Essex start their season on Saturday when they face Kent in the Bob Willis Trophy at The Cloudfm County Ground.

This one-off competition replaces the County Championship, which has been shelved for this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament features all 18 first-class counties who will play in three regionalised groups. The two group winners with the most points will progress to the Final which will hopefully be played at Lord’s.

Each match will be staged over four days but for this new competition, there will be a reduction to a minimum of 90 overs in a day, whilst each sides first innings can last no longer than 120 overs. The follow-on will increase from 150 to 200 runs and the new ball will be available after 90 overs rather than 80.

The number of points on offer for a draw has been increased from 5 to 8 but all other points scoring will be the same as in the County Championship.

Essex Head coach Anthony McGrath is thrilled that county cricket is back on the scene, and said: “I’m just delighted that we do have some competitive cricket this year.

“It’s obviously disappointing that we will not be able to defend our Championship title that we won last year, but only a few weeks ago it was looking extremely unlikely that there would be any red-ball cricket for us this season.

“So the opportunity to play and challenge for a trophy is a real bonus and I think we should take the opportunity to thank everyone who has made this possible.

“It is going to be tough. We’ve had three months break and ideally, would have liked a little more time to prepare but everyone is going to be in the same position.

“We are hoping to hit the ground running with our opening two matches being at home although it will be strange playing at Chelmsford without any crowd because we do always get good support which does create an excellent atmosphere.

“The players are eager to get the season up and running, training in the last couple of weeks has been intense and the guys all look in good shape. There is a lot of competition for places amongst batters and bowlers which is always pleasing and there are places up for grabs.”

Essex will be captained by Tom Westley in red-ball cricket this year with the 31-year-old taking over the reins from Ryan ten Doeschate, who steered his side to Championship titles in 2017 and 2019.

Although ten Doeschate will still be an active member of the squad, there will be a few familiar faces missing from the Essex line-up when they embark on the new competition.

Dan Lawrence is with the England squad ahead of their Test series with Pakistan, influential pace bowler Peter Siddle is staying in Australia for this season whilst Ravi Bopara has departed to Sussex.

That leaves positions available, with McGrath adding: “The younger guys are desperate to come in and nail down a position and be a regular part of a successful squad.

“We will need to manage the squad and rotate the side and so for sure, there will be opportunities.

“The pleasing thing is that we have a depth to our squad that are able to play in pressure situations and allows us to cope with injuries and different types of wickets and selections.”

Essex squad to face Kent:

21 Tom Westley (C)
65 Ben Allison
14 Aaron Beard
10 Nick Browne
6 Varun Chopra
26 Alastair Cook
16 Sam Cook
11 Simon Harmer
23 Feroze Khushi
24 Aron Nijjar
44 Jamie Porter
94 Matt Quinn
27 Ryan ten Doeschate
31 Adam Wheater (WK)

It has been a long time coming, but finally, Essex’s cricketers will start their much-delayed 2020 season this weekend.

No one is keener to get going than Tom Westley. Appointed Captain in succession to Ryan ten Doeschate in January, he leads the County into competitive action for the first time tomorrow, behind closed doors at Chelmsford, against Kent in the inaugural Bob Willis Trophy fixture.

The 31-year-old said: “Yes, it’s been frustrating, but it’s probably been a lot less for us than many people out in the community. It’s obviously been difficult. It’s something that we hadn’t prepared for, but it is what it is. We’re just delighted to be back playing cricket.

“The Bob Willis Trophy is a unique competition. All counties have a chance of winning it. It might be the first and only time it’s played, so it would be a huge honour to win it.”

Essex aim to add the new competition to the Championship and T20 titles they won last year, but they will do so without an Overseas player, and with Ravi Bopara now settled at Sussex and Dan Lawrence missing the opening game on England duty.

Westley said: “It’s going to be slightly more challenging than it’s been in the past without those players, but we’ve got some very talented young players who are desperate to fill their shoes.

“And we’ve got some outstanding senior players, like Tendo, Cooky, Harmy, Varun Chopra. There is a lot of experience there and players who have had a lot of success. As a Club, we’re always looking to improve and build. We want this period of success to be extended.

“We’ve got a number of young batters who will probably feature at some stage during this five or six-game period. The likes of Feroze Khushi, Rishi Patel, Michael Pepper, Will Buttleman – the last two are keepers so they will hopefully put a bit of pressure on Adam Wheater.

“Then we’ve got a number of talented young seamers. Aaron Beard has had a taste of first-class cricket and done well. He’ll be looking to cement his spot. Matt Quinn, who’s been a bit injury-prone in recent years, is bowling fantastically well at the moment. Ben Allison, who went on loan to Gloucestershire last season; the list goes on, which is brilliant testament to the Club that they can keep producing home-grown, talented cricketers.”

Essex had a two-day warm-up against Kent earlier this week, in which Lawrence, Cook and ten Doeschate all recorded half-centuries and Jamie Porter claimed four wickets, with Westley adding: “Everyone has been really impressive over the last month since we returned to training.

