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The Essex 2nd XI will enjoy the setting of Arundel Castle this afternoon for T20 finals day, and at the beginning of September contest the Championship final, the culmination of a season in which they have lost just 2 games in the short format and remain unbeaten with the red ball.

Record-making run machine Rishi Patel has been a backbone in the understudy side, and was rewarded for a phenomenal season in which he averages just under 100, when elevated for his first-team debut against India 2 weeks ago.

Speaking on the match, the former Brentwood School all-rounder said: “It was a really great experience, it has definitely shown me that I want to play at that level, and I want to get into the first team more regularly and hopefully kick on. It’s made my desire grow and grow.”

Although he averages just below 20 in T20 cricket, having hit 141 runs with a highest score of 53 not out, it is in the longer game that Patel has excelled. The 20-year-old has a sequence of 104, 133, 54, 75, 15*, 11, 36*, 117, 151, 118 and 70 in his 11 visits to the crease for a total of 885 runs, an average of 98.33.

He also has the chance to break Darren Robinson’s 25-year record of most centuries (5) in a 2nd XI season, with a maximum of 4 innings in which to do so.

When talking about his individual performance this year, Patel said: “It’s been an amazing season, it’s gone better than I expected. Once you get the first 100 out the way, you just grow in confidence, and I’ve gone from strength to strength. We’re coming towards the end of the season and I just want to push on and get as many runs as I can.”

Patel is nearing the end of a gap year and is heading to Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge next month. During his break from education, he spent time in the Melbourne suburb of North Balwyn playing club cricket for St Barnabas, finishing as the top run-scorer and top wicket-taker, and that provided the platform for this summer of success.

“I came back a better player, I think. I’ve been able to concentrate on cricket and not worry about schoolwork or any of the other distractions. I’ve been able to just focus on performing to the best of my ability. It’s been really important.”

With the likes of Paul Walter and Michael Pepper making the step-up to first-team action in recent weeks, Patel is very aware that progression through the ranks is possible.

“You can see there’s a path, and you just have to keep performing and bide your time until that call comes. Then you have to make the most of it. We’re all fighting and pushing to try and play in the ones. I’ve just got to knuckle down, work hard and hopefully I’ll get there.”

Essex 2nd XI face Durham 2nd XI in their semi-final today (1.45pm start), with the winners meeting Gloucestershire or Lancashire in the final (5pm). Then the already-crowned Southern champions play Surrey 2nd XI at New Maldon next Monday in their remaining Championship fixture before the final against the champions of the North, starting on September 4.

After a run of fine performances, Barry Hyam’s Second XI side will head to the Second XI T20 Finals Day on Thursday full of confidence. They come against Durham in the semi-final in the picturesque setting of Arundel Castle.

Durham finished second in the North Group with 18 points, having won 9 and lost 3. They have the likes of James Weighell and Ryan Pringle in their side who both who have First Team experience, plus their Vitality Blast hero, Liam Trevaskis who took a two wicket maiden over against Lancashire on Tuesday evening.

Barry Hyam has named his squad ahead of the match with Michael Pepper, Paul Walter and Ashar Zaidi all rejoining the Second XI after coming into the First Team squad this week at Cardiff.

Essex Second XI won the Southern Division by 4 points, having won 8, lost 2 and having 2 no results over the 12 games, accumulating 18 points.

The game will begin at 1:45pm with the winner set to face either Gloucestershire or Lancashire in the final at 5pm.

Gloucestershire were runners-up to Essex in the Southern Division, after winning 7 matches and losing 5, whilst Lancashire topped the Northern Division and boast the best record in the country, having won 10 games and losing just 2. This first semi-final will commence at 10:30am.

Essex Second XI squad to face Durham:

Chris Benjamin
Nick Browne
Sam Cook
Matt Dixon
Feroze Khushi
Rishi Patel
Michael Pepper (wk)
Aron Nijjar (c)
Jack Plom
Shane Snater
Paul Walter
Ashar Zaidi

The Essex Eagles remaining Vitality Blast home matches are now sold out! With just two games remaining in this year’s competition at The Cloudfm County Ground, the ever-present Chelmsford crowds will be packing in to see their county in action against Gloucestershire (August 10) and Kent Spitfires (August 17) on the two upcoming Friday nights.

In what has been a disappointing campaign so far, the fans have continued to support the team both home and away. The Club would like to thank all the supporters who have attended this year’s competition and we look forward to welcoming you to the ground for the final games.

The 2018 continues into late August with the return of the Specsavers County Championship competition, beginning with the visit of Hampshire as we head into September.

The Essex Eagles remaining Vitality Blast home matches are now sold out! With just two games remaining in this year’s competition at The Cloudfm County Ground, the ever-present Chelmsford crowds will be packing in to see their county in action against Gloucestershire (August 10) and Kent Spitfires (August 17) on the two upcoming Friday nights.

In what has been a disappointing campaign so far, the fans have continued to support the team both home and away. The Club would like to thank all the supporters who have attended this year’s competition and we look forward to welcoming you to the ground for the final games.

The 2018 continues into late August with the return of the Specsavers County Championship competition, beginning with the visit of Hampshire as we head into September.

The Essex Eagles will be hoping their fortunes change when they travel to Cardiff to face Glamorgan in a Vitality Blast match on Tuesday (start time 6:30PM).

Defeat on Sunday by Surrey left the Eagles bottom of the South Group table with 5 matches remaining of the Vitality Blast T20 season.

One of the plus points for the Eagles in this format has been Varun Chopra. The opener has recorded 4 half-centuries, the latest on Sunday at The Cloudfm County Ground.

Yet he feels that he could improve:

“I still think I could be doing more, I’ve got to try and get that 80 or 100 and help get that really big total for us. Things aren’t going great for us and we need an individual in an Essex shirt to stand up and put that match-winning innings in for us.”

