Essex v Worcestershire
Rothesay County Championship
Ambassador Cruise Line Ground, Chelmsford
Friday 18 – Monday 21 April | 11am start
Following on from a gruelling draw at Trent Bridge, Essex welcome Worcestershire to Chelmsford, in hope of claiming the first victory of the season.
In the last round of County Championship fixtures, Essex and Nottinghamshire shook hands on a well-contested draw at Trent Bridge, with Essex taking 14 points.
After winning the toss and electing to bowl first, the Essex bowling attack came out flying, making an electric start and reducing Notts to 78-5 by the Lunch break. However, a stern rearguard effort from Notts’ overseas player, Kyle Verreynne, brought the hosts to 212-6 by Tea. The South African wicketkeeper-batter continued his resistance and ended the day unbeaten on 111, with his side reaching 328-8 at stumps on Day 1.
A persevering performance from the Essex bowlers saw Sam Cook claim four wickets at under two runs per over in the first innings whilst Shane Snater took three, Jamie Porter two, and Matt Critchley chipped in with one.
In Nottinghamshire’s second innings, the wickets were shared on what was a good pitch for batting. Porter, Snater, Simon Harmer, and Noah Thain took two each, while Cook and Critchley claimed one apiece as Notts posted 385. This left Essex needing 366 to win on Day 4, with just two sessions remaining.
Paul Walter and Tom Westley remained not out on 41 and 28 respectively, as both sides shook hands at 5pm.
Squad
Chris Silverwood has named a 13-player squad for our second home match of the season, with the additions of Jamal Richards and new signing Kasun Rajitha. Sam Cook will miss this match at the request of England.
Dean Elgar has been given an extended period of time with his family since the birth of his twin children and could be in contention for the next County Championship fixture against Somerset.
New Eagle: Kasun Rajitha
The Opposition
Worcestershire have begun their 2025 Rothesay County Championship campaign with a draw and a loss against Somerset and Yorkshire. These results leave them 9th in the table with 12 points as they head into their clash with Essex.
The Pears will be aiming to bounce back from their defeat at Headingley and secure their first victory of the season against an Essex side also searching for a maiden win.
New signing and former Eagle Ben Allison returns to Chelmsford, having made his move permanent in September last year. During his loan spell with the Pears last season, Allison took seven wickets at an average of 20.28 and will be looking to spearhead the Worcestershire attack against his former club. He’ll also be facing his brother, Charlie, for the first time on the professional circuit.
Worcestershire squad: Brett D’Oliveria (c), Fateh Singh, Jake Libby, Matthew Waite, Ed Pollock, Gareth Roderick (wk), Tom Taylor, Kashif Ali, Jacob Duffy, Adam Hose, Adam Finch, Ben Allison, Ethan Brookes, Rob Jones.
Last Time We Met
Sam Cook completing a four-wicket haul on the final morning of last year’s County Championship clash with Worcestershire was not enough to save the Eagles from a gut-wrenchingly narrow 43-run defeat.
Cook claimed the two Pears wickets that were required within Day 4’s first five overs, ending the visitors’ second innings on 321, to set up a chase of 184 for victory.
However, despite a confident start that at one point saw Essex 53-1, an almighty Worcestershire fightback dismissed the hosts for 140, with Robin Das’s 32 the top score.
Cook finished with figures of 4/23 as he removed Tom Taylor, caught behind by Michael Pepper for 17, and last man Amar Virdi, caught and bowled for two, to wrap up the Worcestershire innings early on.
Das and captain Tom Westley then made a confident start to the chase, with the former overcoming the loss of opening partner Elgar, pinned lbw by Joe Leach, to guide the Eagles past 50.
It was at that point, however, that the chase began to slip from the hosts’ grasp, as Westley, Das, and Jordan Cox all fell before lunch to leave Essex 75-4, still 109 away from winning.
Das’ dismissal was the most exceptionally unlucky of the three, run out backing up after Brett D’Oliveira, fielding at short mid-off, had deflected Cox’s drive off Logan van Beek onto the stumps.
Although Pepper and Simon Harmer fought back in the afternoon with a partnership of 38 following the further dismissals of Matt Critchley and Paul Walter, the latter’s wicket for 19 precipitated the end.
Pepper followed three overs later, and although last pair Cook and Jamie Porter held out for as long as they could, the Pears wrapped up a surprise win midway through the afternoon.
Division One Table
How To Watch
If you are unable to attend any of the match days, the game will be available to watch via the Essex Cricket Matchzone, through the YouTube livestream.
Daily highlights will be available after each day’s play via the Club website and social media. Live updates will also be provided through the Club’s various social platforms and channels.
Tickets
Members of both counties are free to sit in any available and vacant seat, though the Doug Insole Pavilion benches and blocks 1-14 and 27-31 are reserved specifically for member’s use only.
Should you want have access to Member’s areas during a matchday, we have the ‘Adult Member Area Upgrade’ available at an extra cost to general admission.
Meanwhile, general admission tickets are priced at £16.00 for adults, while young adults aged between 18 and 25 can buy at any time for £12.00 and under-18 tickets cost just £6.00.
Please note that individual adult tickets will rise in price to £20.00 if bought on the day.
Tickets can be purchased by calling 01245 254010.
