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Tomorrow’s game against local rivals Kent, which gets underway at 11am, sees Essex back in Division One, a league they’ve dominated in recent years. The 2022 LV= Insurance County Championship also signals the return of the two-division First-Class structure last used in 2019.

Alongside Essex and Kent in Divison One are last year’s Champions Warwickshire and runners-up Lancashire. Joining them are the pair of teams from the South West, Somerset and Gloucestershire as well as Surrey, Yorkshire and Northamptonshire.

The team will be looking to continue their strong form from the end of last season when they beat Northamptonshire in record time to claim the Division Two title.

Squad:

Essex are well-placed after a shrewd off-season of recruitment. The Club added three high-profile names to their squad with Overseas seamer Mark Steketee joining leg-spinning allrounder Matt Critchley and wicket-keeper batter Adam Rossington.

Jamie Porter has recovered from a niggle he sustained during pre-season and after a successful run-out against Middlesex at Merchant Taylors’ School is available for selection.

The squad also received a boost earlier this week with the return of Dan Lawrence from England’s tour of the West Indies, where he furthered his reputation as one of the country’s leading young batters.

Simon Harmer, however, will miss the opening two games of the season while he is with the South Africa test team.

View from the squad:

Our Opposition:

Kent finished last season at the top of Division Three, winning all four games in the Division after going winless in their 10 Group 3 fixtures.

45-year-old Darren Stevens is included in the Kent squad and will play in his 26th season of First-Class cricket. He is joined by Kent’s Overseas recruit Jackson Bird and new signing Ben Compton.

Kent will be without England opener Zac Crawley and Vice-Captain Jack Leaning. Crawley sits out after a discussion with team management, whilst Leaning hasn’t yet fully recovered from injury but will travel with the rest of the squad. Sam Billings is also unavailable whilst he plays in the IPL.

Two ex-Essex players will be present at The Cloud County Ground as Matt Quinn makes the Kent squad and Tendo makes an early return to the ground where he retired just a matter of months ago. Over the winter he signed with Kent as their First XI Batting Coach.

Kent Squad: Ollie Robinson (Captain & Wicket Keeper), Daniel Bell-Drummond, Jackson Bird, Ben Compton, Jordan Cox, Joe Denly, Nathan Gilchrist, Matt Milnes, Tawanda Muyeye, Hamidullah Qadri, Matt Quinn, Darren Stevens, Grant Stewart.

Last time out:

The last time two team’s faced in red-ball cricket was in August 2020 in the Bob Willis Trophy. Viewers were treated to a classic as Essex snuck home to win by two wickets.

After conceding a first-innings deficit of 89, Essex bundled Kent out for 112 in the second innings with Harmer taking 4 wickets. Essex chased the 201 runs needed to win for the loss of 8 wickets, Alastair Cook hitting 65 and Adam Wheater and Sam Cook seeing the team home with a ninth-wicket partnership of 31.

How To Watch:

Our Live Stream service will be available across all four days of this game from 10:30am, which also includes player stats, scorecards and clips throughout the day.

The broadcast can be accessed via the Essex Cricket TV YouTube channel or Essex Cricket Matchzone here.

The Club are sad to hear about the death of lifelong supporter, Brian Kemp who passed away on 24 March, aged 89.

Brian was a long-time member of the Club’s Committee, past Chair of The Boundary Club and the driving force behind the founding of the Club’s Peter Edwards Museum and Library in 2006.

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Brian during this time.

For the upcoming 2022 LV= Insurance County Championship season, PCA have partnered up with the Cricket Draft to launch the ultimate fantasy cricket game for fans, with some of Essex’s star players being among the top picks!

The free to play game equips you with a budget of £1.5m to pick your squad of 15 players (minimum) to select a starting XI from each game week, which you will use to earn points through them performing well in real-life fixtures, to battle against mates and other Essex supporters.

