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Here is your Cloudfm County Ground Ground Guide for the Vitality T20 Tri-Series Final between England Women and New Zealand Women on Sunday 1 July. The match is set to begin at 3pm with gates open from 1pm.

On entry, make sure you pick up your England headbands and clap-hits and cheer the England Women on to victory. 

By Train | Chelmsford Railway Station is operated by Greater Anglia and is an approximate 10 minute walk from The Cloudfm County Ground. Regular direct train services depart from Chelmsford to London, Stratford, Shenfield, Romford, Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich. Chelmsford is situated on the Liverpool Street to Norwich mainline, with 5 trains per hour to and from Central London. It takes approximately 8 minutes to walk to the ground from Chelmsford train station – More Information.

By Bus | Chelmsford Bus Station is situated on Duke Street, next to Chelmsford Train Station, with connections to all over the County. Alternatively, bus numbers 42 and 100, which are operated by First Group, stop on New London Road, which is approximately a two minute walk to the ground, via New Writtle Street – More Information.

Parking | There is no parking available at The Cloudfm County Ground for this fixture. Meteor Way Car Park is available for Members for just £1. 

High Chelmer multi-storey is also open and just a 2 minute walk from the ground. Opening hours for this Car Park have been extended until 7pm during this game – More information.

There are two entrance points to The Cloudfm County Ground on Sunday; the Driveway entrance and the River Gate. The easy accessible entrance point into the ground is via the Driveway from New Writtle Street, which is suitable for wheelchair users.

All spectators will be required to scan into the ground on arrival, and scan out, if departing more than 15 minutes before the end of play.

Gates open at 1pm for all supporters. Please arrive in good time to avoid queues and find your seat before the start of play as all seats are unallocated.

A range of food and drink will be available throughout the day with Anne’s Pantry serving at the River End of the ground. A variety of foods, including burgers, Bratwurst sausages, curries and paellas will be available with vegetarian, vegan and children’s portions available.

Alcoholic drinks will be served in reusable cups, which you will pay a £1 deposit for. This will be returned if you return the cup at the end of the match, or alternatively you’re welcome to keep as a souvenir!

England and New Zealand Women head to Chelmsford on Sunday for the Vitality IT20 Final at The Cloudfm County Ground.

The host nation, England, continued their excellent recent form and soared through the group, while New Zealand beat South Africa to clinch their place in the final.

Suzie Bates has been in outstanding form for the Kiwis, while in Tammy Beaumont and Danni Wyatt, England have two of the most destructive batters in the world.

England can also rely on exciting spinner Sophie Ecclestone, while World Cup Winner Anya Shrubsole will also appear for the hosts.

Tickets are popular and you can get yours by calling 01245 254010, or clicking here.

James Foster has set off for Canada ahead of the Global T20 Canada tournament, which begins on Thursday in Toronto. The inaugral Twenty20 competition six teams battle it out and wicket-keeper, James Foster, will be part of it.

Fozzy has taken up the role of Assistant Coach at Vancouver Knight and will be using the experience to build his coaching CV for life after cricket. Having spent much of the winter coaching in the Bangladesh Premier League with the Khulna Titans alongside Head Coach Mahela Jayawardene and gaining coaching experience with Andy Flower and Paul Farbrace with respective England teams, the 38-year-old is looking to broaden his horizons as he reaches the latter stages of his playing career.

He spoke to Essex Cricket TV before setting off for Canada and his first game of the tournament against Toronto Nationals on Thursday.

Essex-based leading housebuilder Weston Homes has signed a five-year Platinum Sponsor partnership with Essex Cricket, joining in the highest sponsorship category possible as a reflection of their commitment to the first-class county club.

The partnership will see Weston Homes sponsor the public seating stand, and have one of the largest presences in terms of branding throughout The Cloudfm County Ground.

Weston Homes will also become a headline sponsor for all the Club’s On-Pitch Marquee events, including the End of Season Gala Dinner and the boxing and darts events.

The signing of the sponsorship agreement was attended by Bob Weston, Chairman & Chief Executive of Weston Homes, Derek Bowden, Chief Executive of Essex Cricket, Darrell Fox, Essex Cricket Commercial Manager and Graham Gooch OBE, former Essex Captain, Club Ambassador.

Bob Weston and Derek Bowden

Derek Bowden, Chief Executive of Essex Cricket, added: “Weston Homes are the latest innovative, large scale business to come on-board with the County Champions as a Platinum Sponsor. We are delighted to attract such large corporate sponsors to the Club.”

Bob Weston, Chairman & Chief Executive of Weston Homes said: “Weston Homes is delighted to sponsor Essex Cricket, which has such a prestigious history and whose past and present squad contains world-class cricketers who have represented both the County and England Cricket teams. We are a big corporate sponsor, and Essex Cricket represents for us the finest values of teamwork, professionalism, quality and sportsmanship which we are proud to be associated with and support. Like the Club Weston Homes is Essex based and extremely proud of our County roots.”

Graham Gooch presenting Bob Weston with a signed shirt.

Established in 1987 and lead by Chairman & Chief Executive Bob Weston, Weston Homes is a multi-award winning residential-led developer which undertakes new build, restoration, conversion and mixed-use projects on brownfield-land sites in inner London and the South East region around the capital.

Each development undertaken is carefully chosen and designed to provide easy access to local shops, leisure and transport amenities. All the locations provide good connections into central London and include inner London sites, suburban projects and residential addresses in or near Cathedral cities, commuter hubs, market towns or villages.

