Essex Eagles: Adam Rossington (wk), Robin Das, Michael Pepper, Dan Lawrence, Paul Walter, Tom Westley, Daniel Sams, Simon Harmer (c), Aaron Beard, Ben Allison, Sam Cook.
Glamorgan: Tom Bevan, Sam Northeast (c), Colin Ingram, Billy Root, Eddie Byrom, Chris Cooke (wk), Dan Douthwaite, Andrew Salter, Prem Sisodiya, Jamie McIlroy, Michael Hogan.
Match Details:
Umpires: Ben Debenham & Rob Bailey Match Referee: Simon Hinks Toss: Glamorgan, who elected to field Result: Essex Eagles win by 69 runs
Dan Lawrence and Paul Walter’s sensational hitting fired Essex Eagles to their highest Vitality Blast total as they kept their home quarter-final dreams alive.
Lawrence thrashed 71 off 37 balls, Walter a blistering 23-ball 58 and Adam Rossington a booming 45 to take the Eagles to 254 – beating the 244 set barely two weeks ago.
Glamorgan reached 185 for seven in reply, with stand-in captain Sam Northeast pumping an unbeaten 97, to lose by 69 runs.
2019 winners Essex, who had already confirmed a knockout spot, moved to second in the South Group and will host a last-eight match if Surrey beat Somerset on Sunday.
Essex were put in and blasted it from ball one on a belting wicket with short boundaries. Robin Das struck the first of 16 sixes in the third over by pinging one over long-off before following it up with a second over deep midwicket from the next ball.
Das pulled another ball to the boundary before he skied to cover to give Jamie McIlroy a T20 wicket on debut, he would later pick up Lawrence to claim an impressive 2/32 – the only bowler to go at under 10s.
Adam Rossington powered his way to 45, having scored 95 the previous evening, with seven fours and a six off 23 balls. But his quick scoring was just the prelude for what was to come.
Michael Pepper was caught on the reverse and Rossington holed to long-on before Lawrence and Walter went ballistic with a 101-run partnership off 69 balls.
Douthwaite took the biggest tap, going for 12 and 13 in successive overs as he returned the fourth-worst bowling figures in Blast history, eventually going for 66 in four wicketless overs.
But the showpiece over for Essex was the 31 taken off Prem Sisodiya. Walter started off with four sixes before Lawrence completed the over with another maximum.
It started a final five overs where 95 runs were plundered. Walter fell for a 23-ball 58, an innings which included 6 sixes, but Daniel Sams picked up where he had left off with three sixes in his first four balls.
Lawrence had been on 18 from his first 20 balls but caught up in style to reach his 11th T20 half-century in 30 balls before eventually falling for 71. 15 came off the final over as the Eagles crashed the joint fourth-best total in the tournament’s history.
Glamorgan never looked like replicating their greatest chase of 224 – against Essex in 2017 – with three wickets falling in the powerplay.
Aaron Beard was the chief destroyer as he picked up two for 16 in his first 16 overs with debutant Tom Bevan top-edging to deep third man and Billy Root getting bowled.
Eddie Byrom and Chris Cooke were both caught, but Sam Northeast, skippering his third Blast side for the first time, stuck around and plundered a couple sixes of his own on his way to a 38 ball fifty.
Dan Douthwaite chipped in with 34 off 17 in a 62-run stand but had his stump broken by Sams. As the required rate broke passed 36, Andrew Salter and Northeast struck a few lusty blows.
Salter holed out and Northeast, needing four runs from the final ball to reach a century, ended on 97*.
In a game where 439 runs were scored, Dan Sams returned remarkable figures of 3/20 in his four overs. Aaron Beard finished with equally impressive figures of 2/16 in his three overs.
The Club is delighted to welcome new Platinum Club Sponsor, Ambassador Cruise Line who become the new 50-over principal shirt sponsor. The cruise line also become the Club’s Official Travel Partner in a three-year partnership and have kicked off the sponsorship by offering supporters the chance to win tickets to Ambassador’s Cricketing Legends Cruise.
The lucky winner will receive two places on the cruise, setting sail for five nights in December 2022. In the meantime, monthly entrants can win two hospitality places at The Cloud County Ground on Tuesday 20 September.
The Essex-based cruise line will also be supporting Members’ events throughout the season and look forward to sharing more of their story with them.
