Ronnie Irani spoke during the penultimate Specsavers County Championship match of the season, against Hampshire, to reflect on a whirlwind couple of years since joining the Club Committee and heading up Cricket Advisory Group.
He speaks to Essex Cricket TV about the talent in the side, and the journey taken to make a winning side and the legacy for the seasons ahead.
With the Division One title heading to Chelmsford you can celebrate what has been a truly memorable season at our Lord’s Christmas Lunch.
Join us at the Home of Cricket on Friday 8 December for a sumptuous three-course meal in the fabulous surroundings of the Long Room.
With an array of Essex first team stars due to be in attendance and Graham Gooch hosting the Lunch, it is sure to be an event not to miss out on.
Gooch will be joined by current England selector and Middlesex Director of Cricket Angus Fraser. Fraser will entertain guests talking through his illustrious career and also take questions from all attendees.
The festive meal will be accompanied by table service with wine, beer and soft drinks served to tables throughout the event.
As like previous years, an auction will also take place with attendees able to bid on a number of fantastic lots including sporting memorabilia.
To register your interest please email commercial@https://http://essexcricket.org.uk/ or call 01245 254120.
Tom Westley wants Essex’s present-day champions to create a lasting legacy that stands them alongside the legends of the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties in the club’s history.
Essex confirmed their first Specsavers County Championship title in quarter of a century with two games to spare when beat Warwickshire by an innings for the second time this season. Their next goal is to go through the 14-game programme undefeated, continuing against Hampshire at Southampton today and concluding back at Chelmsford next week against Yorkshire.
Westley, the newest member of the ranks of Essex cricketers to play for England, said: “There has been a lot of talk about trying to create a legacy for ourselves now. There were exceptional times under Fletcher and Gooch, and all the Essex legends previously, so it would be great if this wasn’t just a one-off and we can back it up next year.
“Hopefully we can create that legacy and have continued success rather than it being a flash in the pan. I don’t think it will be as we’ve shown from winning Division Two and going straight up and winning Division One. That’s no mean feat.”
Essex have won eight of their 12 Championship matches to date, drawing the other four, and Westley said: “To go through the season undefeated would be a fantastic achievement and that is going to be our aim in these last two games. I don’t think we’re going to be playing a weakened team, even though we’ve got some fantastic cricketers to come in, with Cooky potentially playing the last game as well.
“We’d love to remain undefeated, but the fact we’ve won the division already is going to take a bit of getting used to. There are a lot of people who want to finish the season strongly, score hundreds, take five-fers, but obviously that small factor of fighting for the title has been taken away because we’ve been so successful. It’s a bit of a Catch-22. But we will compete to the end.”
There has been much celebrating since Somerset beat Lancashire to give Essex an unassailable lead at the top – currently 56 points. But that has been a mere rehearsal for the celebrations planned when they receive the Championship trophy next week.
“It has been very important for us to celebrate our successes. We celebrate our successes as a team. It is certainly something that has changed over the last couple of years,” said Westley. “Ryan ten Doeschate, Chris Silverwood and Anthony McGrath have made a big point of celebrating victories. And also remaining pretty level-headed when we lose. There is no coincidence that that togetherness we’ve shown off the field has probably helped us on the field.”
Westley was conspicuous in joining in the celebrations that went on long into the night after the victory over Somerset at Chelmsford at the end of last month, even though he was between the second and third West Indies Tests with England. “I originally went down to do some additional work between Tests with Anthony McGrath and hit some balls. But the way the boys played, and the way Porter bowled in the second innings, it was a no-brainer to stay down. That’s the environment that’s been created at Essex.”
Though Essex’s success was beyond Westley’s “wildest dreams”, he still indulged in a bout of the banter within the England dressing room. “I was saying when I was with the Lions that we were going to win the league. It was more in jest to rile some of the other lads. But the prophecy has been fulfilled!”
As for his elevation into the full England squad, he says: “It’s been a surreal few months for me. Obviously I’d have like to score more runs, but it has been quite tough going. Some of the wickets were a bit fruity. The fact I can say I’ve played for England and been involved in two series wins, that is what dreams are made of. I’ve enjoyed every single minute of it.”