Chopra also expressed disappointment at how the Vitality Blast T20 season has gone:

“To be honest, we’ve been out-skilled in all three departments and that’s something we have to look at moving forward and there is obviously a lot of room for improvement.

“We haven’t been skilful enough and we’ve got a lot of work to do. It may be an opportunity for us to try out a few new things and we shouldn’t be afraid of that.

“We have to draw a line under this latest setback and go down to Cardiff on Tuesday and try to get the win there. Whenever you put on an Essex shirt, you are playing for the badge and with pride and you want to go out and perform.

“There is still a lot to play for because we need to show good form going into red-ball cricket and be showing good character which I think is important now. I’m sure the management and skipper will be looking for that so it’s up to the players to respond.”

Essex Eagles squad to face Glamorgan:

Ryan ten Doeschate (27) (C)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Varun Chopra (6)
Matt Coles (1)
Sam Cook (16)
Simon Harmer (11)
Michael Pepper (19) (WK)
Matt Quinn (94)
Peter Siddle (64)
Paul Walter (22)
Adam Wheater (31) (WK)
Ashar Zaidi (99)
Adam Zampa (88)

The Essex 2nd XI have been drawn against Durham 2nd XI in the T20 semi-final on Thursday in Arundel.

Essex 2nd XI won the Southern Division by 4 points, having won 8, lost 2 and having 2 no results in their 12 games, accumulating 18 points.

Their opponents Durham 2nd XI also amassed 18 points, having won 9 and lost 3 of their matches, meaning Thursday’s encounter could be a close one.

The game will begin at 1:45PM with the winner set to face either Gloucestershire 2nd XI or Lancashire 2nd XI in the final.

Gloucestershire 2nd XI were runners-up to Essex 2nd XI in the Southern Division, after winning 7 matches and losing 5, whilst Lancashire 2nd XI topped the Northern Division and boast the best record in the country, having won 10 games and losing just 2.

Their semi-final will commence at 10:30AM, with the final beginning at 5PM.

Essex Eagles continue the Vitality Blast campaign when Surrey visit The Cloudfm County Ground on Sunday starting at 2:30pm.
 
The Eagles suffered a 10 wickets defeat to Somerset at Taunton on Friday, a result that severely damaged hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of this season’s competition. 

Skipper Ryan ten Doeschate spoke out following the disappointing loss at Taunton and promised that forward thinking  was already on the agenda. 
 
“We are embarrassed by that performance,” he said. “It has left us with a lot of hard thinking and work to be done, as we now get to the backend of this competition.”
 
Reflecting on the latest defeat in a totally one-sided match, he continued, “The ball was coming onto the bat nicely and with the small boundaries, our score was well, well below par. Once again, nobody stepped forward with the substantial contribution needed if you are going to challenge to win matches.
 
“We were going along okay at 80 for 2 but then I got out, followed by Chops [Varun Chopra] got out straight away afterwards and all of a sudden, the game has changed and then we only scored 58 from our last 10 overs. 
 
“We need someone at the top to score 60 or 70 and then the guys coming in later can build on that. Maybe we might have been able to defend 175 but we had little chance defending the poor score that we had.”
 
Reflecting on the T20 season so far, he said: “In some of the matches, we’ve been good for big periods of the game but have let the pressure slip at crucial times but obviously, we have just not been good enough.
 
“Now it’s a big job for Mags [Anthony McGrath] and the team to work out how we move forward from here. It hurts me both as skipper and as a player, as I said earlier, the Somerset defeat was embarrassing and everyone in our dressing room feels that way.
 
“So now we have to step back and make honest assessments about our T20 cricket. I know the guys have practiced hard but obviously, we are short of the skills you need to be a successful team in T20 cricket.
 
“We need to change and that’s what Mags will be working on now. We’ll use the remaining 6 games as a way of thinking and planning ahead. 
 
“We need to make some big changes.” 
 
Surrey arrive at Chelmsford sitting just outside the top-four that would book a ploce in the quarter-finals of the Vitality Blast and for the second time in as many matches, the Eagles are again under threat from the opposition’s opening batsmen.
 
Surrey include Aaron Finch, one of the most dynamic T20 batsman in world T20 cricket. The Australian thrashed an unbeaten 117 from 52 balls on Friday and was joined by another aggressive big-hitter in Jason Roy, with an opening stand worth 194 in 14 overs before eventually winning by 9 wickets against Middlesex. 

Essex Eagles squad to face Surrey: 
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) (c)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Varun Chopra (6)
Matt Coles (1)
Sam Cook (16)
Simon Harmer (11)
Michael Pepper (19) (wk)
Matt Quinn (94)
Peter Siddle (64)
Paul Walter (22)
Adam Wheater (31) (wk)
Ashar Zaidi (99)
Adam Zampa (88)

The Essex 2nd XI have secured the Southern Division after victory against Kent 2nd XI by 55 runs meant the title was wrapped up with games to spare.

Rishi Patel starred with the bat, top scoring with 118 and 70 over the 2 innings. His performance meant that meant he equalled Darren Robinson’s record of 5 centuries in a season.

Aron Nijjar took 5 wickets innings whilst Matt Dixon, Jack Plom, Callum Taylor, and Rishi Patel also contributed with dismissals of their own.

Essex will now face either Durham or Lancashire in the National final between 4-7 August; Durham top the table but have finished their season, whilst Lancashire can overtake them if they take maximum points from their remaining 2 games.

The 2nd XI will also be in action at T20 Finals Day on 9 August.

The final place and order of the Southern league is set to be decided tomorrow. Kent must win both games with a considerable run-rate swing to go ahead of Gloucestershire, whilst Essex need just a point to confirm a game against Durham.