John Stephenson, Chief Executive and Interim Chair, Essex Cricket said:
“I am delighted to welcome Ambassador Cruise Line on board as our Official Travel Partner and principal shirt sponsor for the Royal London Cup. It has been wonderful to see the passion Ambassador has already shown for the local community, which included welcoming the Nifty Fifties walking cricket team on board their flagship in June.
Their community spirit paired with the enthusiasm in their ongoing supporter engagement highlights a commitment to the Club and we look forward to seeing what we can achieve together in the coming years.”
Gordon Nardini, Chief Marketing Officer, Ambassador Cruise Line said:
“We are thrilled to be Essex Cricket’s official travel partner and front-of-shirt sponsor for the Eagles Royal London Cup campaign. We launched our first ship, Ambience, from her home port of London Tilbury, Essex in April this year. Through our partnership with the club, we look forward to working and supporting the local community, while providing exclusive offers and discounts to members, fans and fellow partners. We look forward to the competition getting underway this summer and wish the team the very best of luck.”
The shirt also features our Ground Naming Rights partner, Cloud who are the back of shirt and collar sponsor across the full range of replica shirts this season.
About Ambassador Cruise Line:
Ambassador Cruise Line is the first British cruise line to launch in over a decade. Their London Tilbury, Essex port provides convenience for their guests to enjoy a no-fly cruise with the warmest of welcomes from the friendliest of crews.
Onboard their first ship Ambience, guests will find amazing entertainment, exceptional cuisine, and an intimate but spacious cruising experience. Their sustainability-first approach means their guests can enjoy visiting the world’s most remote wonders, hidden gems, and natural treasures. Ambience is in the top 10-15% of environmentally sustainable ships, allowing her access to some of Europe’s most untouched corners including the breath-taking Norwegian World Heritage Fjords.
Ambition is Ambassador’s second lady of the sea and will enter operation in March 2023, sailing from London Tilbury, Essex and six other regional ports. Ambassador allows their guests to truly find their home away from home at sea.
For more information about Ambassador Cruise Line, please click here.
The Cloud County Ground, Sunday 26 – Wednesday 29 June
Team News:
Essex: Nick Browne, Alastair Cook, Tom Westley (c), Dan Lawrence, Paul Walter, Michael Pepper, Adam Rossington (wk), Simon Harmer, Shane Snater, Aaron Beard, Sam Cook.
Hampshire: Felix Organ, Ian Holland, Nick Gubbins, James Vince (c), Liam Dawson, Ben Brown (wk), Aneurin Donald, Keith Barker, James Fuller, Kyle Abbott, Brad Wheal.
Match Details:
Umpires: Chris Watts & Martin Saggers Match Referee: Peter Such Toss: Essex, who elected to bat Result: Essex win by 12 runs
Simon Harmer returned his best first-class match haul as Essex stunted Hampshire’s LV= Insurance County Championship charge in a three-day thriller.
Off-spinner Harmer, who bowled unchanged on Day Three, claimed 7/161 to go alongside his 8/46 in the first innings to return 15/207.
Hampshire, who were only 3 points behind leaders Surrey ahead of the match, were only 12 runs shy of victory after Felix Organ’s 65, and contributions from Ian Holland, Ben Brown, Aneurin Donald, Keith Barker and Kyle Abbott got them unbelievably close to their 299-run target.
Hampshire still haven’t won at Chelmsford since 2012 and had lost their last 3 matches on the ground by an innings.
Harmer had only taken 12 Championship wickets before this match this season, with only 2 coming on home wickets. A return to a spicier pitch benefitted him and handed Essex their first home red-ball win of the year.
But since Harmer arrived in 2017, Essex have only lost 3 home matches, with the only successful fourth-innings chase coming when Surrey needed just 2.
The South African was frustrated initially as Organ and Holland played with a decent tempo to keep eating into the 299-run target. Organ had already smashed Harmer over mid-wicket for 3 sixes the previous evening, and sailed another 2 over the dressing room as he found a way to deal with the turn and bounce.
He reached his second half-century of the season with a carved boundary behind point off 67 balls. However many times you hit Harmer over the boundary he will win the battle in the end, and thus it proved as Organ was bowled going back to the spinner. The opening stand worth 97, the highest of the match.