As for a winter fighting for the Ashes in Australia, Westley says: “I’m desperately hoping to get selected. I’ve always been one to stay quite level-headed and I want to give myself the best chance to play and get selected.”
Champions Essex head to the Ageas Bowl to take on Hampshire on Tuesday in their penultimate County Championship match of what has proved a wonderful season for the County in the competition. The visitors will select from a 13-man squad for the match.
Victory at Edgbaston against Warwickshire secured the county crown for Essex to end a 25 year wait.
They have won 8 of the twelve matches played thus far, including 6 of their last seven games and they are the only unbeaten side in either of the two divisions.
Now they arrive in Southampton holding an uncatchable 56 point advantage over nearest pursuers Lancashire, whilst Hampshire hold fourth place with 135 points and having won three matches.
A justly proud Chris Silverwood, Essex Head Coach, lauded his squad’s triumph “To win the title having only been promoted last season is a tremendous achievement and it is something that has only been done once before,” he said.
“It would be lovely to go through the season unbeaten and although we have already won the league, there will be no let-up in our approach to the remaining two games.
“We have played some outstanding red ball cricket this summer and have won a number of matches in three days which goes to illustrate the dominant and commanding force we have been.
“We have been ruthless but that’s the approach and attitude we want to keep building on. What we have seen this season is the result of all the hard work these guys have put in. Obviously, success brings confidence and self-belief; you could see that growing all the time and the longer the championship season went on, the more matches they won and the more that belief and confidence grew.”
Following the retirement of David Masters and Graham Napier, who took over 100 wickets last year, there were a number of observers who felt that Essex would struggle to take sufficient wickets in the First Division to enable them to win matches but astute winter recruitment and the advance of bowlers already on the staff has allayed those fears.
Ever-emerging paceman Jamie Porter and South African Simon Harmer have taken 60 plus wickets apiece and their performances have been acknowledged by the Essex Head Coach.
“I always felt that ‘Ports’ would step up, he’d 50 wickets hauls in each of the last two seasons in the Second Division and he’s proved himself in the First Division now, he’s been really flying for us,” Silverwood enthused.
“We knew we wanted a top-class off spinner and Simon Harmer has filled that role superbly and everyone can see he is a world class bowler. But all the players that have represented us this year have moved forward and all credit goes to each of them.
“It’s been an incredible season of red ball cricket and no one can doubt that the team deserve the title of Champions.”
Essex Squad
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) (Captain)
James Foster (7) (WK)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Nick Browne (10)
Varun Chopra (6)
Sam Cook (16)
Simon Harmer (11)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Jamie Porter (44)
Neil Wagner (13)
Paul Walter (22)
Tom Westley (21)
Adam Wheater (31)
One former player who knows better than anyone about winning County Championship titles with Essex is Keith Fletcher, after captaining the team to success in 1979, 1983 and 1984.
Keith is still heavily involved with the Club, especially in the development of youngsters coming through and expressed his delight in seeing the team get a first Championship win in 25 years this week.
Essex Cricket TV caught with Keith as he joined the crowds to greet the squad home from Birmingham after they were confirmed as Champions on the coach during trip back to Chelmsford.
Essex team | Nick Browne (10), Varun Chopra (6), Tom Westley (21), Ravi Bopara (25), Dan Lawrence (28), Ryan ten Doeschate (27), James Foster (7), Simon Harmer (11), Neil Wagner (13), Jamie Porter (44), Sam Cook (16).
Umpires | Steve O’Shaugnessy & Martin Saggers
Toss | Uncontested and Essex exercised their right to bowl first
Day Three | Close of Play Report
Essex beat Warwickshire by an innings and 56 runs taking them to the brink of thei first County Championship title for 25 years. With the champagne corks ready to pop, only Lancashire can prevent the County from lifting the title in this round of matches and with two matches still to play.
