Essex Eagles v Derbyshire
Royal London Cup
The Cloud County Ground
Friday 05 August
2pm start
After a washout in Sedbergh, the weather is set fair in Chelmsford for the Eagles to take to the field for the first time in the 2022 Royal London Cup.
While the Eagles will be looking to record their first victory of the campaign after taking a point from the washout against Lancashire, Derbyshire will be wanting to bounce back after a defeat at the hands of Glamorgan in their opening game.
Tomorrow’s game against Derbyshire begins a spell of four home games in the space of 13 days for the Eagles, who will be hoping to repeat their strong group stage performance of last year.
Squad:
The Eagles have named an unchanged 13-player squad for tomorrow’s fixture.
The Opposition:
Derbyshire struggled in one-day cricket last season, finishing bottom of Group 2 with one win from eight games. They have, however, already enjoyed a much better season in white-ball cricket and made it as far as the Quarter-Finals in the Vitality Blast.
Their Royal London Cup campaign didn’t get off to the best of starts after an 8-wicket loss to last year’s champions, Glamorgan.
Last season’s leading run-scorer Fynn Hudson-Prentice has since moved to Sussex, however, Derbyshire will be boosted by the return of Tom Wood, who sat one behind Hudson-Prentice with 191 runs last year.
Ex-Essex batter Billy Godleman only played two games last season, but averaged 64 across both fixtures and is in good touch going into the competition after a century against Shropshire in a National Counties fixture.
Derbyshire were short of a strike bowler last year, taking just 25 wickets in the whole competition. Fynn Hudson-Prentice again led the way with six wickets, Alex Thompson the only other bowler to make it to five.
They’ll be hoping the addition of Scottish spinner Mark Watt as well as promising young seamer Ben Aitchison can aid a bowling attack shorn of George Scrimshaw, who is in the Hundred. Joining Scrimshaw in the Hundred are Wayne Madsen and Leus du Plooy.
Derbyshire: Billy Godleman (c), Tom Wood, Harry Came, Luis Reece, Brooke Guest (wk), Mattie McKiernan, Alex Thomson, Anuj Dal, Mark Watt, Sam Conners, Ben Aitchison, Nick Potts, Mitch Wagstaff.
Last time out:
Aside from a rained-off encounter in 2014, these two sides haven’t met in List A cricket since 2013 when Essex ran out victors by 107 runs in a 40-over match at Castle Park.
The game was significant as overseas star Gautam Gambhir made his debut for Essex, opening the batting and scoring 21 runs. Batting first, Essex eventually made 259 thanks to a superb 88 from Ravi Bopara.
With the ball, Tymal Mills then removed both Derbyshire openers early before Reece Topley took 4/26 to bowl the opposition out for 152. Billy Godleman, after leaving Essex the year before, top scored for Derbyshire with 60.
This will be the 50th time the two sides have met in List A cricket. Essex have won 31 times and Derbyshire have won 12, with six no results.
Essex’s highest score came in 2008 when they scored 304-1 thanks to centuries from Ravi Bopara and Jason Gallian. Bopara’s 112 in that match was also the highest score by an Essex player against Derbyshire in List A cricket.
With the ball, Neil Foster has Essex’s best figures with 5/17 in the John Player Special League in 1986.
How To Watch:
A free live stream of the game will be available on Essex Cricket TV on YouTube. It can also be accessed via The Essex Cricket Matchzone, which includes player stats, scorecards and clips throughout the game.
The broadcast can be accessed via the Essex Cricket Matchzone here.
Tickets
Tickets for tomorrow’s game are still available and can be purchased in advance online or at the gate. Adult tickets purchased in advance are £5 cheaper than at the gate. Advanced ticket prices are from £15 for Adults, £10 for Students and Young Adults and £5 for Juniors. Essex County Cricket Club Members are able to attend home Royal London Cup matches free of charge.
If you can only make the second innings, tickets purchased at the gate can be bought at a discounted rate if you purchase them after the interval. Prices range from £12 for Adults and £5 for Students and Young Adults to £1 for Juniors.