Hampshire were somewhat miffed as replacement balls meant a steady stream of harder balls, with Essex benefiting from the ball going softer the previous afternoon when Adam Rossington and Harmer were scoring freely.
And it was after a delay discussing the ball situation that wickets began to fall.
James Fuller had been promoted from No.9 to No.3 and at slightly better than run-a-ball he made 18, which included another six over midwicket. But he guided Aaron Beard to second slip to break the run of 19 straight wickets falling to spin.
Holland had bedded in by facing 95 balls and looked relatively comfortable before turning Harmer to short leg, and Nick Gubbins and James Vince made the fatal decision to go back to Harmer to fall lbw and bowled respectively.
In between the Harmer scalps, Beard picked up his second on his first red-ball appearance for Essex since 2020 as Liam Dawson was adjudged to have edged behind.
Hampshire had lost 6 wickets for 65 runs, and thanks to Donald’s slogging a 46-run partnership with Ben Brown to give the visitors a sliver of hope again.
But Harmer had Donald castled while going back to cut, in almost identical fashion to Organ earlier, and Brown leg before while coming around the wicket.
Abbott and Barker gave a nervy feeling to proceedings as they hit 41 with very little resistance. Abbott was leg before giving Beard his third.
Barker and last man Brad Wheal put on 32 as an unlikely victory edged closer but Barker picked out long-on to fall for 42 and give Harmer his career-best red-ball figures.
Day Two Highlights
Day Two Reaction: Adam Rossington
Day Two Match Report:
Simon Harmer tormented Hampshire with bat and ball as Essex racked up a decent advantage in the LV= Insurance County Championship fixture.
South African Harmer claimed 8/46 – the best figures by anyone so far in the 2022 Championship – to condemn Hampshire to a 75-run deficit after the first innings.
He then totted up 61 to go alongside Adam Rossington’s 60 to ease Essex away from 51-5 and to set Hampshire a target of 299, taken down to 264 by the close.
Across the three innings, all 14 wickets in the day fell to spin bowling – with Liam Dawson picking up his best Hampshire figures of 7/68 and Felix Organ 3/57 on a turning pitch.
Harmer, who began the day with 4/23, unsurprisingly began from The River End and bowled 15 balls before he added his 25th five-wicket haul for Essex – bowling a reverse sweeping Keith Barker around his legs.
Hampshire’s approach seemed to be to score their way out of trouble. Barker had struck 2 fours and a six off Harmer alone and Kyle Abbott would thrash 3 sixes in a 23-run over off Dan Lawrence. A total of 95 runs were scored in 55 minutes, but Harmer was constantly taking wickets.
James Fuller screwed to cover, Ben Brown – following a punchy 38 – was caught behind and Abbott was caught at deep midwicket as Hampshire were bowled out for 163, with Harmer mimicking his figures from the previous evening. He now has over 200 first-class wickets at
The Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford since joining in 2017.
Spin continued to be the way forward as Hampshire turned to Organ and Dawson in the fifth and sixth overs. Organ initially did the damage as he had a driving Alastair Cook caught at first slip and Tom Westley brilliantly caught at short leg with his fifth and sixth deliveries.
Dawson had Dan Lawrence lbw to a full ball on the stroke of Lunch before Paul Walter and Michael Pepper came and went after the interval – the former leg before to Organ and the latter reversing Dawson to point.
Hampshire looked on a roll and Essex in trouble, but Browne and Rossington’s contrasting styles navigated the hosts back to a strong position. Browne was resolute, while Rossington’s assertiveness was best typified by dispatching his second delivery for six.
Both helped to soften the ball and make batting easier, as the bounce and turn started to be nullified, in a 54-run partnership – with Rossington contributing 42 of them.
Browne fell for a 98-ball 33 when he turned Dawson to leg slip, the lead on 180 before Harmer entered to show off his batting prowess. He and Rossington added 47 more runs.
Rossington stamped his authority and his half-century came in 52 balls, although he fell for 60 when he chipped to mid-off.
Harmer added a further 34 with Shane Snater before the Dutch international splintered to midwicket to give Dawson his fifth wicket – only the fifth 5-wicket haul of his first-class career.
Harmer moved to his 82-ball half-century with a six into The Hayes Close gardens before he and Sam Cook fell to successive balls to give Dawson the second 7-wicket return of his career. In doing so he became the first spin bowler not called Harmer to take a 5-wicket haul at Chelmsford since Gareth Batty in 2014.
