Yorkshire v Essex
LV= Insurance County Championship
Headingley, Leeds
Monday 12 – Thursday 15 September
10:30am start
After dodging the rain to record a remarkable and record-breaking victory over Kent at Canterbury, Essex travel to Leeds hoping to back up an excellent team performance.
The win strengthened Essex’s position in the Division One of the LV= Insurance County Championship, opening a 25-point gap between them and 5th place Northamptonshire, who lost to Hampshire.
Essex are currently 30 points behind Lancashire, who occupy 3rd place, but have a game in hand and the two sides are due to meet for the final game of the season hosted at Chelmsford.
Squad:
There is just one change to the squad which headed to Canterbury last week. Paul Walter continues to nurse a shoulder injury that kept him out of last week’s win and he is replaced by Robin Das in the group of 13.
Simon Harmer is currently with the South Africa Test squad and unavailable for selection in this fixture.
The Opposition:
Yorkshire made a strong start to the season but their performances with the red-ball have dropped off and they find themselves in 6th place in the Division One table on 129 points.
They haven’t won a game after beating Gloucestershire on the opening fixture of the season and while their seven draws should have earned them enough points to avoid being drawn into a relegation battle, they will want to finish the season as they started it.
Harry Brook has been a revelation with the bat for Yorkshire for a number of years, but has turned promise into runs this season, scoring 967 runs at an astonishing average of 107.44. However, he has joined Joe Root in the England Test squad. Adam Lyth has scored 626 runs at 42.38 and a lot will be required of him in their absence.
Young all-rounder Jordan Thompson has impressed in all formats of the game but has done a job for Yorkshire with the new ball this season, taking 37 wickets. Spinner Dom Bess is their other bowler to take more than 30 wickets.
Last time out:
The two sides last met at Chelmsford in May, where they played out a draw as Alastair Cook scored two centuries in a match for the first time and Walter scored his maiden first-class ton.
Batting first, Essex lost Browne early and when Bess struck to remove Westley, they were 56-2. That brought Cook and Walter together, who combined for a 174-run third-wicket partnership and laid the foundations for a large first innings score.
After bringing up their centuries, a succession of wickets fell before Harmer chipped in with a half-century of his own to see Essex past 400.
Sam Cook and Snater then reduced Yorkshire to 81-3 at the end of Day Two, with Essex hoping to make early inroads on Day Three and maintain pressure. However, the international duo of Root and Malan thwarted Essex, before Brook struck a spectacular hundred to see Yorkshire to 465.
With Essex needing to bat out the remainder of Day Four for a draw, Cook and Browne cashed in on the opportunity to score runs on a friendly wicket. Essex finished 167-0, Cook having notched his second hundred of the match and Browne reaching a fifty of his own.
How To Watch:
A free live stream of the game will be provided 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, courtesy of our hosts, Yorkshire – here.