“I was very impressed with the way Feroze Khushi has been shaping up with the bat. Aron Nijjar bowled nicely as a potential second spinner, or if Harmy is not available. All the seamers stood out. But I keep repeating, I feel very fortunate that we’ve got a lot of talented young cricketers who could step up.”

As Captain, Westley will have to get used to a new set of rules brought in specifically for the COVID-era red-ball tournament. 120 overs maximum in the first innings, the follow-on figure extended to 200, 90-over days rather than 96, the new-ball available after 90 and not 80 overs.

“I suppose as Captain the one thing we’ll have to be mindful of is managing the bowlers’ workload, the likelihood of getting injured is increased because of the shortened prep.

“It will also be different this year not being able to shine the ball. We’ll cross that bridge as we go, but I think it will just be the bowlers using their sweat to try and buff out any marks and keep it as shiny as possible.

“But regardless of whether you can shine the ball, or any of the other new rules, you’d like to think that the best team will win over the course of a match. The lack of noise, the lack of atmosphere because there are no crowds, will take a bit of getting used to. But we are professional cricketers and we can’t use that as an excuse for any poor performances. I’m expecting very high standards, as we always try to reach at Essex.”

This weekend sees the introduction of a new competition to County Cricket as the County Championship waits for a year. The Bob Willis Trophy is a special one-off red-ball competition that is separate to the County Championship and will be played this summer only following the delay to the men’s domestic season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament, which will feature all 18 First-Class Counties in three regionalised groups, will herald the start of the domestic season and culminate in a five-day final.

Essex Members and supporters will be able to watch the new red-ball tournament via live streaming on first-class county websites while highlights of each day’s play are also set to be available.

In anticipation of the new season and tournament, here are some common questions about the Bob Willis Trophy to ensure you are across all the key details:

When will the Bob Willis Trophy start?

All 18 first-class counties will be in action when the tournament starts on Saturday 1 August. The final group-stage matches are due to begin on September 6 before a five-day final.

What is the format of the tournament?

The Bob Willis Trophy will be played in three regionalised groups, consisting of six teams per group. Each county will play five group-stage matches – meaning they will meet every team in their group once. The two group winners with the most points will progress to the final.

Which counties are grouped together?

NORTH GROUP: Derbyshire, Durham, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire.
CENTRAL GROUP: Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Warwickshire, Worcestershire.
SOUTH GROUP: Essex, Kent, Hampshire, Middlesex, Surrey, Sussex.

Given matches are to be played behind closed doors, how can I watch them?

The First-Class Counties are set to live stream the Bob Willis Trophy on their websites. Essex home games will be available via the Essex Cricket Matchzone, which will be available via the Club’s website, as well as live scorecard, match stats and individual clips.

We must stress that our games in 2020 are behind-closed-doors and spectators are not currently able to watch these games live in person at The Cloudfm County Ground.

If I miss a day’s play where can I watch the highlights of my county?

Highlights packages for each day’s play in the Bob Willis Trophy will be available the following day via the Essex Cricket TV YouTube channel and social media channels.

Will the Bob Willis Trophy have first-class status?

Yes, although there will be some changes from the County Championship after the ECB, First-Class Counties and Professional Cricketers’ Association have worked closely to build a set of guidelines to help mitigate against injury, especially to fast bowlers.

Those changes include:
• There will be a reduction to a minimum of 90 overs in a day’s play
• Each county’s first innings of a match can last no longer than 120 overs
• The follow-on will increase from 150 to 200 runs
• The new ball will be available after 90 overs rather than 80 overs

The loan system will also be altered for this season only to allow counties to loan a player from another county for a minimum of a week.

Why not just play a shortened County Championship?

On June 29 the First-Class Counties agreed to play red-ball and white-ball cricket in this shortened summer and, after the opening 10 rounds of the County Championship were lost due to the pandemic, a truncated red-ball competition was needed.

The 18 First-Class Counties worked closely with ECB to plan a tournament that could be staged within strict health and safety protocols and included minimising travel and need for overnight hotel stays while adhering to Government guidance.

That has resulted in a regionalised competition that will not only ensure age-old rivalries are played out each round but also that all 18 First-Class Counties have a chance to win the competition.

Will the point-scoring system be different from the County Championship?

Yes. The number of points on offer for a draw will be eight an increase from the five points for a draw in the County Championship. This change has been made to help mitigate against the impact of weather in a shortened competition. All other points scoring will be the same as in the County Championship.

Will the winning county be presented with the County Championship trophy or a new trophy?

A new trophy will be presented to the champions. The trophy is set to feature a cuboid design painted by Bob Willis’ wife Lauren, following his death last year, and which captures his iconic bowling action in full flow.

What happens if the final is a draw?

In the event of a drawn final there will be one tie-breaker option. That option is that the county which leads on first innings, as long as there were two fully-completed first innings, would be deemed the winner of the final. In any other circumstance a drawn or tied final will see the trophy shared by the finalists.

Fixtures for the Bob Willis Trophy can be found – here

Fixtures for Vitality Blast are to be announced in early August.