In 13 overs, Organ lifted Harmer out of the ground twice as Hampshire reached 35 without loss by stumps.
Day One Highlights
Day One Reaction: Shane Snater
Day One Match Report:
Simon Harmer spun 4 evening wickets to entangle Hampshire after Shane Snater’s 71 had dug Essex out of a hole in their LV= Insurance County Championship clash.
All-rounder Snater became Essex’s third-highest Championship run-scorer and recorded his third half-century this season to help Essex recover from 105-7 to 238 all out.
Harmer entered, after Sam Cook nabbed the openers, to bamboozle Hampshire’s batters on a spinning wicket with 4/23 to see the visitors slump to 68-6 at the close.
Harmer had found wickets hard to come by at Chelmsford this season, but this a vintage Harmer performance with the South African dominating the opposition batters.
Kyle Abbott and Keith Barker, in particular, found good bounce off a length, while Liam Dawson and Harmer got good turn.
It was the reliable Sam Cook who made the breakthrough and Organ was his first victim, edging to Alastair Cook at first slip. He followed this up by claiming the wicket of Holland, who was trapped leg before with the visitors on 33-2.
Harmer was then introduced from The River End in the eighth over and he had a wicket within 7 balls. The only surprising aspect was the manner of the wicket as James Vince danced down, missed the ball and was stumped.
10 balls later, Dawson dabbed towards short leg but it sat up for wicket-keeper Rossington to grab. Soon after, Nick Gubbins’ otherwise spritely 34 ended when he edged to second slip, Hampshire slipping to 55-5, almost mirroring the 56-5 earlier in the day.
Aneurin Donald edged his next delivery to short leg, and Barker just about survived a hat-trick ball. Ben Brown and Barker batted out the final 29 balls of the day.
Earlier, after Essex had chosen to bat, Nick Browne was bowled on the angle by Abbott for a 14-ball duck, Alastair Cook pushed Barker to third slip and Dan Lawrence was lbw to Brad Wheal to leave Essex 17-3.
Tom Westley held things together with a leg-side dominant 46 and partnerships of 40 with Paul Walter and 47 with Adam Rossington, with Walter and Michael Pepper falling within 3 Ian Holland balls.
Rossington and Westley also fell in quick succession, bowled by an Abbott ripper and lbw to Dawson, respectively, to leave the hosts 105-7.
Snater was then introduced, and the Essex batter followed on from his strong batting performances earlier in the season by cutting and hooking the Hampshire bowlers all over Chelmsford.
His 50 came in 47 balls while putting on 59 with Harmer, 58 with Aaron Beard, and after he had lifted to 71, the final two put on 16; in total the final 3 wickets were worth an invaluable 133 runs.
We hope our fans enjoyed another fantastic evening of Vitality Blast cricket at Fortress Chelmsford on Tuesday evening.
For those enjoying the match away from The Cloud County Ground, we unfortunately experienced an unavoidable issue with our Live Stream and a fraudulent copyright claim, which resulted in YouTube ending our broadcast and removing the match from our account.
We are aware of similar incidents taking place across county cricket and have informed YouTube directly to resolve this matter to prevent this from happening to Essex or other clubs in the future.
Our production team were able to set up a Facebook Live stream of the match, which was the only solution to broadcast the conclusion of the match.
We fully understand the frustrations of our viewers and supporters who were not able to watch the exciting finish of the match.
For what it’s worth, here are those winning runs that were broadcast via Facebook Live. We appreciate it isn’t the same experience but certainly enjoyable viewing…
The winner for April 2022 is Alastair Cook after receiving 42% of the overall votes. We’re pleased to announce that Chris Lewis is the winner of our prize draw to win a signed shirt after choosing Cook as their April DeVines Player of the Month.
Essex’s leading run-scorer so far this season, with 272 runs in April, an average of 34 which included a century in the opening game of the season against Kent.
DeVines Accountants have extended their sponsorship of the Player of the Month award for the next two years, which also includes crowning the DeVines Player of the Year at the end of the season.
Ruth Howlett, Partnerships & Hospitality Manager for Essex Cricket said: “It’s great to see the DeVines team continuing their partnership with the Club, especially through supporting on matchdays and Business Club events. It really shows just how supportive they are of every endeavour we embark on as a Club.
