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The Indian Summer is Set to Continue This Week
The fine weather is set to continue and so is the great cricket at The Cloudfm County with the visit of India over three days this week. This year’s Tourist match sees Essex take on the World’s No. 1 Test side.
This match is India’s only warm-up game before the five match Test series against England which starts on August 1 at Edgbaston. Virat Kohli has named his star-studded squad for the series, which includes the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan and Ishant Sharma.
The game begins on Wednesday 25, through to Friday 27 July with play starting at 11am on each day. Tickets are on sale now priced from just £15 Adults, £10 Students & Young Adults (18-25) and £5 Juniors (U18s).
India Test squad to face Essex:
Virat Kohli (Captain)
Shikhar Dhawan
Kannaur Rahul
Murali Vijay
Cheteshwar Pujara
Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain)
Karun Nair
Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper)
Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper)
Ravi Ashwin
Ravindra Jadeja
Kuldeep Yadav
Hardik Pandya
Ishant Sharma
Mohammed Shami
Umesh Yadav
Jasprit Bumrah
Shardul Thakur
MATCH PREVIEW | ESSEX EAGLES v HAMPSHIRE
Essex will be back in action this afternoon when they meet Hampshire at The Cloudfm County Ground in a Vitality Blast fixture that starts at 5pm.
It was less than 24 hours ago that the Eagles collected a point from their match with Gloucestershire in Cheltenham, after rain forced the abandonment of the game with Essexs, who had been put into bat, still in the penultimate over of their innings.
That point lifted the Eagles up one place in the South Division and they start today’s contest in seventh place, against opponents who are currently propping up the table despite last night’s win against Middlesex, although they have played one match fewer than most teams in the group.
Eagles Head Coach Anthony McGrath is looking for his side to improve on their record so far in the competition, a record that has seen them collect just three points from their first five matches.
“This South Group is evenly matched, anyone can beat anyone but we do need a win just to give us some momentum going into the second part of the competition.” he acknowledged.
“It’s going to be a really important fixture for us but it’s a tough game. Hampshire has not started their T20 season well either and we’ll have a look at the pitch before deciding what our side is going to be. I believe we will be using the pitch that we used against Glamorgan which means it might spin a bit more but we’ll have to wait and see before deciding our starting line-up.”
On a number of occasions in the Vitality Blast this season, the middle-order have failed to build on a good start to the innings and that has left the Eagles short of an acceptable par-score.
“We need to address the way we are going about our innings at the moment, we really do need to get some impetus going, I keep repeating myself here but we do need someone to go on and get an 80 or 90 and put in a match-winning performance.” McGrath continued.
“We need to turn things around. We’ve got nine games left and we are going to have to win more than we lose to go through in this competition, that’s a fact.”
ESSEX SQUAD:
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) Captain
Adam Wheater (31) wicket-keeper
Ravi Bopara (25)
Varun Chopra (6)
Matt Coles (1)
Sam Cook (16)
Simon Harmer (11)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Jamie Porter (44)
Matt Quinn (94)
Neil Wagner (13)
Tom Westley (21)
Ashar Zaidi (99)
Adam Zampa (88)
‘Walk for Wheels’ Head to Chelmsford for Hampshire Clash
For one group of cricket fans, the journey to The Cloudfm County Ground for Saturday’s Vitality Blast match between Essex Eagles and Hampshire will take a bit longer than normal as they walk 20 miles to the ground in aid of Lord’s Taverners charitable projects in Essex.
More than 20 walkers made up of Essex Lord’s and Lady Taverners members and supporters of the charity will be taking part in Walk For Wheels – a challenge to raise money for projects across the county including a new specially adapted minibus for Corbets Tey School in Upminster.
The walk will start at Maldon High Street at just after 9am and continue along the River Chelmer stopping off for refreshments at Heybridge Basin, courtesy of Tiptree Tearoom. The next stop will be at Paper Mill Lock before continuing on to Chelmsford finishing at The Cloudfm County Ground in time for the match.
Along with the minibus for Corbets Tey School, other projects in Essex to benefit from the work of the charity this year include a 17-seater minibus for the Endeavour School in Brentwood, outdoor fitness equipment at Thriftwood School, Chelmsford and Anderson School (National Autistic Society), Chigwell. The charity is also providing three sports wheelchairs to All Ability Leisure in Harlow and granting funding to Freya Levy, an Essex athlete who requires funding for a new bespoke sports wheelchair.
To date the walkers have raised £6,500 but with the kind support of everyone at Essex and supporters at the game, they are hoping to add to this through bucket collections.
Spencer Davis, Chairman of the Essex Lord’s Taverners, said: “Many local companies and supporters have really got behind the Essex Sporting Chance – Walk for Wheels and while it’s going to be a challenge for everyone taking part, it’s also going to be a hugely rewarding day as we look to raise money for some fantastic and vital projects across Essex. We’d like to thank everyone who has helped organise the walk and also to Essex County Cricket Club and 71M for allowing us to finish on a high at what everyone hopes will be a sold out Cloudfm County Ground.”
The Club wish all the walkers the best of luck and you can donate in support of Walk for Wheels – Here.
MATCH PREVIEW | GLOUCESTERSHIRE v ESSEX EAGLES
With just one success to show from their opening four matches in the Vitality Blast, the Eagles will be looking to turn around their form when they play back-to-back matches this week, starting with a trip to Cheltenham where they meet Gloucestershire on Friday starting at 5:30pm.
Then, on Saturday, Hampshire visit The Cloudfm County Ground for a match that starts at 5pm.
One player who has been outstanding for the Eagles during the Vitality Blast campaign so far is Adam Zampa. The leg-spinner has taken seven wickets including 2 for 20 against Surrey and 3 for 17 in the match with Glamorgan.
The Australian believes that the Eagles need to start a winning run now if they are to maintain an interest in the competition.
“For me, I think the next game is pretty much do-or-die,” said the 26-year-old.
“Win that and the one on Saturday and we’ll be on a roll and in T20 cricket, things can turn around very quickly but we need to show some character now.
“The two defeats in as many days last week were hugely disappointing. To be honest, we weren’t at our best in any facet of the game on those occasions and so we didn’t deserve to come away with anything.”
Zampa pointed the finger at the reasons for the Eagles shortcomings
“We do have the skills but we’ve made some poor decisions and we need to get the mental side of the game right,” he reasoned.
“We are losing crucial moments in games at the moment and that’s costing us. We need to put things right pretty quickly otherwise the competition is going to be out of our reach.”
Zampa, who has played in 13 T20 internationals and also made 31 One-day appearances for his country, is delighted with his own form at present.
“I’m very happy with my game at the moment and to be honest, I think I’m bowling as well as I’ve ever done in this format,” he admitted.
“That’s all well and good for me but I’m here to help the team win matches and it sucks to be on the losing side. Hopefully, we can turn things around quickly.”
The Eagles have named an unchanged 13-man squad for Friday’s game.
Essex squad to face Gloucestershire:
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) Captain
Adam Wheater (31) wicket-keeper
Ravi Bopara (25)
Varun Chopra (6)
Matt Coles (1)
Sam Cook (16)
Simon Harmer (11)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Matt Quinn (94)
Neil Wagner (13)
Tom Westley (21)
Ashar Zaidi (99)
Adam Zampa (88)
Plom Stars As England U19s Clinch South Africa Test Series
Jack Plom featured for England U19s as they produced a fantastic comeback against South Africa to win by four wickets and seal the series.
South Africa batted first and reached 209, whilst England were bowled out for 133 in the first innings and trailed by 76 runs.
The England bowlers responded well with Adam Finch taking four wickets and Jack Plom striking twice to dismiss the tourists for 90.
This set England a target of 167 to win and some early wickets put the pressure on, but good batting from Tom Banton (34) and Jack Davies (32*) ensured England the win and wrapped up the Test series.
Speaking about England’s fightback, England Under-19s coach Jon Lewis said: “Jack Plom sparked it and the rest were able to jump on the back of it. I’ve seen already in my short term as England Under-19s head coach at this level the pressure can get to teams. The third innings the pressure got to our opposition and our guys really stamped their authority on the game.”
Varun Chopra Wins DeVines Player Of The Month
Varun Chopra has been named the DeVines Player of the Month for May after picking up 64% of the votes, beating Peter Siddle, Ravi Bopara and Adam Wheater to the award.
The opener was impressive with the bat during May, and posted totals of 59 against Middlesex, 61 against Surrey and 98 not out against Glamorgan.
However, his most notable display came against Somerset where he scored 160 runs in 149 balls and hit 9 fours and 6 sixes.
Essex V Glamorgan Vitality Scorecard
Surrey V Essex Vitality Scorecard
Essex V Middlesex Vitality Scorecard
