Your votes have awarded Matt Critchley the Player of the Match for Essex’s first home Vitality County Championship game of 2024 against Kent at The Cloud County Ground this week.
Critchley, who became the first Essex player since Graham Napier in 2016 to claim five wickets and hit a century in the same First-Class match, received 51.9% of votes in the poll on Essex Cricket’s X page.
Jordan Cox finished second with 33.2% after hitting a whirlwind 85-ball ton himself, while Jamie Porter, who returned match figures of 6-91, and fellow centurion Dean Elgar took 9.3% and 5.6%, respectively.
Critchley’s unbeaten first-innings 151, which came off 212 balls and included five fours and four sixes, helped the Eagles rack up a total of 530-7 declared.
He then matched Napier’s showing from eight years ago, which came against Sussex at Colchester, by claiming figures of 5-105 in Kent’s first innings with his leg-breaks.
The all-rounder is now third in the Eagles’ run-scoring charts and, alongside captain Tom Westley, is one of only two players to have hit more than 1,000 first-class runs for the Club in the past 12 months.
Meanwhile, he is also third in the wicket-taking ranks, behind only opening bowlers Jamie Porter and Sam Cook, and is the only player to feature in the top ten of both lists across the entire Championship.
The Eagles Have Landed: The 2024 Vitality Blast at The Cloud County Ground
Fresh from a Finals Day appearance last summer, Essex return to shortest-format action in Chelmsford from Sunday 02 June.
Demand remains exceptionally high, and there is now just one Friday night fixture with availability remaining, the visit of Glamorgan to The Cloud County Ground on 07 June.
With the Eagles aiming to go one better in 2024, there is no time to waste to snap up your seats.
Sunday 02 June, 4:00pm: Essex v Middlesex – buy here
Friday 07 June, 7:00pm: Essex v Glamorgan – buy here (LAST FEW TICKETS)
Friday 14 June, 7:00pm: Essex v Sussex Sharks – SOLD OUT
Thursday 20 June, 7:00pm: Essex v Hampshire Hawks – buy here
Friday 05 July, 7:00pm: Essex v Somerset – SOLD OUT
Thursday 11 July, 7:00pm: Essex v Kent Spitfires – buy here
Sunday 14 July, 2:30pm: Essex v Surrey – buy here