“We look forward to seeing what more we can achieve together over the next two years.”
Clive Purdy, Director of DeVines Accountants said: “It is wonderful to be a Club Partner with Essex Cricket. As a local business, it has been fantastic to have the opportunity to develop a stronger relationship with the Chelmsford community.
“It is brilliant to be able to support the Club’s Player of the Month and Year awards as we believe this helps to encourage each player to persevere and motivate themselves to be the best they can be.”
We look forward to receiving your votes for the next DeVines Player of the Month later in May. Keep your eyes peeled for more details soon on how you can vote after the opening fixtures of this year’s Vitality Blast.
We would like to thank DeVines for their continuous support and partnership with Essex Cricket for over six years.
About DeVines:
DeVines is a long-established firm of Chartered Accountants based in Chelmsford in Essex.
Their goal is to provide professional and friendly service to our clients. They cater for those who have very simple personal tax affairs up to large SMEs who seek a full accountancy and advice service.
Essex Eagles: Adam Rossington (wk), Will Buttleman, Michael Pepper, Matt Critchley, Paul Walter, Tom Westley, Daniel Sams, Simon Harmer (c), Aron Nijjar, Ben Allison, Sam Cook.
Hampshire Hawks: Aneurin Donald, Ben McDermott (wk), James Vince (c), Joe Weatherley, Liam Dawson, Ross Whiteley, James Fuller, Nathan Ellis, Scott Currie, Mason Crane, Brad Wheal.
Match Details:
Umpires: Tim Lungley & Alex Wharf Match Referee: Jason Swift Toss: Essex, who elected to field Result: Essex Eagles win by 8 wickets
“It was a good team performance. With the ball we restricted them to 150 with small boundaries and the first 10 overs was sensational. The spinners in the middle were very good.
“I had freedom to go out and express myself. Playing more T20s against better players you learn different ways of scoring runs. It is fun batting when you are just using your hands.
“I am loving playing the T20s and having the responsibility of coming in at No.3. You are usually coming in the powerplay where you have full license to be aggressive and then I enjoy facing spin.
“Critchley has been unbelievable. He comes out with calmness but also authority of having played around. He knows what to say and it is nice knowing he is at the other end.
“The ramp (which brought up his fifty) I don’t find too hard a shot because it is just putting bat on ball. I found it tough hitting through the ball when it was fuller so using the pace was a better option.”
Match Report:
Michael Pepper smashed his Vitality Blast best as Essex Eagles demolished Hampshire Hawks by eight wickets at the Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford.
Batter Pepper dispatched four sixes to go alongside eight fours to crash a 75 ball 42 – to better his previous best of 55 not out.
Matt Critchley pummelled 45 in a 100 stand with Pepper as the Eagles chased down Hampshire’s below-par 150 with 37 balls to spare to secure their first home T20 victory over Hampshire since 2017.
Essex have won two from three in the competition, while the Hawks are winless.
Will Buttleman was caught and bowled off his glove and Adam Rossington was starved of the strike before Nathan Ellis kissed his leg stump. But Pepper dominated from then on.
He showed power with conventional shots but mixed it with some inventive flicks. The shot to bring up his half-century, however, was the combination of the two – a ramp shot with some added wrist to take the ball the distance.
Pepper was the Eagles’ top run-scorer in the Blast last season, with 260 runs – he wasn’t finished at a fifty as he dispatched Liam Dawson for back-to-back sixes over midwicket and then into the Hayes Close End gardens.
Mason Crane was his victim in the following over with another straight six, while Critchley went somewhat under the radar for his 24-ball 45 – which included two huge maximums.
Earlier, Essex won the toss and elected to bowl first – their previous six victories all coming when chasing in this format– and after a 25-minute delay due to rain they stifled the Hawks in the powerplay. The visitors only managed to get to 33 with the departure of the yorked Aneurin Donald.
Sam Cook was the main architect of the strong start with a boundary coming off his first delivery and then 11 dot balls – with his second over a wicket maiden.
James Vince and Ben McDermott – on his 100th T20 appearance – both fell as Hampshire laboured to 59 for three after 10.1 overs – but Weatherley, Ross Whiteley and James Fuller made sure they had a total to defend.
Weatherley swept both sides of the wicket with excellence in his 37, while Whiteley and Fuller used brute force to clear the shot boundaries; both striking two sixes each.