Essex players are already being acknowledged by the current player base; with many of the Essex players being among some of the most picked players in the entire game. Alastair Cook is one of the main batter picks with 24% of all players choosing him for their teams at the top of the order.

In addition, two of our quality bowling attack back up Alastair as main picks, including 2021 DeVines Player of the Year, Sam Cook being selected by 22% of game players, which saw him take 58 wickets in 13 matches last year at an average of 14.43.

Simon Harmer is also a popular choice, who is the 2nd most picked player behind Darren Stevens. This comes after another impressive season last year, which saw him achieve career-best stats of 9-80 against Derbyshire. Harmer has taken 308 first-class wickets in five seasons since his arrival in county cricket.

Furthermore, the ultimate fantasy cricket game has touted Paul Walter as a good wildcard option as he looks to fill the boots in the middle of left by Ryan ten Doeschate. This is due to his incredible last 12 months in an Essex shirt, scoring 631 runs at 37.11 and being an option when bowling, so could be a worthy choice at a very good, low price of £74,000.

The excitement is building for the new season with many of the Essex squad featuring in the game’s top picks. Shane Snater is the game’s ‘One to Watch’ after a string of impressive bowling performances last season, taking 31 wickets in 9 games last season with an average of 16.48.

>> Sign up here

Essex County Cricket Club are pleased to welcome Adam Rossington to the Club after signing on a season-long loan from Northamptonshire.

The 28-year-old met his new teammates ahead of the Club’s Media Day on Monday morning and was excited to be making the move to Chelmsford on the eve of the new season.

Rossington said: “The move came about quickly and it’s great to make the move to Essex before the season gets underway.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing at Chelmsford and I hope I can make valuable contributions alongside this talented group of players in both red and white-ball formats.”

The wicket-keeper-batter will be available for selection for Thursday’s opening match of the LV= Insurance County Championship against Kent at The Cloud County Ground.

Head Coach, Anthony McGrath, said: “I’m delighted to bring someone of Adam’s quality to the Club ahead of the new season.

“We’ve already seen the wealth of talent in the squad during our pre-season programme, but we wanted to secure Adam’s services when the opportunity presented itself.

“The signing will give us more options over the course of a busy summer of cricket and create some healthy competition for places which is an important factor to improving as a group and achieving success.

“He was Northants’ captain up until recently so will also bring those leadership qualities and added experience to the group, which is important, especially following the departures of experienced squad members last year.”

Chief Executive & Interim Chair, John Stephenson, added: “The Club are thriving to compete across all formats this season, so having squad depth and quality players is fundamental to providing Anthony McGrath with the tools he needs to achieve success.

“I know what Adam can bring to the Club both on and off the field from my time with him at London Spirit last year and his skill set in all formats will give the team further options during a busy and arduous season.”

Following England’s demolition of South Africa in the semi-final of the ICC Women’s World Cup, the Club wish the team the best of luck in the Final against Australia on Sunday.

Chelmsford will host a rematch of the semi-final in a 20-over clash on July 21.

The Cloud County Ground, which has been a favourable venue for the England’s women team in recent years, last hosted England v South Africa for a Women’s International T20 match in 2014.

This saw England dominate a low-scoring game, with a 9-wicket win with Charlotte Edwards hitting a match-winning knock of 62, backed up by a steady 21 not out from Sarah Taylor.

Although it was 8 years ago, key players like Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole continue to open the bowling; reinforced by Nat Sciver, current captain, Heather Knight and Danni Wyatt, who scored a 129 in the recent semi-final win.

Furthermore, South Africa will be backed
By their T20 stars for the trip to Essex this year, including Lizelle Lee, Mignon du Preez, Sune Luus, Marizanne Kapp, and captained by Dane Van Niekerk.

This International T20 comes in the middle of a busy summer for England and comes after a one-off test against South Africa.

England head to Chelmsford, following the conclusion of a three-game ODI series and is the first game of three International T20s.

All coming before starting a ‘historic’ appearance in the Commonwealth Games that is on home soil at the end of July.

