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Essex fans are the happiest with their club, according to a poll issued by The Cricketer’s Big Cricket Survey.

The poll questioned cricket fans all over the country about the way their club was run, and 31.58% of Essex fans stated that they were very satisfied with the way the club was run whilst 57.02% claimed that they were fairly satisfied.

This meant a huge 88.60% of fans replied to the poll positively, which was the largest percentage of positive feedback received by any club in the country.

Derek Bowden, Chief Executive of Essex County Cricket Club said: “We’re delighted that the Essex fans are happy with the way we’re running the Club.

“We pride ourselves on being a Members’ Club and we like to keep a constant dialogue with our supporters and ensure that they’re as happy as possible.

“We’re always trying to implement positive changes and it’s good to know that our supporters are recognising this and are on board with us.”

View the Cricketer Magazine’s full report – here

Varun Chopra has been named the DeVines Player of the Month for July after picking up 47% of the votes, beating Adam Wheater and Adam Zampa to the award.

The batsman was lethal during July, hitting half-centuries against Sussex Sharks, Surrey and Gloucestershire.

Chopra was the sides leading run-scorer for the month too after hitting 248 runs, averaging an impressive 41.

Alison and Clive Purdy with the DeVines Player of the Month, Varun Chopra

With the white-ball season now at an end, Essex can concentrate exclusively on Specsavers County Championship action between now and the end of the season. The County Champions resume defence of the title with a trip to Taunton to face Somerset, starting on Sunday.

Head Coach Anthony McGrath has named a 12-man squad for Sunday’s match, which sees the return of Peter Siddle to the four-day game. He started the campaign with Essex for the first five matches of the season and quickly became a fan favourite.

McGrath is looking forward to getting back to the longer format of the game although he admitted that the scheduling has not been kind after coming straight from Vitality Blast action. 

“It’s going to be tough playing back-to-back fixtures in the T20 and then travel down to Taunton for Championship cricket again on Sunday, it’s just a crazy demand.” he said.

“But it is what it is and we just have to get on with it.

“It will be good to get back to red-ball cricket again and there’s almost half a season to go in the Championship.

“Our last game in that format was against Somerset at Chelmsford and I thought we fared well in that match and nearly forced a win, so we’ll be looking to go down there and produce another good performance.

“Peter Siddle is with us for at least three of our remaining six Championship matches and there’s a chance he could be available for one more fixture. The Australian season starts earlier this year because of the longer Big Bash schedule but at the moment, we are still waiting to see whether he will be able to play that additional game for us. In the meantime, we are looking for a replacement to cover the remaining fixtures.”

Essex still have six matches to play in the competition and resume the red-ball campaign in fourth place on the Division One table with 92 points. Somerset are currently in second place having amassed 119 points, with runaway leaders Surrey currently on 153 points; all three teams have played 8 of their 14 matches.

Essex have included last year’s two leading wicket-takers in the competition after Jamie Porter was released to play from the England squad. That means he can link up again with Simon Harmer as the duo look to continue their incisive combination.

Off-spinner Harmer has not given up hopes of the county retaining their title, although he acknowledges that they need to be at the top of their game over the remaining weeks of the season.

“We need to play like defending Champions if we are to achieve that,” he admitted.

“As in all formats this season, I think we’ve been a little bit off the mark in our four-day cricket this year.

“We’ve been a little bit inconsistent and our senior players need to put their hands up to ensure we are leading the charge by putting in some big performances, starting on Sunday.

“We still have Surrey to play twice and we’ve certainly got the talent to win the competition but it’s going to take a big team effort.”

Essex squad to face Somerset:

Ryan ten Doeschate (27) (captain)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Nick Browne (10)
Varun Chopra (6)
Sam Cook (16)
Simon Harmer (11)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Jamie Porter (44)
Matt Quinn (94)
Peter Siddle (64)
Tom Westley (21)
Adam Wheater (31) (wicket-keeper)

The final Vitality Blast match was a memorable one for Ravi Bopara who reached the milestone of 300 career T20 appearances. After spells with 11 different Clubs in 7 different countries, including 39 International T20 appearances for England, Ravi is 9th in the all-time list, which includes Ryan ten Doeschate in 7th.

The match also saw Ravi take his 200th career T20 wicket as Heino Kuhn was bowled.

Ravi’s T20 appearances:
11 Auckland Aces
10 Chittagong Kings
6 Dhaka Dynamites
8 Dolphins
39 England
144 Essex Eagles
29 Karachi Kings
15 Kings XI Punjab
15 Rangpur Riders
9 Sunrisers Hyderabad
5 Sydney Sixers

Essex Eagles v Kent Spitfires
Vitality Blast
Friday 17 August
The Cloudfm County Ground, Chelmsford

Essex Eagles Team | Varun Chopra (6), Adam Wheater (31) (wk), Paul Walter (22), Dan Lawrence (28), Ravi Bopara (25), Ashar Zaidi (99), Michael Pepper (19), Matt Coles (1), Simon Harmer (13) (c), Aron Nijjar (24), Shane Snater (29).

