
There will be a Live Stream service from The Cloudfm County Ground. This will be available via the Essex Cricket Matchzone from 11am.
Access via the Essex Cricket Matchzone is available here.