Tickets for this year’s England fixture at The Cloud County Ground are on sale now. Is the Club, priced at £10 ECCC Members, £20 Adults, £16 Students/Young Adults (18-26) and £10 Juniors (U18).

As the Team begin their final pre-season game against Middlesex at Merchant Taylors’ School, the one-week countdown to the First Class season commences.

Next Thursday, Essex will begin their pursuit of the LV= Insurance County Championship Division One title against Kent.

Spectator information will be published in a match preview prior to the first day’s play and subscribers to our ‘Over&Out!’ email database will also receive match packs containing the latest news regarding the squad and highlights packages.

Tickets for the game and subsequent County Championship fixtures can be purchased via our ticketing site.

The Vitality Blast is Two Months Away

In just two months’ time, The Cloud County Ground will be filling up as the Eagles take on Hampshire Hawks in their first home Vitality Blast fixture.

The atmosphere created by the fans at Chelmsford has been well documented over the years and this looks set to continue in 2022 with over 40% of Blast tickets already sold.

Click the button below to head to our ticketing site where you can purchase tickets to watch the action unfold at Chelmsford in 2022.

Anthony McGrath has named a 12-man squad for Essex’s final pre-season fixture against Middlesex, which takes place on Thursday 31 March – Saturday 02 April at Merchant Taylor’s School.

Essex squad:

Tom Westley (C)
Alastair Cook
Nick Browne
Michael Pepper
Matt Critchley
Paul Walter
Adam Wheater (WK)
Aaron Beard
Shane Snater
Sam Cook
Ben Allison
Jamal Richards

Ahead of the game, Head Coach, Anthony McGrath, said: “Everyone is looking forward to the season getting underway now and we feel like we’re in a good place.

“The squad trained well in Abu Dhabi whilst there were also some impressive performances in the intra-squad friendly last week, which is very pleasing to see.

“It’s vital that the players use these games as a chance to find some form ahead of the first game, and that’s exactly what they’ve done so far.

“The Middlesex game will be no different. They’ll provide a strong opposition and have some exceptional players in their ranks, so it’ll be a good final test for our lads ahead of the season opener with Kent.”

The three-day friendly with Middlesex takes place at Merchant Taylors’ School, Northwood and begins at 10:30am on Thursday 31 March.

Spectators are welcome to attend the game, with no admission cost, free parking and on-site toilets facilities available. However, facilities are limited and spaces will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

There are chairs for attendees to sit on, however, it is advised that you bring your own. Please be advised that there aren’t covered spectator areas so please be prepared in the event of poor weather.

There will be no food or drinks available to purchase, so it is also advised that you come prepared with enough food and refreshments to last the day.

The County season begins on Thursday 07 April and if you haven’t got your tickets for the LV= Insurance County Championship fixture against Kent, you can secure them now by clicking here.

If you want to go one further, you can show your support for Anthony McGrath and his side by purchasing a Membership for the 2022 season. Find out more information on the packages available – here.

The ECB Girls’ Indoor School Competitions (previously known as Lady Taverners) reached an exciting conclusion with more than 300 girls provided with an opportunity to participate in cricket in a fun, friendly environment, many for the first time.

The qualifying stages of the competition got underway back in December with 17 schools represented at the U13s level and 18 at U15s.

Lauren Onojaife, from Essex Cricket in the Community, enthused: “Throughout the 13 weeks that the competition has run the standard of cricket in both age groups has been extremely high, making for some great games of cricket. Many of the games went down to the final over.

“We were lucky enough to be joined by Kelly Castle (Essex Women & Sunrisers) on our finals days, she was very impressed with the skills of the girls.”

Chelmsford County High School for Girls edged out New Hall School to take the U13 honours, while Shenfield High School piped Felsted School in another exciting contest to take claim the U15 crown

The winning schools will now go on to represent Essex in Regional Finals next month which will take place at the University of Cambridgeshire.