Essex welcomes Ireland’s Men’s side to The Cloud County Ground on Friday where the teams will meet in a three-day first-class fixture.
The match will serve as preparation for Ireland’s 4-Day Test match at Lord’s from June 1-4.
Ireland return to Chelmsford after their recent three-match ODI series against Bangladesh earlier this month. The first match was abandoned before the Bangladeshis claimed narrow victories in the remaining two matches winning with three balls to spare and then by 5 runs in the third contest.
During the series of matches, the ‘Men in Green’ showed they have a squad brimming with talent with some impressive individual performances with both bat and ball.
Richard Holdsworth, High Performance Director for Cricket Ireland, expressed his delight with the fixture at Chelmsford.
“A key addition to our playing schedule in 2023 is our return to red-ball cricket, and we would like to thank Essex County Cricket Club and the ECB for hosting us for a first-class fixture in the lead-up to our Test match at Lord’s,” he said.
Essex has previously met Ireland on four occasions although all were in One-Day matches. In 1997, the intended clash at Downpatrick in the Benson & Hedges Cup was abandoned due to rain without a ball bowled.
The following season and again in the B&H Cup, Essex entertained Ireland at Chelmsford winning by 171 runs after posting a mammoth 359 for 7 from their 50 overs. The chief run-scorer was Darren Robinson who struck 114, whilst main support was provided by Nasser Hussain (71) and Ronnie Irani (69). Ireland had reached 188 for 7 when their innings closed as Neil Williams and Paul Grayson shared 4 wickets.
The next meeting was in 2006 however this time in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy. The match produced another comprehensive success for the county side as Ireland were dismissed for 192 with Ryan ten Doeschate returning 4/49 from 9 overs. In reply, despite Essex losing opener Irani without a run on the board, Alastair Cook and Grant Flower cruised to a second wicket stand worth 163 runs before Flower departed for 61. There were no further incursions as Essex enjoyed a winning margin of 8 wickets with Cook 90 not out.
A year on in 2007 and Essex returned from the match in Dublin having recorded a 7-wicket success in the Friends’ Provident Trophy. The hosts had scored 227 for 5, their highest List A total against Essex, but a third wicket partnership worth 180 between Irani and Ravi Bopara took the county to the brink of victory. Bopara was eventually dismissed for a run-a-ball 101 that included 2 sixes and 12 fours leaving captain Irani, who opened the innings and posted an unbeaten 90, to collect the remaining two runs needed to complete victory.
