Essex Eagles v Glamorgan
Royal London Cup
The Cloud County Ground
Sunday 14 August
11am start
After a series of impressive performances from Essex’s up-and-coming players, the senior contingent rose to the occasion on Thursday as the Eagles hammered their local rivals at Chelmsford.
Tom Westley’s century laid the foundations for a big first innings total before Shane Snater combined a brilliant performance in the field with career-best List A figures of 5/29 to subject Kent Spitfires to a 182-run defeat.
These two sides last met in the Semi-Final of last year’s competition and Sunday’s fixture will be another crucial encounter as the Eagles look to gain momentum in the Royal London Cup group stages.
Squad:
One change has been made to the squad for tomorrow’s game with new Overseas signing Raymond Toole coming in for the injured Jamie Porter.
Click here to read more about the signing of Raymond Toole and here for more information about the injury to Jamie Porter.
The Opposition:
Glamorgan clinched their first piece of silverware for 17 years when they won last year’s edition of the Royal London Cup.
After a strong group stage showing saw them finish top of Group 2, they beat Essex in the Semi-Finals before easing past Durham in the final.
The hero of the 2021 Final was captain Kiran Carlson, who scored 82 from 59 balls to guide Glamorgan to a winning total, and he has been seeing the ball well this season, scoring 154 runs at an average of 38.5. Leading run-scorer Colin Ingram has picked up 194 runs at 48.25, but Glamorgan will be hoping for the form of Sam Northeast to improve, the batter has only made one score of more than 10 in the opening four games.
Jamie McIlroy has led the way with the ball for the Welsh County with five wickets. However, his participation is in doubt after picking up a hamstring injury against Yorkshire Vikings and missing Friday’s game against Northamptonshire.
Also in doubt is Chris Cooke who has only managed one game in this year’s competition after failing a fitness test, while Tim van der Gugten is absent due to his participation in the Hundred.
Last time out:
The last meeting between Essex and Glamorgan in List A cricket came at Sophia Gardens in last year’s Royal London Cup Semi-Final.
After being inserted into bat, Alastair Cook and Josh Rymell got the Eagles off to the perfect start with an opening partnership of 111 before Steven Reingold picked up Cook for 68.
Despite Essex’s top five all getting in, no one was able to go on and get the big score as a steady flow of wickets saw them fall from 225-3 to 289 all out.
In Glamorgan’s response, a punchy 67 from Hamish Rutherford set them on track and contributions from Nick Selman (59) and Kiran Carlson (36) took them to 156-2.
However, a small collapse triggered by two wickets for Tom Westley saw them slip to 182-5 before an assured partnership between Tom Cullen and Joe Cooke guided Glamorgan over the line.
The two sides have played 66 times in List A cricket, with Essex winning 35 times and Glamorgan 21. There have been nine no results and one incredible tied match in 1994.
In that fixture, an Essex side packed full of familiar names faced Glamorgan at Southchuch Park in Southend. Graham Gooch, opening the batting with John Stephenson, scored 101 and contributions from Nick Knight and Nasser Hussain at numbers three and four helped Essex to 214-7 in their 40 overs.
In response, Glamorgan got off to a solid start thanks to Hugh Morris and Phillip Cottey, but Michael Kasprowicz, Peter Such and John Stephenson picked up two wickets each to pin Glamorgan back.
Despite some resistance from Ottis Gibson, Glamorgan continued to limp towards the line before, incredibly, two late run outs saw the game end in a tie as Steve Barwick was run out from the final ball of the innings with the scores level.
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.
How To Watch:
A free live stream of the game will be available via Essex Cricket TV on YouTube. It can be accessed through The Essex Cricket Matchzone, which includes player stats, scorecards and clips throughout the game.
Keep up to speed with proceedings with the Essex Cricket Matchzone here.
