Essex Eagles look to return to winning ways when Sussex Sharks visit in a Day/Night Royal London One-Day Cup contest at The Cloudfm County Ground on Wednesday with play scheduled to start at 2pm.
The Eagles suffered their first defeat in this year’s competition by the narrowest of margins when Glamorgan ended a three-match unbeaten run with a one-run victory.
Essex have won five of their last six games against Sussex, including a five-wicket win when these teams met in June last year.
The Sharks arrive in a positive frame of mind having earned a six-wicket win in their last away fixture, thus ending an eight-game losing streak on the road.
However the Eagles have been dealt a blow with the news that Overseas fast bowler Neil Wagner will miss the remaining group matches after being called into the New Zealand squad who are in Ireland for a Triangular series with the host nation plus Bangladesh.
Although he was not selected for the Black Caps party to contest the Champions Trophy, he has linked up with them as an injury replacement and that means he could be unavailable for Essex until the end of the three-nation series which concludes on May 24th.
The Eagles have named a 14-man squad for Wednesday’s match with paceman Matt Quinn returning after being rested last weekend.
Sunday’s defeat in Wales saw the Eagles drop down one place into third position in the South Group. The two Group winners automatically earn their place in the semi-final whilst the counties finishing the 8-match group stages in second and third positions contest two quarter-finals.
Eagles Head Coach Chris Silverwood acknowledged that the game with Glamorgan was superb for the fans. “It was a real nail-biter but I’m disappointed that we couldn’t maintain our 100 per cent record in the competition particularly when I felt we were well placed with 10 overs to go,” he said.
“You have to acknowledge the innings that Colin Ingram played, we’ve seen time and again that he is a very good player and that he can take a game away from you very quickly. He was outstanding but I was delighted with the century from Varun (Chopra) whilst Ravi (Bopara) was also playing well until his unfortunate dismissal.
“Still, we’ve won three of our first four games and at the moment, we are in a very good position going into the remaining four very important matches over the next week or so.
“Obviously it is a blow losing Neil Wagner because he’s fitted in so well and done a good job for us. We’ve seen that he’s a good bowler who gets wickets. But we do have capable options and it presents an opportunity for one someone to step up and take their chance.
“You are always going to lose players at some stage through the season whether that be through call-ups or injuries and that’s why you need a decent squad to compensate for that.”
Essex Eagles squad:
Varun Chopra (6) (Ilford)
Nick Browne (10) (South Woodford)
Simon Harmer (11)
Tom Westley (21) (Mildenhall)
Paul Walter (22) (Billericay)
Ravi Bopara (25) (Hainault & Clayhall)
Alastair Cook (26) (Maldon)
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) (Harwich) Captain
Dan Lawrence (28) (Chingford)
Adam Wheater (31) (Woodford Wells) Wicket Keeper
Jamie Porter (44) (Chingford)
Callum Taylor (67) (Swardeston)
Matt Quinn (94)
Ashar Zaidi (99) (Ilford)
Sussex Sharks squad: Luke Wright (C), Jofra Archer (22), Will Beer (18), Danny Briggs (21), Michael Burgess, Laurie Evans (32), Harry Finch (6), George Garton (27), Chris Nash (23), Ajmal Shahzad (4), Jerome Taylor (75), Stiaan van Zyl (74), David Wiese (96).
