The Principal Partnership between Essex Cricket and Cloud, which includes the naming rights to the Club’s Chelmsford home, comes to an end today.
Cloud, both in their current guise and under their previous name of Cloudfm, held the naming rights to the ground for eight seasons, the joint-longest naming rights partnership in the Club’s history.
That coincided with one of the most successful times in Essex history, as the Eagles lifted four trophies, including a historic double in 2019, while playing their home matches at The Cloud County Ground.
In honour of that and as Club-wide thank you to Cloud for their support over almost a decade, this is a look back on an over of the most memorable moments at the venue since the beginning of 2017.
1) Middlesex felled by Harmer brilliance, 2017
It’s hard to overstate Simon Harmer’s impact at Essex, and he emphatically announced himself and his considerable talents to the Chelmsford faithful with this display of wizardry in his debut season.
In a day/night clash and despite a second-day washout, Essex dominated the Seaxes, and towards the conclusion of the penultimate day, the Eagles declared their first innings on 542-3, leading by 296.
That left them a day to bowl the visitors out once more, although Nick Compton’s stubborn 120 was the source of much frustration as the overs ticked down and the floodlights went on.
However, the irrepressible Harmer produced a sparkling performance to collect innings figures of 9/95, and he claimed the winning scalp in stunningly dramatic fashion, with just eight balls to spare.
2) Eagles crush Yorkshire to go unbeaten, 2017
Three months on, the all-conquering Eagles had steamrolled towards a first County Championship title in 25 years, but had one more clash to negotiate before they could lift the trophy.
The last visitors of the 2017 season to CM2 were Yorkshire, but any notion that the White Rose would put a dampener on the celebrations were emphatically dispelled as Essex won by 376 runs.
Yorkshire were twice skittled, first for 111 as Harmer, Sam Cook, and Jamie Porter all took three wickets apiece, and then – chasing an improbable 451 – for just 74, as Cook returned figures of 5/20.
It gave the Eagles the additional honour of becoming just the second county champions in history to go through a full season without defeat.
3) Delport pulverises Surrey, 2019
While Essex may have lifted three red-ball trophies during the partnership with Cloud, there was also the small matter of a Vitality Blast win in 2019 too.
The signs that something special might be about to befall the Eagles that year were there from the start, as in the first home game of the campaign, Cameron Delport thrashed a barely-believable 129*.
Coming in just 49 balls after rain had reduced the match to 15 overs per side, Delport’s knock stunned the visiting Surrey bowlers, with all but one of their six-strong attack conceding more than 12 per over.
He struck three figures in just 38 balls, leading the Eagles to a mammoth 226-5, before Matt Quinn and Shane Snater shared five wickets to hold Surrey to a comparatively paltry 174-7.
4) Blast knockouts follow tense Battle of the Bridge win, 2019
Essex may have started the campaign in stunning fashion, but when crunch time of the group stage hit, the Eagles needed to dig deep – and thank fate – to get over the line.
Delport again starred, striking 64 as the hosts posted 189-6, before a sterling bowling performance, in which four members of the attack all took at least two wickets, bowled the Spitfires out for 179.
Essex’s biggest rivals were threatening to spoil any hopes of progression at 150-3 in the 16th over, but the dismissal of Zak Crawley for 89 sparked a remarkable collapse of 7/29 to see the Eagles through.
What’s more, had Hampshire not slipped up against basement side Glamorgan, the Eagles would still have been out – but thankfully, the Welsh side eked out a 28-run win, and the rest is now history…
5) Huge victory puts Essex on title brink, 2019
Surrey may have lifted the Championship trophy in 2018, but by the following year, they were utterly demolished by a rampant Essex, who were bent on reclaiming the title they had won two years prior.
In the penultimate game of the season, the Eagles secured victory by an innings and 40 runs to put themselves in the box seat ahead of a crucial decider away to Somerset the week after.
Twin five-fors from Porter and Cook rattled Surrey out for just 174, before Essex racked up a first-innings lead of 221; after that, Harmer again did his usual to take 7/58 and again skittle the Brown Caps for 181.
There was the small matter of a Blast Finals Day at Edgbaston to deal with first, but the huge victory meant that Essex headed to Taunton needing just a draw to guarantee the crown.
6) Perfect performance seals One Day Cup semi-final, 2021
Four years after Essex had crushed Yorkshire to crown off a Championship-winning season, the Eagles again thrashed the White Rose with a complete performance.
Having finished second to Durham in Group A of the competition, Essex’s reward was a home tie against the side who had finished third in Group B.
Josh Rymell’s hundred from the top of the order, alongside contributions from Tom Westley, Paul Walter, and Adam Wheater, saw the Eagles rack up an impressive 317-7.
In reply, Westley and Jack Plom each took three wickets as the visitors were bowled out for 188, with only Matthew Revis passing 40, sealing safe passage to the last four.
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