Essex Men v Gloucestershire Men
Metro Bank One Day Cup
Ambassador Cruise Line Ground | Chelmsford
Sunday 24 August 2025 | 11am start
Team News
Essex Men: Robin Das, Matt Critchley, Tom Westley (C), Charlie Allison, Luc Benkenstein, Curtis Campher, Simon Harmer, Simon Fernandes (WK), Shane Snater, Charlie Bennett, Jamie Porter.
Gloucestershire Men: Cameron Bancroft, James Bracey (WK), Ollie Price, Ben Charlesworth Jack Taylor (C), Miles Hammond, Graeme Van Buuren, Tommy Boorman, Zaman Akhter, Daz Ahmed, Matt Taylor.
Match Details
Umpires: Paul Baldwin & Mohammed Waseem
Match Referee: James Whittaker
Scorers: Paul Parkinson & Adrian Bull
Toss: Essex won the toss and elected to bat
Result: Essex Men won by 130 runs
Match Reaction: Tom Westley
Match Highlights
Match Report
Tom Westley extended his purple patch with a well-crafted 92 as Essex inflicted Gloucestershire’s first defeat of the Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign, strengthening their own bid for a knockout place.
The Essex captain has now amassed 443 runs in seven innings in this season’s competition, including a century and three fifties. Combined with three red-ball hundreds in June and July, he has scored 905 runs in just two months. His latest innings spanned 103 balls and featured eight boundaries.
Gloucestershire had already secured a knockout berth – and still await confirmation of whether they progress straight to the semi-finals as Group A winners – but after six successive wins this was a subdued display. Chasing 290, they were bowled out for 159 with 89 balls unused, Matt Critchley accelerating Essex’s 130-run victory with 3/27.
Essex had looked set for a bigger total while Westley was at the crease. At 182-2 they were well placed, but collapsed to 289 all out, losing eight wickets in 15 overs as Gloucestershire’s spinners exploited turn on a worn Chelmsford pitch. Captain Jack Taylor led the way with career-best List A figures of 5/61.
James Bracey, like Westley prolific in the competition with 431 runs from his first six innings, offered Gloucestershire’s main resistance. His dismissal for 37, heaving Simon Harmer across the line at 77/4, opened the floodgates.
Earlier, Bracey had been untroubled by the early loss of partner Cameron Bancroft, caught behind off Jamie Porter, and struck Shane Snater for a fine six over square leg. But he inadvertently ran out Ollie Price when a straight drive deflected onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end. From there, Gloucestershire unravelled.
Ben Charlesworth briefly counter-attacked with a straight six off Westley before holing out next ball. Jack Taylor soon followed, edging Luc Benkenstein to short third man, and at 88-5 the contest was all but over. Graeme van Buuren prodded at Westley to be caught behind, Miles Hammond’s careful 30 ended when Critchley bowled him through the gate, and the leg-spinner struck twice more in quick succession to remove Tommy Boorman and Zaman Akhtar.
Earlier, Matt Taylor had made the initial breakthrough for Gloucestershire, drawing Robin Das into an edge behind to Bracey from a green-tinged surface used throughout Essex’s home campaign. But Westley then dominated, adding 103 with Critchley and 75 with Charlie Allison to put Essex in command.
Critchley’s fluent 64 from 66 balls ended lbw to Ollie Price, and Allison’s enterprising 40 was cut short by Jack Taylor, triggering a collapse. Luc Benkenstein and Curtis Campher soon followed, before Westley’s 135-minute vigil was ended by one from van Buuren that kept low.
Some late hitting from Harmer, including two huge sixes in a rapid 50 from 36 balls, pushed Essex up towards 300, but he and Charlie Bennett both holed out as Jack Taylor wrapped up the innings.