You can find out more about Weston Homes by either calling 01279 873 333 or by visiting their website, www.weston-homes.com.

Essex Cricket are delighted to announce long-term sponsor, Higgins Homes, have extended their partnership with the Club until 2020.

The extension of the partnership sees Higgins Homes develop their branding around the ground and become one of several pivotal partners with the County Champions.

As a division of Higgins Group PLC, one of the largest family-owned construction companies in South East England; Higgins Homes has successfully designed, built and managed a wide portfolio of new build, estate regeneration and sensitively considered conversion projects across the South East for over 50 years.

Commercial Manager, Darrell Fox, said: “It’s great news that Higgins Homes have extended their long-standing relationship with the Club by an additional three years. We look forward to growing this partnership further in the future and sharing our success on and off the field of play.”

Higgins Homes Director, Will Higgins said: “Higgins Homes are proud to continue supporting Essex County Cricket Club, extending a relationship that stretches back to the 1970s. The development of this affiliation over the next few years will provide sustained exposure for our brand across the ground and beyond.”

Essex’s initial experience of Day/Night Championship cricket will always be remembered as ‘Harmy’s Match’. The image is still fresh of Simon Harmer wheeling away in the gloom of a mid-summer mid-evening a year ago after taking his fourteenth wicket of the match with only a handful of balls remaining.

Harmer was quickly submerged in the congratulations of his team-mates and walked off holding aloft the pink ball used for the first time in the Specsavers County Championship. He had career-best figures of nine for 95, 14 for 172 in the match, and more importantly had given Essex the growing belief that they could indeed go on and land their first title in quarter of a century.

The moment of triumph was captured in an iconic photograph that features prominently on Harmer’s Twitter account, though you won’t find a framed version on the walls of the 29-year-old off-spinner’s home just outside Chelmsford.

“If you walk into my house you’ll never see a cricket photo of me,” he says. “I try and keep my cricket life and my personal life very separate.

“I don’t care too much for personal milestones; I don’t check how many wickets I’ve taken [72 in the Championship last season, 27 so far this]. I just want to be trying to put in performances that win us games – and if I’m doing that the rest will take care of itself. My focus is solely on trying to put in match-winning performances.”

The match-winning performance under the lights against Middlesex still shines bright in his mind’s eye, though. “I remember them trying to hit me out of the attack in the first innings, and giving away silly wickets,” he says.

“And then in the second innings I think they were caught between looking to be positive and looking to play me out. The wicket was turning and they lost a lot of wickets not offering shots.

“I remember it being five or six minutes left in the day, with Steve Finn on strike. He shouldered arms to another one that was going to hit the wicket. I do remember walking off the field at the end of what was obviously a good day for us, having beaten the reigning champions.

“It was a good feeling to win a game for Essex; any bowler will take great satisfaction in winning a game for their team. But I think there were a lot more milestones than mine in that game.”

Harmer will have a pink ball in his hand again over the next four days as Essex host Somerset in this summer’s day-night game (2pm start), attempting to bounce back after a lacklustre performance against Nottinghamshire in the game that ended in heavy defeat on Saturday.

This time he will be bowling with a Kookaburra pink rather than that of rival manufacturers Duke used in 2017 as the ECB experiment to find the best version. Reports, though, on how the Kookaburra performed in day-night matches played last week are not promising. The pronounced seam apparently disappears after the 40-over mark, the ball peels and cracks and quickly becomes soft. One player said it was “like bowling with a tennis ball”.

Harmer played with a red Kookaburra in the domestic Sunfoil Series in his native South Africa during the winter, where he finished top wicket-taker. He is not surprised. “It sounds like exactly what happens to the ball out there,” he says. “So I’m used to it.

“It doesn’t move as much as the Duke ball. But for me as long as it turns, and as long as it bounces, I’m happy. I think it will be a tougher ask for the seam bowlers, so hopefully I can make a contribution with my spin.”

After a disappointing four days at the office for the Essex squad, things can be easily turned around with the visit of Somerset on Monday in the Day/Night Specsavers County Championship. The team suffered a comprehensive defeat to Nottinghamshire on Saturday but with just one day’s rest, there is little time reflect with a fourth victory in sight next week.

The squad will be boosted by the return of skipper, Ryan ten Doeschate, with Nick Browne and Sam Cook also pushing for a place in the squad after injury.

Stand-in Captain, Tom Westley, spoke after play against Notts, and is confident the team’s fortunes with the bat will soon change for the good.

The match versus Somerset begins on Monday with play starting at 2pm on each of the four days. Gates are open from 1pm with tickets available on the gates or for a discounted price when purchased in advance online.

Matt Quinn made his long awaited comeback from a serious back injury which has kept him out of action for over a year. Quinn broke his back in June last year at Guildford against Surrey and after months of surgery, rest and rehabilitation he was amed in the starting XI for the visit of Nottinghamshire in the Specsavers County Championship.

He took the wickets of both Notts openers, Jake Libby and Chris Nash, and spoke to Essex Cricket TV after play to express his feelings of getting out on the field once again in an Essex shirt.

England Women get their Vitality IT20 Tri-Series underway today (Wednesday) against South Africa at Taunton. With the inclusion of New Zealand, the three teams will be battling it out for a place in the Final which takes place on Sunday 1 July at The Cloudfm County Ground. The match begins at 3pm and you can be part of it with tickets on sale now.

Tickets are available online now and priced at just £5 for Members, £10 Adults, £5 Under 18s and £2 Under 12s.