Lancashire have to win at Taunton against Somerset to put the champagne on ice but having been forced to follow-on, it looks an uphill struggle for the Red Rose side.
Simon Harmer took four wickets while Jamie Porter and Sam Cook shared six wickets as Warwickshire were rolled over for 112, the second time this season they have suffered an innings defeat to the Champions elect.
Porter removed both openers at the start of the day before fellow new ball bowler Cook bagged the prized wickets of former England internationals Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell to leave the home side on the rocks at 25 for 4.
Then Harmer got in on the act by having Chris Woakes caught at leg slip by Ravi Bopara for 13 as Warwickshire slumped to 47 for 5 but 8 runs later, the Essex march to victory and glory was halted by rain that forced the players off the field for an early Lunch.
Play resumed at 2.00 p.m. and immediately, Harmer had Alex Mellor picked up at first slip by Varun Chopra as Warwickshire capitulated to 55 for 6.
Keith Barker was the next to go completing a “pair” when he went forward to Porter and edged a catch to James Foster. Only Matt Lamb offered any token of resistance batting for an hour and 40 minutes to post 35 before he became Harmer’s 7th victim of the match. That latest scalp relied on the help of Dan Lawrence who took the catch at mid-wicket as the bottom of the table side reeled to 82 for 8.
They did limp into three figures thanks to the highest partnership of the innings (23) between Jeetan Patel and Henry Brookes that was concluded when Patel fell to Cook for 18, the victim of another Lawrence catch who completed the dismissal on the run from gully.
It was left to Harmer to wrap up the innings when he had Brookes caught at silly mid-off by Chopra to give the off-spinner his 63rd wicket of the season in the competition.
Harmer ended with figures of 4 for 25, Porter 3 for 37 and Cook 3 for 42 as Essex collected 23 points to bring the Division One title ever closer.
Meanwhile, the defeat ensured life in Division Two for Warwickshire in 2018.
Day Three | Lunch Report
Essex are closing in on the title having reduced Warwickshire to 55 for 5 in their second innings to leave the home side still trailing by 113 runs although rain brought an early lunch to proceedings at Edgbaston.
Two wickets each for Jamie Porter and Sam Cook and one for Simon Harmer caused the damage in a match that Essex have dominated throughout.
Having resumed on 7 without loss, the home side lost their first wicket to the fourth ball of the day when Jamie Porter collected his fifth wicket of the match.
It was first innings top-scorer Dom Sibley that was his victim when the former Surrey batsman played forward and edged a catch to Varun Chopra at first slip. In his next over, Porter pinned the other opener Sam Hain in front of his stumps for 11 with a ball that swung back in to gain the 12th leg before verdict of the match.
Fourteen for two became 20 for three when Sam Cook needed no help from the umpires when a delivery swung late to bowl Jonathan Trott for 6.
Cook then bagged another former England international when Ian Bell was caught off an inside edge by James Foster for 5 to leave the home side in tatters at 25 for 4 inside 12 overs.
Chris Woakes played positively but having scored 13, he steered Simon Harmer – who had replaced Cook, to leg slip where Ravi Bopara took the catch to leave the bottom of the table side 47 for 5.
Rain arrived 20 minutes before the scheduled lunch break to spare the hosts from further ignominy, with Alex Mellor unbeaten on 4 and Matt Lamb 12 not out.
Day Two Reaction | Varun Chopra leads the way for Essex on Day Two at Edgbaston
Interview courtesy of BBC Essex
Day Two | Close of Play Report:
A high-quality innings from Varun Chopra supported by half-centuries from Dan Lawrence and James Foster allowed Champions elect Essex to continue the stranglehold in this contest with Warwickshire at Edgbaston where they ended day two with a lead of 161 runs.
Essex declared on 369 for 9 before their opponents reached 2 without loss from 2 overs in their second innings.
Chopra fell just two runs short of what would have been a superb century on his return to his former stomping ground whilst Lawrence struck a fine 78 with the duo sharing a third wicket partnership worth 92 runs that eased their side into the first innings lead.