Sam Cook and Simon Harmer were the pick of the Essex bowlers, both finishing with identical figures of two for 16. Matt Critchley’s miserly one for 20 was also exemplary.
Essex Cricket in the Community is proud to have introduced a new Umpioneers Programme to inspire women and girls into becoming cricket umpires.
Last winter, saw over 100 women umpire and score their own indoor hardball and softball cricket games. With this success, the Umpioneer Programme was officially launched on the evening of 27 April with 32 women attended an introductory session.
“The amount of cricket that females are playing across the county is growing at a great speed and it is vital we have the support to officiate all the games. We hope this programme will build the confidence of women to get involved with the game in a different way” explained Women & Girls Operations Manager, Natalie Samaranayake. Adding, “It is our aim to grow this programme so we would welcome any sponsors that would like to partner with us to help develop female leaders in this way.”
Women and girls from a variety of backgrounds got involved in activities, such as teaching and playing in softball cricket leagues, exciting all into being keen to know more about the laws of cricket.
Angela Tuff and Tracey Murphy, both well-known umpires in Essex, and Steve Davis, an ex-international umpire ran the evening; discussing umpire signals, no ball, run outs, wides, LBWs and boundaries. The women and girls then had the opportunity to ask Angela, Tracey and Steve about their experiences as umpires.
The evening was a wonderful success, and the women were very enthusiastic about what they had learned.
We hope that some of the women will now go on to do their ECB accreditation with the aim of running a female level 1 course before this season ends, to give themselves the opportunity to try out their new umpiring skills before the winter. The programme will also give the women access to Umpioneer mentors who can help them through their training.
Kent Spitfires: Sam Billings (c & wk), Daniel Bell-Drummond, Zak Crawley, Joe Denly, Jack Leaning, Jordan Cox, George Linde, Qais Ahmad, Matt Milnes, Fred Klaassen, Matt Quinn.
Essex Eagles: Adam Rossington(wk), Tom Westley, Michael Pepper, Will Buttleman, Daniel Sams, Paul Walter, Matt Critchley, Simon Harmer (c), Aron Nijjar, Ben Allison, Sam Cook.
Match Details:
Umpires: Mark Newell & Martin Saggers Toss: Kent Spitfires, who elected to bat Result: Essex Eagles win by 4 wickets
Paul Walter celebrates a opening match win over rivals, Kent
Match Report:
The Essex Eagles won their opening game in this year’s Vitality Blast to succumb the Kent Spitfires to back-to-back defeats. Paul Walter top-score with an unbeaten 47 as Essex won by four wickets in a tense derby at Canterbury.
Kent won the toss in what was billed as ‘The Battle of The Bridge’ and chose to bat, however, the Essex bowlers bowled well, not allowing batters to settle.
Matt Critchley had the Eagles’ best bowling figures with one for 16. But was backed up as well by spin duo Aron Nijjar and Skipper Simon Harmer, who also took key Wickets. As they restricted Kent to 184 for 4.
After the break, debut opening pair Adam Rossington and Will Buttlman got off to a flyer taking 17 from Denly’s opening over with Adam Rossington blasting 29 from 16 balls, before being bowled by Fred Klaassen. Opening partner Will Buttleman went onto score 37.
Paul Walter came in as wickets started to fall, but the all-rounder who has been in great form this season managed to help the team home, with help from Harmer. He top-scored with an unbeaten 47 as Essex won the opening game of their Vitality T20 Blast campaign.
Vitality Blast
The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury
Friday 27 May, 7pm start
Essex Eagles get the Vitality Blast campaign underway with a trip across the Thames to face rivals Kent Spitfires.
The Battle of the Bridge contest gets underway at 7pm with Simon Harmer eager to start off the competition with a victory.
The reigning champions will be looking to bounce back after suffering a comprehensive 8-wicket defeat to Somerset on Wednesday’s opening night of the competition. Jack Leaning impressed for the Spitfires hitting 72 off 43 balls however the Spitfires struggled to form any notable partnerships, and eventually succumbed to a brutal innings from Somerset’s Rilee Roussouw.
The Eagles welcome a new face to the squad with Daniel Sams arriving on Wednesday from his stint with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
Adam Rossington, Matt Critchley and youngster, Jamal Richards have also been named in the 13-man squad and are in contention to make their Eagles debuts.
