Northamptonshire v Essex
LV= Insurance County Championship
The County Ground, Northampton
Tuesday 26 – Friday 29 September | 10:30am start
Essex undertake their final act of the season when they travel to Northamptonshire for the concluding round of the 2023 County Championship.
A dramatic and gut-wrenching defeat to Hampshire in their last match means that the Eagles head to the East Midlands 20 points behind leaders and defending champions Surrey.
While that gap does not mean the title is decided, a quite dramatic shift would now be required not just in Northampton, but also Southampton, where Surrey are playing their final game, to dethrone the Brown Caps.
In any event, a second-placed finish would still represent a memorable season for Anthony McGrath’s side, and there will, as ever, be more than just pride on the line over the upcoming four days.
Squad:
Head Coach Anthony McGrath has named an 14-strong group to travel to Northampton which is unchanged from the Hampshire encounter.
Dan Lawrence is named in an Essex squad for the final time before he departs in the upcoming off-season.
The Opposition:
Northamptonshire squad: Luke Procter (c), Hassan Azad, Justin Broad, Emilio Gay, Rob Keogh, Simon Kerrigan, Lewis McManus, Karun Nair, Alex Russell, Ben Sanderson, Tom Taylor, Jack White, Saif Zaib
While Northamptonshire did their bit last week in their fight against the drop by impressively holding Surrey to a draw at the Kia Oval, results elsewhere conspired against them and as a result, they have already been officially relegated ahead of this week’s match.
That early sealing of their fate has come about as a result of winning just one match so far this season, back in April against Middlesex, and picking up only seven batting bonus points, fewer than half of the next-highest tally of 15, held by Nottinghamshire.
John Sadler’s side had a slightly more competitive time of it in the white-ball arena this summer, although fell short of any knockout stage appearances, with sixth-placed group-stage finishes in both the Metro Bank One Day Cup and the Vitality Blast.
Key Battle – Tom Westley v Jack White:
Last Time We Met:
Quirkily, this match is taking place exactly a year to the days that these teams last locked horns, with their 2022 fixture taking place from 26 September too, and on that occasion, Essex prevailed in thrilling fashion.
Rain interrupted the first afternoon and the second morning in Northampton, but there was enough time in the remainder of the game for the Eagles to secure a 47-run win after the hosts folded in their second innings.
Both sides’ first innings, with Essex having first dig after being put in, were very much the Ben Allison show, as the all-rounder’s 69 was the top score in the visitors’ total of 263, before he went on to claim 5/32 and a run-out in establishing a first-innings lead of 163.
The pendulum did swing somewhat after the Eagles’ batting efforts the second time around, bowled out for 110 as Jack White claimed 6/38 to set up a tricky but achievable victory chase of 211 for his side.
However, as he has done on so many occasions over the past seven seasons, Simon Harmer came to the fore late in the game, matching White’s haul in taking 6/49 himself as the hosts collapsed from 62-1 to 163 all out.
That exactly matched their first-innings score and handed McGrath’s men a narrow win that saw them finish the Division One season in a comfortable fourth, two places ahead of Northants.
Division One Standings:
How To Watch:
For anyone not travelling to Northampton to watch in person, the game will be streamed live via the hosts, and will be available to watch on the Essex Cricket Matchzone.
Highlights will be available after each day’s play via the Club website, while live updates will also be provided across the Essex Cricket social media channels.
Tickets:
Entry to the County Ground is priced at £15 per day for adults and £5 per day for under-18s.
Anyone making the trip up to the East Midlands can purchase tickets from the Northamptonshire website by visiting the link below:
