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Essex Cricket are pleased to announce that Tom Huggins has been named as the Club’s new Batting Coach.

Huggins, who played professionally for Northamptonshire, had been the Club’s Talent Pathway Manager since 2016, a position which has now been taken up by former Academy player James Clifford.

Speaking on his new role, Huggins said: “I’m obviously delighted to take up the role and I’m looking forward to working with all the players and supporting Mags [Anthony McGrath] to create the best possible environment for the Club to be successful this season and in future years.

“Having worked throughout the Player Pathway over the last two and a half years, I have thoroughly enjoyed working with all the players across the County Age Group programme, Emerging Players programme and the Academy. It’s rewarding to see the depth of talent throughout and I’m sure that there will be a number of them pushing to become professionals in the future.

“I’m now excited to get more involved with the First Team squad on a day-to-day basis. Mags and I have a good relationship and I’m looking forward to working alongside him, as well as Andre Nel, to hopefully get the squad in the best position to challenge across all three formats this year.”

Head Coach Anthony McGrath also said: “Huggy has been around the Club for the last three years and I’m delighted he’s made the move up to the First Team.

“He’s an absolute professional and I know our batters are really pleased with his appointment and the sessions they’ve had with him so far. There’s no doubt that they’ll benefit hugely from his knowledge and experience throughout the season and with their own individual development.”

Essex Eagles begin their Royal London One-Day Cup campaign on Wednesday when they take on Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

The Eagles have taken a 14-man squad to Wales for Wednesday’s match, which includes all-rounder Ravi Bopara, who missed the most recent Championship match against Surrey because of a back problem.

Head Coach Anthony McGrath believes that the two fixtures in the 50-over competition this week will offer a benchmark as his side concentrate on white-ball cricket for the next three weeks.

McGrath said: “These first two matches will offer us a good measure of where we are at. We are certainly looking forward to the competition but coming off the back of red-ball cricket, there has not been a lot of time to practice.

“With only a short number of games to qualify (for the knock out stages), these first two games are going to be key. We’ve come close over the last three years and reached the semi-final, but we want to go further, we want to reach the final and win it.

“We feel that we’ve got a very experienced team who can be a match for anyone, it’s just a matter of getting consistency in our performances. We’ve said before that the South Group is a tough one with three teams out of the nine qualifying, so you do have to get off to a good start.”

The Eagles were involved in a thrilling game on their previous visit to the Cardiff for a List A fixture two years ago.

A superb 142 by Colin Ingram underpinned the home side’s 281 for 7 but centurion Varun Chopra and Ravi Bopara looked set to put the visitors on course for victory with a stand of 108 in 18 overs. Needing 68 from 8.5 overs, Chopra then drilled a ball straight back towards Craig Meschede who deflected the ball onto the stumps, leaving Bopara, who was backing up, stranded out of his ground. Two balls later, Chopra played a ball from Meschede onto his stumps.

Those two dismissals unsettled the Eagles and they entered the final over with two wickets standing and needing seven runs to win. But assisted by a run out, Glamorgan clinched a nail-biting victory by one run as the Eagles reached 280 for 9.

There was a revenge success for the Eagles last summer when the two teams clashed in the One-Day Cup at Chelmsford. Ryan ten Doeschate’s side recorded victory by nine wickets with 18 overs to spare.

Chopra made an unbeaten 98 and Adam Wheater scored 88 as the pair posted 189 for the first wicket after Jamie Porter had returned figures of 4-29, as Glamorgan were bowled out for 200.

Essex Eagles squad to face Glamorgan:

Ryan ten Doeschate (27), (captain)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Varun Chopra (6)
Alastair Cook (26)
Sam Cook (16)
Simon Harmer (11)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Aron Nijjar (24)
Jamie Porter (44)
Matt Quinn (94)
Peter Siddle (64)
Paul Walter (22)
Tom Westley (21)
Robbie White (4), (wicket-keeper)

Peter Siddle will make his Essex return on Thursday when the side face Surrey at the Kia Oval in the second Specsavers County Championship match of 2019.

The Australian paceman starts his second stint with the Club having made seven appearances in the competition last year, when he endeared himself to the County with his attitude both on and off the field, whilst also proving a highly-effective signing taking 37 wickets.

The 34-year-old’s arrival will boost the spirits of his teammates who suffered defeat earlier this week against Hampshire in their opening Championship match of the campaign.

With regular stumper Adam Wheater likely to be out of action for six weeks following a thumb injury sustained at Hampshire, and with Michael Pepper recovering from appendix surgery, Essex have signed wicket-keeper Robbie White on loan from Middlesex for a two-month period.

The 23-year-old, who made his debut for his parent county in 2018, goes straight into the Essex squad for the match with Surrey.

Essex have good memories of their last trip to the Kia Oval when they overturned Surrey in a thrilling one-wicket victory that ended Surrey’s hopes of ending their triumphant season with an unblemished record in the competition.

Essex Head Coach Anthony McGrath is delighted to have 34-year-old Siddle back, and said: “We obviously missed him down at Hampshire, everyone knows that he is a top-quality bowler and a terrific influence on the field and around the dressing room.

“To be frank we were off it with both bat and ball against Hampshire. Fundamentally, if you put the opposition in, then you have to get the ball in the right areas more often than not and I thought we were off that by our standards.

“You’ve also got to get the runs on the board in the first innings particularly when the opposition are knocking up more than 500 against you. But all credit to Hampshire, they outplayed us and if we had managed to hold on for a draw on the last day, I think we would have been very lucky.

“We have the chance to bounce back quickly and there’s the perfect opportunity for us to do that against Champions Surrey on Thursday. I think it is the perfect game for us, we know the standards Surrey set last year, we’ve got to dust ourselves down, do a bit of thinking, get some good practice in and hopefully, we’ll see a different Essex come 11 o’clock on Thursday.”

Essex squad to face Surrey:

Ryan ten Doeschate, (Captain) (27)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Nick Browne (10)
Alastair Cook (26)
Sam Cook (16)
Simon Harmer (11)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Jamie Porter (44)
Matt Quinn (94)
Peter Siddle (64)
Tom Westley (21)
Robbie White (Wicket-keeper) (4)

At Tuesday’s Annual General Meeting, bowler Aaron Beard was awarded the annual Bernard S. Stimpson Award. This recognition goes to the First Team player who had done the most by way of character, appearance and turn out to represent the Club.

A legacy fund was left by Mr Bernard S. Stimpson requesting that the Trustees use the interest to award a player each year. Last year’s winner was Matt Quinn, with other notable player’s including Nasser Hussain, Andy Flower and Ravi Bopara.

Aaron has continue to play a huge part of the Club’s activity off the field of play, especially in supporting Commercial, Media and Charity requests that were asked of him.

Commenting on receiving the reward, Beard said: “I would like to thanks Mags [Anthony McGrath] and the Club for awarding me with the Bernard S. Stimpson award.

“Representing the Club when we’re not playing is really important and a big part of this is interacting with Club sponsors, attending events and helping the great work carried out by the Essex Cricket in the Community team.

The Club are doing some amazing things across the region and I’m pleased to play my part in making these a success.”

The Club are pleased to announce that Middlesex wicket-keeper, Robbie White, has joined the Club on a two-month loan with immediate effect.

Following the injury to Adam Wheater on Day One of the opening fixture against Hampshire, and Michael Pepper’s recent appendix surgery, White will provide necessary cover alongside youngster Will Buttleman, who deputised with the gloves for the remainder of the match at The Ageas Bowl.

The 23-year-old made his County Championship debut against Northamptonshire at Lord’s last summer and went on to make a total of six first-class appearances in 2018.

White is viewed as the long-term replacement for current first choice Middlesex wicket-keeper John Simpson, and is thrilled to be joining Essex on loan, saying; “I’m really excited about joining up with Essex over the coming days and can hopefully contribute to some success on the field.”

