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Essex stunned the recently crowned County Champions on their own patch after an inspiring performance from the bowling pack. Matt Quinn, Jamie Porter and Sam Cook ripped through the Surrey batting line-up, with the latter taking 4-27.

Sam Cook signed a new contract on Friday which keeps him at The Cloudfm County Ground until the end of the 2020 season and he was soon celebrating with the wicket of Will Jacks after obliterating his off-stump with an inswinging delivery.

Sam spoke to Essex Cricket TV after play to reflect on great few days:

Essex County Cricket Club are pleased to announce that Rishi Patel has signed his first professional contract and will remain with the Club until the conclusion of the 2020 season.

The 20-year-old has been in prolific form for the 2nd XI side this campaign, and recently equalled Darren Robinson’s record of 5 centuries in a 2nd XI Championship season.

He was rewarded for his performances by being selected in the team to face India during the Tourist match back in July, where he hit 19 runs and caught Hardik Pandya.

Patel is thrilled to sign his first professional contract and said: “I’m really excited to be part of such a great Club and sign for the side that I have been involved with since I was 7 years old.

“I’m extremely thankful to the coaching staff that have helped me achieve my dreams of becoming a professional, and I’d like to thank my parents who have supported me throughout this journey and have been there every step of the way.”

Essex County Cricket Club are pleased to announce that wicket-keeper batsman, Michael Pepper, has signed a contract extension that will see him stay with the Club until the end of the 2020 season.

The 20-year-old signed a summer contract back in April and after featuring in both the Vitality Blast campaign and the Specsavers County Championship, he has now committed his future to the Club.

Pepper is delighted and said: “I’m really excited to sign a two-year deal at such a great Club.

“I made my first-class debut against Somerset a few months back and I’m really looking forward to pressing on, improving as a player and making more appearances over the next few years.”

Head Coach Anthony McGrath is pleased to see Pepper commit his future and added: “Michael is a great young wicket-keeper who is also very handy with a bat. He has heaps of talent and we’re excited about seeing him progress at the Club.”

Essex travel to the Kia Oval to face Surrey on Monday in the final Specsavers County Championship match of the season that pits the 2017 Champions with their 2018 equals.

Surrey secured this year’s title when they beat Worcestershire with two matches to play and their impressive season mirrors the Essex record last year when they were crowned champions for the first time in 25 years.

Essex are guaranteed to finish in third place and they still have the chance to finish runners-up. Somerset, who meet Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, are currently the closest pursuers to Surrey and have a 19-points advantage over Essex heading onto the final game.

Head Coach Anthony McGrath has an extra incentive for his players. ”Congratulations to Surrey. They deserve the title but we want to put in a good performance against them and lay down a marker to show we can be serious challengers next season,” he said.

“It’s always difficult to defend a title and I think for us to get 6 wins in Division One this year has been a fantastic effort. Remember that early on in the season, we didn’t even get on the field at Headingley and there wasn’t much cricket in down at Southampton.

“So to finish in the top three is really satisfactory and I think it shows where we are now as a team; we are expecting to win every game and be a leading side in the top-flight.

“We’ve come a long way in the past three years, so we are really looking forward to the game with Surrey. We’ve had a couple of really good results since we played them earlier this month and we go to London full of confidence that we can give a good account of ourselves. “

Essex have named the same 13-man squad that was selected for the crushing victory over Worcestershire at Chelmsford last week.

Essex squad to face Surrey:

Ryan ten Doeschate (27) (captain)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Nick Browne (10)
Matt Coles (1)
Sam Cook (16)
Simon Harmer (11)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Michael Pepper (19) (wicket-keeper)
Jamie Porter (44)
Matt Quinn (94)
Murali Vijay (8)
Tom Westley (21)
Adam Wheater (31) (wicket-keeper)