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Following last night’s defeat by Kent Spitfires at Canterbury, the Eagles are in Vitality Blast action again today when they face Somerset at Taunton starting at 4:30pm.

The matches continue to come thick and fast for the Eagles who then entertain Surrey on Sunday before hitting the road again, this time to Cardiff to meet Glamorgan on Tuesday.

Speaking on the match congestion, Assistant Head Coach Dimitri Mascarenhas said: “This is a big block of fixtures for us. This match with Somerset is a huge game for us and we must start to hit the winning trail. There is little or no room for any setbacks.”

Mascarenhas assessed the start the Eagles have made in the competition this summer.

“I think our bowling generally in T20 cricket this year has been pretty good. It’s always a tough game for bowlers with the small grounds and flat wickets but I think our bowlers are just ahead of our batters at the moment.

“If we can just get a few more runs on the board, I think our bowlers are more than capable of winning matches for us.

“1 or 2 overs per game have caused up problems but when you look back, other factors have contributed to our indifferent start. Dropped catches for example and a costly over here and there have caused us problems.

“If we could just cut out that over that’s been costing us 20 or so runs a time and get that down to 9 or 10, then I think we’d be fine.”

Mascarenhas is also urging the batters to contribute a few significant innings to support the bowling attack.

“We’ve only posted 2 half-centuries this season and both of those have been by the same player so those other guys need to step up but they know that.

“They will be mindful that once they get into the 30’s and 40’s, they need to kick on and get a substantial score. A couple got in last night against Kent but were then dismissed and that is costing us heavily.

“We need to start winning matches now starting with Somerset tonight. We’ve still got half of our matches to play, there are 14 points at stake and there’s still time for us to get ourselves right into the mix but it’s in our own hands.”

The Eagles have just re-introduced former Australian Test bowler Peter Siddle into their side and Mascarenhas has welcomed his return:

“He will be good for us, he knows the lads really well from the time he spent with us earlier in the season and he fits ideally into our group.

“This will be a bit of a challenge for him, but we know what he can do and what he’s capable of and all the boys will benefit from his presence on and off the field.”

The Eagles are already without Tom Westley who is suffering from an elbow injury and Dan Lawrence picked up a hamstring injury whilst fielding during last night’s match. As a result, Michael Pepper has been drafted into the squad.

Essex Eagles squad to face Somerset:

Ryan ten Doeschate (27) Captain
Adam Wheater (31) Wicket-keeper
Ravi Bopara (25)
Varun Chopra (6)
Matt Coles (1)
Sam Cook (16)
James Foster (7) Wicket-keeper
Simon Harmer (11)
Michael Pepper (19) Wicket-keeper
Jamie Porter (44)
Matt Quinn (94)
Peter Siddle (64)
Paul Walter (22)
Adam Zampa (88)

Kent Spitfires v Essex Eagles
Vitality Blast
Thursday 02 August
The Spitfire Ground, St. Lawrence, Canterbury

Kent Spitfires Team |  Denly (6), Bell-Drummond (23), Khun (4), Billings (7) (c & wk), Blake (10), Stoinis (17), Dickson (58), Haggett (25), Milne (20), Quayum (11), Thomas (5).

Essex Eagles Team |  Wheater (31), Chopra (6), Walter (22), ten Doeschate (27) (c), Lawrence (28), Bopara (25), Harmer (11), Coles (1), Siddle (64), Zampa (88), Porter (44).

Toss |  Kent Spitfires, who elected to bat

Umpires | Rob Bailey & Michael Burns.

Result | Kent Spitfires win by 28 runs.

Match Highlights:

Match Report:

Essex Eagles crashed to a 28 runs defeat when they were dismissed for 163 in the Vitality Blast match with Kent Spitfires at Canterbury.

Chasing 192 for victory, the Eagles lost openers Varun Chopra and Adam Wheater for 4 and 0 respectively inside the first three overs with 13 on the board before Ryan ten Doeschate and Paul Walter staged a revival.

The pair put on 64 in seven overs before ten Doeschate, having scored 34 from 25 balls, lost his wicket when he dragged a delivery from Calum Haggett onto his stumps.

Then Walter, playing his first T20 match of the summer, fell in the next over when he drive to mid-off to end a 25-ball innings worth 40 runs. That departure left the visitors 83 for 4 in the 11th over.

Ravi Bopara and Dan Lawrence added a quick 24 but by then, Essex were chasing the game.

Lawrence, batting with a runner (Wheater) was caught at long-off for 8 but Bopara clubbed 3 sixes and 2 fours on his way to 42 before he became one of four wickets for paceman Adam Milne.

That left the Eagles 148 for 8 but Milne claimed out the remaining wickets to finish with 4 for 15 from his 4 overs with only Matt Coles offering any resistance with 19.

Earlier Sam Billings with an unbeaten 56 underpinned the Spitfires challenging total of 191 for 4. The Spitfires captain and wicket-keeper arrived at the crease in the 9th over and faced 39 balls striking 1 six 6 and 6 other boundaries and figures in a century stand of 110 in 11 overs with Kent newcomer Marcus Stoinis who made 47.

The pair led a recovery by the home side from 79 for 3 in the 8th over and the partnership was only ended when Stoinis was run out in the final over when, going for a second run but failing to beat the throw from ten Doeschate. Stoinis had faced 33 balls and struck 3 sixes, two in succession when facing Simon Harmer.

The first wicket pair of Joe Denly and Daniel Bell Drummond put on 43 in 5 overs before a wonderful catch by Lawrence ended the partnership. Stationed in the deep, Lawrence appeared to be running over the ropes but neat footwork allowed him to knock the ball up inside the field of play before completing the catch to send Bell-Drummond on his way for 19.

That was the first of two wickets for Adam Zampa who had Heino Kuhn caught by Wheater for 22 on his way to figures of 2 for 31.

The other wicket-taker was Simon Harmer (1 for 39) who had Denly caught at long on by Walter.

Essex Eagles have a busy schedule of Vitality Blast cricket ahead with three matches in four days, starting with a trip to The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury where Kent Spitfires are the opponents on Thursday evening (starting at 7pm).

Then the Essex Eagles continue on the road with a match at Taunton on Friday against Somerset (4:30pm) before hosting Surrey on Sunday afternoon at The Cloudfm County Ground commencing at 2:30pm.

Kent Spitfires and Somerset are amongst the pace-setters in the Vitality Blast South Group both having 9 points from 7 matches and holding second and third places respectively.

Essex Eagles Head Coach Anthony McGrath refuses to concede that his side are out of contention for a top-four position and a place in the knockout stages.

“Things can turn around quickly in T20 cricket and with 8 matches to go, there are still a lot of points to play for” he said.

“Having said that, we are probably looking at winning 5 or maybe 6 of our remaining matches so that’s going to be tough but it can be done.

“We’ve thrown away a few points this season and we came close to winning a couple of our recent games without playing well. So we know that if we can raise our game up a notch, we can get a winning run going.

“Obviously, at this stage, we are under pressure to get things right quickly so after these next three matches, we’ll have a pretty good idea of where we are in this seasons T20 cricket.

“The players are frustrated because we are not replicating out on the pitch what they’ve been doing in training. We need a batter to provide a 70 or 80 and with the ball, we seem to concede one over of 20 or 25 which is killing us, so we need to cut that out.”

New Zealander Neil Wagner has now returned to his native country following the end of his contract with the county and that allows the return of Australian paceman Peter Siddle who was with Essex for the first 5 Championship matches of the campaign.

“Peter rejoins us and is available for the remainder of the T20 campaign and it will be good to have him around to join up with his fellow Aussie Adam Zampa who has been excellent for us” McGrath continued.

“There are few niggles in the regular squad and we might have to change the side around a bit.

“We know what we’ve got to do now if we want to get to the next stage in the competition so we’ve really got to go for it starting with the next three games” he concluded.

The Eagles will take a 14-man squad to Canterbury that includes Jamie Porter who was called up for the England squad for the First Test with India but was omitted from the starting XI. The seamer has been made available by the ECB for the next two Vitality Blast matches. However Tom Westley misses the game due to an elbow injury.

Essex Eagles squad to face Kent Spitfires:

Ryan ten Doeschate (27) Captain
Adam Wheater (31) Wicket-keeper
Ravi Bopara (25)
Varun Chopra (6)
Matt Coles (1)
Sam Cook (16)
James Foster (7) Wicket-keeper
Simon Harmer (11)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Jamie Porter (44)
Matt Quinn (94)
Peter Siddle (64)
Paul Walter (22)
Adam Zampa (88)

Essex Eagles have a busy schedule of Vitality Blast cricket ahead with three matches in four days, starting with a trip to The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury where Kent Spitfires are the opponents on Thursday evening (starting at 7pm).

Then the Essex Eagles continue on the road with a match at Taunton on Friday against Somerset (4:30pm) before hosting Surrey on Sunday afternoon at The Cloudfm County Ground commencing at 2:30pm.

Kent Spitfires and Somerset are amongst the pace-setters in the Vitality Blast South Group both having 9 points from 7 matches and holding second and third places respectively.

Essex Eagles Head Coach Anthony McGrath refuses to concede that his side are out of contention for a top-four position and a place in the knockout stages.

“Things can turn around quickly in T20 cricket and with 8 matches to go, there are still a lot of points to play for” he said.

“Having said that, we are probably looking at winning 5 or maybe 6 of our remaining matches so that’s going to be tough but it can be done.

“We’ve thrown away a few points this season and we came close to winning a couple of our recent games without playing well. So we know that if we can raise our game up a notch, we can get a winning run going.

“Obviously, at this stage, we are under pressure to get things right quickly so after these next three matches, we’ll have a pretty good idea of where we are in this seasons T20 cricket.

“The players are frustrated because we are not replicating out on the pitch what they’ve been doing in training. We need a batter to provide a 70 or 80 and with the ball, we seem to concede one over of 20 or 25 which is killing us, so we need to cut that out.”

New Zealander Neil Wagner has now returned to his native country following the end of his contract with the county and that allows the return of Australian paceman Peter Siddle who was with Essex for the first 5 Championship matches of the campaign.

“Peter rejoins us and is available for the remainder of the T20 campaign and it will be good to have him around to join up with his fellow Aussie Adam Zampa who has been excellent for us” McGrath continued.

“There are few niggles in the regular squad and we might have to change the side around a bit.

“We know what we’ve got to do now if we want to get to the next stage in the competition so we’ve really got to go for it starting with the next three games” he concluded.

The Eagles will take a 14-man squad to Canterbury that includes Jamie Porter who was called up for the England squad for the First Test with India but was omitted from the starting XI. The seamer has been made available by the ECB for the next two Vitality Blast matches. However Tom Westley misses the game due to an elbow injury.

Essex Eagles squad to face Kent Spitfires:

Ryan ten Doeschate (27) Captain
Adam Wheater (31) Wicket-keeper
Ravi Bopara (25)
Varun Chopra (6)
Matt Coles (1)
Sam Cook (16)
James Foster (7) Wicket-keeper
Simon Harmer (11)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Jamie Porter (44)
Matt Quinn (94)
Peter Siddle (64)
Paul Walter (22)
Adam Zampa (88)

Essex supports Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign to make sport everyone’s game

Essex have joined the Rainbow Laces campaign to celebrate lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT) players and fans at every level of cricket.

The ECB has joined forces with LGBT equity charity Stonewall to bring Rainbow Laces to the Vitality Blast and Kia Super League this coming weekend. The campaign will see thousands of players and fans lace up their Rainbow Laces on 27 – 29 July, to show that cricket is everyone’s game and that LGBT people are welcome and included at every level.

Although the Eagles are not in Vitality Blast action this weekend, the Club and playing squad are supporting this great campaign.

We know that most fans welcome and accept LGBT people in sport. However, we can’t let a minority of fans spoil the game and make LGBT fans feel unwelcome watching or playing cricket.

By supporting Rainbow Laces we are stepping up to show that offensive chants, language and behaviour have no place in our game.

Join us and Stonewall to make sport everyone’s game.

www.stonewall.org.uk/sport