Dan Lawrence misses out on the trip south due to a reoccurrence of a hamstring injury, which was sustained against Lancashire.
Aaron Beard picked up a foot injury during a T20 warm-up match earlier this week and is currently awaiting the results of a scan.
Youngster, Eshun Kalley is also set to receive scan results on a back injury, whilst Feroze Khushi is recovering from concussion. The batter is following the ‘return to play’ protocol and looking to make a return to cricket next week.
Squad:
Harmer’s View:
Simon Harmer is looking forward to taking over the Captain’s duties from Tom Westley and is confident of getting off to a good start.
“I don’t think we played bad cricket last year and of course, there were moments in games when we could have played better. We’ll be doing all we can to get off to a positive start with two tough away games to kick things off. We come off the back of a great four-day win over Lancashire which has been good for team morale and we will be carrying this momentum into Friday.
“The squad is in good shape and I’m excited to welcome some new faces to the Eagles. Dan Sams only arrived on Wednesday from his time in India and he’ll bring some extra firepower to the middle order. Matt Critchley has shown what he can do in T20 cricket from his time at Derbyshire Falcons, whilst Adam Rossington has the skills to get us off to a quick start at the top of the order in the powerplay overs.
“The group are all pumped for our opening night of the competition and I’m sure the Essex support will be out in force at Canterbury to support the guys.”
Opposition:
Kent Spitfires will make their second appearance at The Spitfire Ground in this year’s Vitality Blast and will be hoping their big names shine on Friday evening after a lacklustre performance first time out.
The 2020 Champions have South African all-rounder, George Linde in their ranks who joins the returning Qais Ahmad for this year’s competition.
Sam Billings captains the side again in 2022 and has been touring the globe playing T20 with Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash, England in the West Indies and most recently in the Indian Premier League playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Head to Head:
How to Watch:
There will be a Live Stream of the match available, courtesy of our hosts, Kent. You can watch this via the Essex Cricket Matchzone on essexcricket.org.uk, which also includes a live scorecard, statistics and key clips of the action.
Access via the Essex Cricket Matchzone is available here.
Essex Cricket are delighted to announce the furthering of our rewarding partnership with Trade Nation. This year, Trade Nation are pledging their support to the Club’s charity foundation. The leading trading services provider will donate £50 at the end of the season for each ‘6’ hit by the players across all tournaments.
The decision marks Trade Nation’s determination to build on their existing accomplishments with the Club and signals their strong desire to deepen the connection between county cricket and local communities. Essex Cricket is intensely passionate about creating unforgettable experiences for its thousands of members and supporters while giving it all on the green. This ambition is mirrored by Trade Nation, who put customer experience at the heart of what they do — the continued support from the broker further cements the shared values at the heart of this partnership.
The Club’s foundation run a variety of different initiatives across Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. The Club are working hard to increase inclusivity in cricket, with plans to establish two new Women’s Premier Leagues to make Essex the number 1 region for the sport in the UK. Alongside this, the Club aims to enhance facilities across London and boost opportunities for schools, putting well-being and health at the centre of the campaign.
Trade Nation’s CEO, Stuart Lane said: “Trade Nation is very proud to be offering this new series of donations for the Essex Cricket Foundation. The dedication they have to their local community proves to us that they share our emphasis on the importance of giving back, supporting both their members and the wider community. We’re excited to take our partnership with Essex Cricket further this year by locking in these donations for fans and charities, and we’re thrilled that our collaboration with the Club through the foundation has let us connect with their fans and local community, and promote greater inclusivity through the foundation”.
John Stephenson, Chief Executive & Interim Chair for Essex Cricket said:
“We are so pleased that Trade Nation has selected the Essex Cricket Foundation as their charity to support this year.
After a global pandemic, it is so important to bring the community together and enjoy team sports once more. We wish to encourage new faces of all ages and abilities into the world of cricket and offer them the inclusive support they need to develop a true passion for the game.”
About Trade Nation:
Trade Nation is an online trading platform where individuals can trade shares, commodities, and foreign currencies on their own terms. The company offers a self-serve trading experience with low, fixed charges and no confusing terminology. This simple-to-use service is delivered alongside a friendly and knowledgeable customer success team who are there to support and engage with customers 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday. Trade Nation offers a better trading experience and is making the world of online trading a brighter and more trustworthy environment for all.
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