Kent Spitfires | Joe Denly (6), Daniel Bell-Drummond (23), Heino Kuhn (4), Sam Billings (7) (c & wk), Alex Blake (10), Sean Dickson (58), Greg Stewart (9), Callum Haggett (25), Adam Milne (20), Mitch Claydon (8), Imran Qayyum (11).

Toss | Kent Spitfires who elected to field.

Umpires | Ian Blackwell & Jeff Evans

Result | Kent Spitfires win by 5 wickets

Match Report | Essex Eagles were on the wrong side of a thrilling Vitality Blast clash at The Cloudfm County Ground as Kent Spitfires emerged victorious with just one delivery to spare. Replying to a total of 201 for 6, the visitors achieved victory by five wickets to clinch a home draw in the quarter-finals.

It ended up as a bitter-sweet experience for Essex Eagles all-rounder Ravi Bopara. First he struck an unbeaten 25 from only ten balls and then was able to celebrate his 200th wicket in this format of the game while being the pick of the Essex bowlers with one for 22 from his four overs.

It was also Ravi’s 300th appearance in domestic T20 around the world, one in which he has amassed 5,993 runs.

Essex Eagles, who were put into bat, got off to a flying start through Varun Chopra and Adam Wheater, the pair sharing in an opening stand of 72 before the latter holed out to deep mid-wicket for 40 from 26 deliveries, an effort containing a six among his seven boundaries.

Chopra was bowled by Joe Denly for 37 while Paul Walter and Ashar Zaidi made their presence felt by entering the 20’s before they were dismissed.

Faced with a testing target, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Denly wasted no time in setting about the Essex Eagles bowlers.

They raised the 50 in the fifth over and had progressed to 98 before being separated in the 9th over, Denly being caught on the long-off boundary when five runs short of his half-century.

Bopara arrived on the scene and bowled Heino Kuhn in the next over to claim his slice of history, a dismissal that paved the way for Sam Billings to hit a quick fire 33 from nineteen balls. It contained two sixes and four fours before he was removed by off-spinner Simon Harmer, who was skippering the Eagles in the absence of the rested Ryan ten Doeschate.

Alex Blake scored 19 that helped carry the Spitfires to 182 before he became the fourth wicket to fall before he picked out Matt Coles when facing the bowling of Shane Snater.

Thirty-three runs were required from the last three overs with Bell-Drummond still at the crease as he continued to gather his runs in confident style. He was still there when Coles began the final over against his former colleagues with Kent Spitfires still needing nine runs.

Bell-Drummond struck the first delivery to the boundary but was caught in the deep off the next ball after contributing 80 from fifty one deliveries with the aid of three 6’s and eight 4’s.

Two singles came off the next two balls before Grant Stewart found the boundary to condemn Essex to their season 8th defeat of the Vitality Blast season.

The Essex Eagles bring their Vitality Blast season to a close this evening when they entertain Kent Spitfires at The Cloudfm County Ground starting at 6:30pm.

Having completed the double over Middlesex with a 6-wicket victory at Lord’s last night, the Eagles are in good heart as they look to end their T20 season with another win.

The match this evening carries plenty of meaning, although they cannot make the latter stages, the Eagles are eager to sign off the Vitality Blast competition with a victory in front of their own fans whilst the Spitfires are assured of a place in the quarter-finals.

The ultra-consistent Varun Chopra recorded his 6th T20 half-century of the summer, but the stand-out performance came from Dan Lawrence. The 21-year-old hit 86, the highest score of the match, and when he was dismissed, he had carried his side to within 27 runs of victory. He also became only the second Eagles batsman to reach 50 in the T20 format this year.

Speaking about the game, Lawrence said: “It was a fantastic win and to chase down 210 is no mean feat. It was important for us to get back to winning ways having been without a victory for some while and hopefully, we can carry that momentum into tonight’s match and then onto the 6 Championship games that are left, and we can have a real push at that.

“It was nice to get the opportunity for me to bat a bit higher against Middlesex, it was nice to have a couple of powerplay overs to face when it is easier to score boundaries. I thought Varun played beautifully and we had a lot of fun in our partnership (105 in 10 overs).

“We are looking forward to tonight’s match with Kent Spitfires, and hopefully we can deliver a match-winning performance in front of our own Chelmsford crowd.”

Essex Eagles squad to face Kent Spitfires:

Ryan ten Doeschate (27) (C)
Adam Wheater (31) (WK)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Varun Chopra (6)
Matt Coles (1)
Sam Cook (16)
Simon Harmer (11)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Aron Nijjar (24)
Peter Siddle (64)
Shane Snater (29)
Paul Walter (22)
Ashar Zaidi (99)

Middlesex v Essex Eagles
Vitality Blast
Thursday 16 August
Lord’s, London

Middlesex Team | Paul Stirling, Dawid Malan (c), John Simpson (wk), Eoin Morgan, Stevie Eskinazi, James Franklin, George Scott, James Fuller, James Harris, Nathan Sowter, Steven Finn.