“I’m really grateful to Essex for the opportunity and to Middlesex for facilitating the loan, and hopefully over the next few months I can develop as a player and can take advantage of this great opportunity.”

Anthony McGrath, Essex Head Coach, said: “Adam is expected to be out of action for up to 6 weeks, and with Michael Pepper currently recovering from appendix surgery, it was deemed necessary for us to enter the loan market and bring in another wicket-keeper.

“Will Buttleman did an outstanding job behind the stumps for us especially after being drafted in at the last moment and is an excellent prospect for the future.

“Robbie was highly recommended to us by Middlesex’s Managing Director of Cricket Angus Fraser, and we’re looking forward to seeing him in action for us over the coming months.”

White is available with immediate effect and will go straight into the squad for the match against Surrey. His final game will be against Yorkshire at Emerald Headingley and he is eligible for white and red-ball cricket, including the first home match of the season against his parent club Middlesex in the Royal London One-Day Cup.

The Essex County Cricket Club Annual General Meeting took place on Tuesday evening at The Cloudfm County Ground and the result of the 2019 Committee ballot was announced.

It was confirmed that there were six nominations for the three available places on the General Committee. A total of 1,440 Ballot Papers were received, equating to 40% of the 3,585 Ballot Papers issued.

Those nominated were:

Mr Peter Edwards (519)
Mr John Faragher (1,141)
Mr Wasim Haq (663)
Mr Andrew Kennedy (476)
Mr Mike Smith (796)
Mrs Kate Walters (599)

Those elected onto the General Committee:
Mr John Faragher (1,141)
Mr Mike Smith (796)
Mr Wasim Haq (663)

Essex Second XI started their 2019 season by hosting Durham Second XI in the first of two matches this week at The Cloudfm County Ground.

The 50-over friendly was a chance to see the likes of Academy players, Ben Allison, Robin Das and Josh Rymell, along with more familiar faces to the First Team setup in Paul Walter and Varun Chopra.

It was a bright start for the visitors with 33 overs gone until Essex made a breakthrough. An opening stand of 212 runs between Scott Steel (110) and Graham Clark (100) was finally broken by Paul Walter. This was quickly followed by his opening partner, Steel, departing three over later with captain Aron Nijjar bowling his for 100.

The runs soon dried up for Durham with former Leicestershire keeper/batsman, Ned Eckersley going for 15, with a further 80 scored in the final 10 overs to give Essex a target of 325 for the win.

The Essex innings didn’t get off to the best of starts as Varun Chopra was ajudged lbw on the first delivery of the innings. This brought Feroze Khushi to the middle who’s progression into the First Team has been hampered in recent seasons due to injury. Feroze was soon joined by youngster, Josh Rymell and the pair put on a 145-run partnership, which saw the Khushi reach his century off 121 balls (10 fours, 2 sixes).

He was soon out for 103 with Rymell hitting 87 off 78 balls in the 45 over. The wickets of Beard, Plom and Allison soon followed with Essex 31 runs shy of the Durham total and 9 wickets down as the 50 overs were completed.

 

Wicket-keeper, Adam Wheater is set for a spell out of the team after he sustained a thumb injury on the opening day of the season against his former side, Hampshire. After x-rays on the injury, Adam will now an operation and expected to be out of action for up to six weeks.

After taking the blow to the thumb, Wheater was replaced behind the stumps by Dan Lawrence on Day One, who was immediately in the action taking a catch off Matt Quinn to dismiss Aiden Markram.

18-year-old Academy product, Will Buttleman has made the trip to Southampton ahead of Day Two at the Ageas Bowl and takes the gloves for the remaining three days.

Just before the squad left for Hampshire on Thursday morning, we caught up with Alastair Cook, who for the first time in a long time, is available for the entire County Championship season with Essex.

In this extended interview, Alastair discussed coming through the Essex Academy, his 12-year journey with England, including the recent decision to retire from International cricket, and the upcoming campaign with Essex.

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