Warwickshire v Essex
LV= Insurance County Championship
Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham
Thursday 21 – Sunday 24 April
11am start
After a nail-biting first win of the season at Somerset, Essex travel to Birmingham to take on last year’s LV= Insurance County Championship Division One title winners, Warwickshire.
In a low-scoring encounter, Essex successfully chased down the 84 runs required for victory. New signing Adam Rossington shepherded the side home with a nerveless 29 after Shane Snater ran through Somerset’s batting line-up in the second innings, claiming 6/36.
Essex took 19 points from the fixture and will start tomorrow’s game second in the table on 31 points.
Squad:
After the return of Simon Harmer for last week’s fixture against Somerset, Essex will once again travel will a full-strength squad.
The one change to the squad sees Paul Walter, fresh from his century for the Second XI, come in for Michael Pepper.
The Opposition:
Warwickshire had a 2021 season to remember, finishing top of Division One in the LV= Insurance County Championship and becoming the second side, after Essex, to win the Bob Willis Trophy.
Their only game so far this season ended in a draw against Surrey on a batter-friendly Edgbaston pitch.
In a game where Surrey scored 471 runs for the loss of just eight wickets, Oliver Hannon-Dalby was the standout bowler picking up 4/78. He was well assisted by Danny Briggs who took 3/84.
Both Matt Lamb (106) and Michael Burgess (178) come into the fixture fresh from centuries against Surrey. In this case of Lamb it was the second of his career, his first coming against Essex at the same ground in 2019.
Warwickshire Squad: Will Rhodes (c), Chris Benjamin, Danny Briggs, Henry Brookes, Michael Burgess (wk), Alex Davies, Sam Hain, Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Matt Lamb, Craig Miles, Liam Norwell, Dom Sibley, Rob Yates.
Last time out:
The last time two team’s faced in red-ball cricket was at Chelmsford in May of last year.
The game, ruined by the weather, ended in a draw despite a standout performance from Peter Siddle, who took 6/38 as Warwickshire were bowled out for 166 in their first innings.
In response, Essex reached 217 thanks to half centuries from Alastair Cook and Ryan ten Doeschate and looked in a strong position with a first innings lead of 51 and a bowling unit with their tails up.
However, any hopes for a positive result were ended by persistent rain and both sides had to settle for a draw.
How To Watch:
Our Live Stream service will be available across all four days of this game from 10:30am, which also includes player stats, scorecards and clips throughout the day.
The broadcast can be accessed via the Essex Cricket Matchzone here.