Essex Eagles Team |  Adam Wheater (wk), Varun Chopra, Paul Walter, Ryan ten Doeschate (c), Dan Lawrence, Ravi Bopra, Ashar Zaidi, Simon Harmer, Matt Coles, Peter Siddle, Sam Cook.

Toss | Essex Eagles who elected to field

Umpires | Tim Robinson & Ben Debenham

Result | Essex Eagles win by 6 wickets

Match Report | The Eagles ended a wretched run of 10 matches without a win in the Vitality Blast when they beat Middlesex by 6 wickets with 4 balls to spare at Lord’s on Thursday night.

Dan Lawrence and Varun Chopra both hit half-centuries to put the Eagles on course for the win but the visitors needed to post their highest score of the season in the competition to clinch the points.

Replying to the Middlesex total of 210 for 3, Lawrence hit his highest T20 career score of 86 that included 4 sixes and 7 fours in a stay at the crease lasting 46 balls and became only the second Eagles batsman to pass fifty this season.

The other was the consistent and dependable Chopra who reached 51, his sixth half-century of the T20 campaign. The pair combined for a stand worth 105 in 10 overs after Adam Wheater and Paul Walter had departed cheaply. Chopra’s innings spanned 33 balls and contained seven boundaries, two of them sixes.

Lawrence mixed the conventional with the audacious and drove and carved impressively whilst Chopra was effective as he kept the scoring rate ticking along assisted by some sloppy Middlesex fielding.

The opener was eventually bowled with the total on 137 in the 14th over leaving Ravi Bopara to join Lawrence in a 47 runs partnership before Lawrence was finally bowled by Steven Finn when he stepped across his stumps intending to work the ball into the leg side.

Thirty three runs were needed from the final three overs but Bopara, who was dropped on 6 and 18, and Ashar Zaidi made light of the task and when the last over arrived, only 6 were required.

Zaidi found the boundary when facing the first delivery, the second was adjudged a wide to leave the scores level before a single brought the Eagles a long-awaited success. Bopara was 31 not out from 15 balls and Zaidi was unbeaten on 20 having faced just 8 balls, four of which he dispatched to the ropes, as the Eagles reached the winning post.

Paul Stirling and Eoin Morgan thumped their way to scores of 78 and 77 respectively as the Eagles attack felt the force of the bat-wielding duo as Middlesex posted 210 for 3.

There were 15 maximum blows during the home side’s onslaught including 8 by Morgan and 4 by Stirling. They were merciless in dealing with the visitors attack. Morgan cleared the ropes four times when facing Coles and three times in one over against Walter whilst Stirling collected a couple of sixes from both Sam Cook and Zaidi.

Stirling and Morgan posted 77 in 8 overs for the third wicket after the former and John Simpson had put on 66 for the second wicket to carry the score to 75 before Simpson gave a return catch to Simon Harmer.

Cook had earlier removed Dawid Malan for 8 but successes with the ball for the Eagles were few and far between.

Stirling eventually holed out to Harmer at long-off having faced 52 balls which also included 8 fours in his boundary tally whilst Morgan was unbeaten in his 39-ball onslaught.

At the halfway stage, Middlesex were 75 for 2 but then bat dominated ball particularly in the last five overs when 78 runs were added.

Essex Cricket can today confirm that a review of the Club’s match day refund policy has now taken place.

Ticket buyers eligible for a refund as a result of the abandoned Vitality Blast T20 match against Gloucestershire on Friday 10 August will now receive a refund without the need to return their match day tickets. The administration fee of £2 to cover the cost of the refund has also been scrapped.

Membership & Ticketing Manager, Rowan Bangs said of the decision;

“After Friday’s abandonment we felt that our refund policy should be reviewed and the Executive Board backed this.

“Fortunately, very few games have been abandoned in recent years, but this latest abandonment has highlighted that our refund policy had become outdated.

“We strive to offer an excellent customer experience to our fans & supporters and despite the game being cancelled for reasons beyond the Club’s control, we hope this change in our policy reflects our commitment to offer a fantastic entertainment experience.”

Ticket buyers who purchased their tickets over the phone or online will receive their refund to the card used at purchase. Season ticket holders who purchased their ticket over the phone or online will also receive a pro-rata payment to the card used at purchase.

Match and season ticket buyers who purchased their tickets in person by cash or cheque, will receive a refund via cheque whilst those who made payment by chip & pin will be contacted via our Membership & Ticketing Office to arrange refund.

Should you require further information, please contact The Membership & Ticketing Office between 10am-4pm on 01245 254010.