Opening batsman Chopra showed patience and judgement whilst quick top pick off the less worth delivery and that ideal approach saw him spend four hours at the crease bringing him 15 boundaries.
He was finally undone on the cusp of his century and with the total on 220 when he was stuck on the pad by an inswinging delivery from Matt Lamb.
Lawrence caught the eye with an ultra confident technique placing the ball through the field with expertise to reach a 91-ball half-century. He continued to score until having reached 78, he attempted to cut a ball from Ryan Sidebottom and was caught in the gully by Ian Bell.
Ravi Bopara went for 20 and Ryan ten Doeschate without scoring to leave Essex 271 for 6 but Foster found an effective ally in Simon Harmer with whom he added 76 runs in 22 overs.
Foster, who had scored a century when the two teams met at Chelmsford earlier in the summer, played a highly entertaining innings whilst Harmer offered dependable support as the pair took the side to 347 before being parted.
Harmer recorded his highest Championship score of the summer in reaching 24 before he was struck on the front pad by Chris Woakes.
Neil Wagner drove his first ball to the cover boundary to bring the visitors their fourth batting point. At the end of the 110 overs, the visitors were 363 for 7 having to settle for the 4 batting points to add to their 3 bowling points.
Wagner, with his score on 9 and the total on 367, pushed at a ball outside off and was caught by wicket-keeper Alex Mellor.
Foster’s 68-ball half century contained 10 fours and he continued to dictate the bowling until he fell to the spin of Jeetan Patel with his score on 68, the 11th leg before decision of the game so far and soon after, Essex declared.
Essex had started the day at 69 without loss and Nick Browne had added just one run to his overnight score when he edged to slip for 24 leaving Tom Westley to join Chopra in a stand of 56.
Westley got off the mark with a four and looked comfortable at the crease playing particularly effectively on the leg side with a number of trademark boundaries.
However, he had scored 28 from 40 balls when he nibbled at a ball outside off stump to get the thinnest of edges that gave a catch to the wicket-keeper.
Day Two | Tea Report:
A fine innings by Varun Chopra aided by a half-century from Dan Lawrence ensured Essex were in control at the interval having scored 271 for 5 to hold a first innings lead of 70 runs so far.
Chopra batted superbly showing excellent timing as he ensured a healthy situation for his side and seemed set for a well-deserved century on his return to Edgbaston.
Together with Lawrence, 92 runs were added for the third wicket taking the score onto 220 when the classy Chopra pushed forward and was adjudged leg before wicket to Matt Lamb to be denied his century by an agonising two runs. He had spent four hours at the crease and on his departure, his fine work was continued by Lawrence.
The 20 year-old passed his fifty from 91 balls with 9 boundaries and progressed to 78 when he attempted to cut Ryan Sidebottom and was caught by Ian Bell in the gully.
By that time, the league leaders had gathered their second batting point having reached 252 but they lost their fifth wicket four runs later when skipper Ryan ten Doeschate got an inside edge when facing Sidebottom and played onto his stumps to depart without score.
Ravi Bopara though proved adhesive and had scored 20 when tea was taken whilst James Foster was 9 not out.
Day Two | Lunch Report:
Essex reached 146 for 2 when rain brought the players off the field for an early Lunch with the visitors trailing Warwickshire by just 55 runs on first innings at Edgbaston.
Varun Chopra looked in superb form taking his overnight score of 42 onto 79 reaching his half-century from 84 balls with the tenth boundary of his innings.
Nick Browne was an early casualty when he was dismissed in the third over of the morning for 24 to leave the table-toppers 72 for 1 but then Tom Westley joined Chopra to post another half-century partnership.
The England batsman dealt readily in boundaries getting off the mark immediately when hitting a four.
Typically strong through the leg side, he had reached 28 finding the ropes five times when he flirted with a ball from Chris Woakes outside off and got the thinnest of edges to give wicket-keeper Alex Mellor a straight forward catch to leave the visitors 128 for 2.
Meanwhile Chopra, back on his former stomping ground, continued to play solidly and attractively as he punished the loose delivery readily.
Dan Lawrence had just reached double figures when the weather turned its back on Essex halting their progress in a match they have completely dominated thus far.
Day One | Close of Play Report:
Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer continued their incisive form sharing 8 wickets as Warwickshire were bowled out for 201 before Essex replied with 69 without loss on the opening day of the County Championship match at Edgbaston.
Varun Chopra was unbeaten on 42, while Nick Browne was 23 not out when bad light ended play for the day.
Paceman, Porter returned figures of 4 for 45 taking his total of Championship wickets to 61 whilst off-spinner Harmer now has 59 wickets to his name in the competition.
After an uncontested toss, Porter immediately had the bottom of the table side in trouble striking twice in his first two overs to remove Sam Hain and Jonathan Trott, both to leg before decisions to leave the hosts 12 for 2.
Harmer also gained favourable verdicts from the umpires, Steve O’Shaughnessy and Martin Saggers, with three lbw’s. Chris Woakes, Alex Mellor and Keith Barker all perished when struck on the pads. The South African’s fourth victim came with a classic delivery when he bowled debutant Henry Brookes through the gate.
After Porter’s early damage, Warwickshire opener Dom Sibley attempted to hold the innings together and although there were three useful stands, none of his colleagues were able to provide the solidity required.
Sibley, who joined Warwickshire from Surrey earlier on the season, proved a resilient force batting for 4 hours and 24 minutes before he edged a ball from Porter into the gloves of James Foster after hitting 76 that included nine fours.
Although he showed intent, that was lacking elsewhere despite three useful stands. Ian Bell scored 37 out of a third wicket stand worth 46 before Neil Wagner trapped him in the crease.
Matt Lamb contributed 32 in a partnership of 52 for the fourth wicket before he fell to Sam Cook who deserved his reward after being the bat on a number of occasions when taking the new ball at the start of the day.
Then Chris Woakes fell to Harmer for 22 bringing an end to a fifth wicket liaison with Sibley that raised 43 runs. The demise of the England player left the home side 153 for 5. That became 181 for 6 and the remaining four wickets went for 20 runs in six overs including that of Sibley who was the last man out.
Harmer returned 4 for 47, Porter 4 for 62, Wagner 1 for 38 and Cook 1 for 42.
Chopra and Browne then comfortably coped with the Warwickshire attack including the threat of paceman Woakes and spinner Patel posting an unbroken half-century stand.
During his innings, Browne passed 1,000 first-class runs for the season and both openers looked well-organised showing excellent shot-selection on a day when Essex took another three points towards the target of 37 that would guarantee them the Championship title for the first time since 1992.
Day One | Tea Report:
Essex are two points nearer the title after reducing Warwickshire to 187 for 8 at tea with Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer sharing six wickets.
The bottom of the table home side continued their troubled campaign when they lost five wickets after lunch having resumed on 75 for 3 although opener Dom Sibley has made a brave attempt to hold the innings together with 70 not out.
All credit to the Essex attack who kept the pressure on with their leading bowlers of Porter and Harmer adding to their impressive individual tally’s of the campaign.
First batsman to go after lunch was Matt Lamb who pushed outside off stump and edged the ball through to wicket-keeper James Foster having scored 32 out of 110 for 4 and to bring an end to a 52 runs stand.
Sibley, battling throughout, reached a 142 balls half-century that included 5 fours but he lost all-rounder Chris Woakes with the score on 153 when he went back and paid the price being leg before to Harmer for 22.
Next to go was Alex Meloor who fatally offered no shot and was trapped leg before for 10 to leave Warwickshire 181 for 6 as Essex claimed the second bowling point.
With tea approaching, there was a double bonus for the league leaders.
Keith Barker became the sixth lbw victim of the match when he went to an inswinging delivery sent down by Porter and then Jeetan Patel was dismissed with the final ball of the session.
He had scored 1 when Harmer trapped him in front of his stumps leaving Sibley 70 not out desperately seeking assistance in his attempt to sustain the innings.
Harmer has 3-46, Porter 3-52, Wagner 1-38 and Cook 1-42.
Day One | Lunch Report:
The first session of the match proved a rewarding one for league leaders Essex who reduced bottom of the table Warwickshire to 75 for 3 at the interval in their County Championship Division One clash at Edgbaston after an uncontested toss.
Jamie Porter got the visitors off to a wonderful start when he trapped Sam Hain lbw for 4 with a delivery that hit the back pad. That wicket came with the fifth ball of the game and in his next over, the paceman was celebrating once more.
This time, his victim was Jonathan Trott who was also leg before wicket, this time for 3 when he was struck on the front pad to leave the home side 12 for 2.
Fellow new ball bowler Sam Cook also impressed and although wicketless, the youngster passed the bat on a number of occasions without getting due reward.
Former England batsman Ian Bell and opener Dom Sibley showed battling qualities to contain the impressive Essex attack but having posted 46 in 16 overs for the third wicket, their resolve was ended by Neil Wagner.
The New Zealander, back with the County for the final three matches of the campaign, produced an inswinging delivery that proved too good for Bell who had scored 37 out of the 58 runs on the board when he became the third lbw victim of the session.
The consistent line adopted by the pace bowlers proved a feature of the morning’s play and Porter should have earned a third wicket but Sibley, having scored 2, was dropped by Simon Harmer at second slip with the score on 15.
Harmer, who claimed 8 lbw victims amongst his 14 wickets haul when the two teams met at Chelmsford earlier this season, later came into the attack and was soon finding turn to have the batsmen playing circumspectly and often with uncertainty but Sibley and Matt Lamb went to Lunch with their wickets intact having scored 17 and 10 respectively.
Porter has taken 2 for 19 so far and Wagner 1 for 15.
Essex welcomed back Ryan ten Doeschate, Neil Wagner and Tom Westley and they replaced Ashar Zaidi, Adam Wheater and Paul Walter that gained a draw with Lancashire in the previous match.
England and Essex batsman Alastair Cook is available for the final two Specsavers County Championship matches of the 2017 season.
Essex travel to the Ageas Bowl next week, followed by a home match against Yorkshire at The Cloudfm County Ground to conclude the season.
Cook will be available for selection after the recent Test series against West Indies and will bolster Chris Silverwood’s ranks for the Division One title charge.
Essex Head Coach Silverwood is thrilled to see Cook back and added: “Obviously it is always a massive bonus to get a player of Alastair’s calibre back into the squad and around the group.
“He made a massive difference earlier in the season and helped set us on the path we have been on. Hopefully now he can come back and help us achieve the dream of lifting the Division One title.”
Wanstead and Snaresbrook’s cricketers will be very proud men when they take the field against Ormskirk in the Royal London Club Championship Final at Chelmsford on Sunday. But they will also be men on something of a mission.
Five years ago a very young Wanstead side was well beaten by York in that year’s national knockout final. And only last Saturday Joe Ellis-Grewal’s team were pipped for the Shepherd Neame Essex Premier League by Chelmsford, who won their game while Wanstead were losing a rain-soaked affair they had needed to win.
Six of the losing team in 2012 are in the current side and they are now mature cricketers. They are members of a tightly-knit group of players who have become used to achieving success partly, one suspects, because they never take it for granted.
“I reckon that winning the national knockout would be the biggest thing that’s happened to Wanstead & Snaresbook,” said Ellis-Grewal. “We’ve had a lot of good sides over the years and people talk about them when they come and watch us now.
“It was a bit of a surprise to all of us when we reached that final in 2012 because we scraped through a few games. This year we’ve played brilliant cricket all year and a lot of our guys are very experienced. It’s a great achievement to get to the Royal London final but we’ve also got to the last eight of the national T20 and if things had gone our way last weekend we’d have won the league.
“We’ve even had to play two cup games on the same day because we were running out of Sundays. We split the teams and got knocked out of both competitions.”
Of course Ellis-Grewal has done his research and so he knows that Ormskirk are in a similar situation. The Brook Lane team have been forced to share the Lancashire Cup with Lowerhouse because both attempts to play the game were ruined by rain and they will even be playing their 2017 league knockout semi-final in the opening weeks of the 2018 season.
Ellis-Grewal is also well aware that bad teams do not get to the last stages of the national knockout. But he remains hopeful that next Sunday will be a great day for a club which runs six Saturday teams plus a Ladies XI and which has 300-plus youngsters on its books in teams from Under 9 to Under 19.
“We’re one of the biggest clubs in East London,” he said. “Last year was our 150th anniversary and we have a very proud history. We’re very much a family-orientated club and we like to develop all our own players. We don’t pay anyone, ten of the 12 players in the squad for Sunday’s final are home-grown and the other two have been with us for 20 and ten years respectively.
Inevitably, a lot of attention will be focused on the Wanstead cricketers with county experience such as the Essex batsman Kishen Velani and their left-arm spinner Adil Nijjar. But Ellis-Grewal also has a soft spot for the slow bowler, Mohammed Fayyaz Khan, who is 50 years old and “still class” in the view of the skipper.
One advantage Wanstead and Snaresbrook will have is that the final is taking place only 40 minutes up the road from their own patch. Moving into a different time-zone is unlikely to be a problem and Ellis-Grewal’s men should be able to cope with the jet lag.
“I suspect there’ll be a lot of people down for the game,” said the skipper. “We’re really excited that we’ve reached this stage and it’s a question of us playing the cricket we can play. Winning the Royal London would far outweigh being the best club side in Essex and that’s what we’ll be going out to achieve.”
It was another positive day for Essex who found themselves on 69-0 at stumps the opening day’s play against Warwickshire, after bowling out the home side for 201 earlier in the day. The pick of the bowlers were once again, Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer who took 4 wickets apiece with a wicket each for Neil Wagner and Sam Cook, who was making his second successive Championship appearance of the season.
Jamie Porter was pleased with the day’s work at Edgbaston: “All four bowlers used did really well. Sam Cook hit a good length early on and nagged away and Harmy did what he does pretty much week in and week out, challenging that forward defence with a bit of spin and he got the rewards he deserved. Wags [Neil Wagner] bowled really well as well and took a vital wicket.
“I tried to keep it simple and to hit the top of off-stump as much as I could and if it nips, its nips but if it doesn’t then it’s a matter of just waiting for something to happen. It’s not as simple as it may look and you saw today that when it doesn’t quite go your way, it motivates you more to get fired up an get your rhythm back.
“I felt good and it came out pretty well. My job with the new ball as a strike bowler is to knock over a couple early on if I can and I managed to do that. You only get one new ball a game, at least only one when you are fresh, so you have got to make the most of it so it was nice to do my job.
“Then our openers did really well in the last session. It was typically Browney, he doesn’t really give much away and left well and when they came to him he took advantage of any loose balls on offer. Chopra looked top-drawer and was more aggressive so it was a nice partnership. If we can take the game away from Warwickshire tomorrow and bat all day then that would be a good start to hopefully clinching the win.”
Simon Harmer took his tally of Championship wickets to 59 for the season and able to turn the ball much earlier than expected in the opening session of the game. Harmer said: “We didn’t expect the pitch to turn as much as it did on Day One, and we always knew come day’s three and four with the left handers that there would be some turn. I was quite surprised in the first spell that it turned as much as it did.
I didn’t quite find the correct pace with the spin during my first spell and I was maybe too slow. I think during my first bowl today I bowled a little too slow and I found the turn was a little inconsistent, and then the odd ball would bite. I think its always about mixing it up when you have a newer, harder ball in your hand and there will be that extra turn and bounce and as the ball get older and the wicket flattens out then the turns going to be a little bit slower, but all in all today it ended up alright.
Three of Harmer’s four wickets were given out to lbw that is something he’s had joy from more often than not this season: I’ve looked to bowl straight and attack the stumps and when the balls been turning there haven’t been too many shots being offered and that always gives the bowling the benefit of the doubt. It’s worked out nicely for me and I’m not going to complain.”
