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Essex Eagles travel to Beckenham on Sunday for their second NatWest T20 Blast group stage match against Kent Spitfires.

Chris Silverwood has named a 15-man squad for the Battle of the Bridge clash with new overseas star Tamim Iqbal expected to make his debut.

Tamim, a Bangladesh International, with an abundance of experience around the world will slot in at the top of the order looking to get the Eagles off to a lightning start.

Head Coach Silverwood is delighted to bring Tamim to the Club for eight NatWest T20 Blast games and said: “It is another coup bringing someone of Tamim’s calibre and experience to the Club.

“He has vast experience at International level but has also played cricket in various T20 leagues around the world. He is an explosive batsman who will be a great addition to our top order.”

The Eagles travel to Beckenham in high spirits but Silverwood is under no illusions how tough a task it will be.

He added: “Kent are a good side and are a threat in all competitions. They have a number of match winners in their team and we have to be wary of the threat they pose, especially on home territory.

“One again though, if we can perform in the manner in which we have been, and know we can, we back ourselves to pick up a victory.”

Essex Eagles squad:
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) Captain
James Foster (7) WK
Mohammad Amir (5)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Varun Chopra (6)
Matt Dixon (30)
Simon Harmer (11)
Tamim Iqbal (53)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Jamie Porter (44)
Callum Taylor (67)
Paul Walter (22)
Adam Wheater (31)
Tom Westley (21)
Ashar Zaidi (99)

Essex County Cricket Club are delighted to announce the signing of Bangladesh International opening batsman Tamim Iqbal for eight games of the NatWest T20 Blast.

Tamim will join up with the squad on Saturday, ahead of the Battle of the Bridge trip to Beckenham, Kent on Sunday.

An experienced International cricketer at the age of 28, Tamim has played 49 Tests, 173 ODIs and 56 T20 Internationals for Bangladesh.

With an exceptional record in all formats and a career T20 strike rate of close to 120, Tamim is an explosive addition to the Eagles’ top order.

The left-hander links up with the Eagles following a successful Champions Trophy campaign, including a hundred against England, and Head Coach Chris Silverwood believes he will prove to be an excellent addition.

Silverwood said: “Tamim has shown how good a player he is in the recent Champions Trophy competition. As a batsman he is capable of being destructive and that is reflected in his career strike rate.

“We identified the opening berth as an area we wanted to strengthen and we are thrilled to get a player of Tamim’s calibre into the Club. He will bolster the side for eight games and we look forward to his arrival.”

The 28-year-old is thrilled to be joining Essex and added: “I am really looking forward to linking up with my Essex team mates for the upcoming NatWest T20 Blast.

“I have played plenty of cricket with and against the likes of Ravi Bopara, Ryan ten Doeschate and Ashar Zaidi, so I’m sure it will be an environment I will settle into quickly.

“I always enjoy playing cricket in England and hope to help Essex make a big impact in the competition.”

Essex Eagles return to white-ball action on Friday for the sold-out NatWest T20 Blast opener against Surrey at The Cloudfm County Ground.

Chris Silverwood’s men turn their attention to T20 cricket after two stunning wins in the Championship to leave Essex top of the pile.

The Eagles will look to go one step further in the Blast in 2017 after falling at the quarter-final stage last year, and will be bolstered by overseas signing Mohammad Amir alongside the likes of Ashar Zaidi and Ravi Bopara.

Head Coach Silverwood will hope Amir can strengthen a squad already brimming with confidence.

He said: “I believe Amir will prove to be an excellent signing for the Club. He has been with us for a couple of weeks now but adds real firepower to our bowling attack.

“He also complements the group we have assembled and putting him alongside the calibre of player we already have here will stand us in good stead.”

Silverwood is wary of the array of stars Surrey have available to them and added: “Everyone knows Surrey are a good team and they have some very good players in their squad. They always recruit their overseas players well but we are more focussed on what we can do.

“We beat them in the One-Day Cup and in the Championship so we know we are capable of doing that again. If we continue to implement the processes we have been working so hard on all year, we will be fine on Friday.”

Essex Eagles squad:
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) Captain
James Foster (7) WK
Mohammad Amir (5)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Varun Chopra (6)
Matt Dixon (30)
Simon Harmer (11)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Jamie Porter (44)
Callum Taylor (67)
Paul Walter (22)
Adam Wheater (31)
Tom Westley (21)
Ashar Zaidi (99)

There is very limited availability for all other NatWest T20 Blast fixtures so make sure you get your tickets as soon as possible to avoid disappointment! Buy them here or call 01245 254010.

Simon Harmer, the Essex and former South Africa off-spinner has been voted the Professional Cricketers’ Association Player of the Month for June.

Harmer was shortlisted having amassed 146 points in the PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings during June.

The off-spinner was the landslide winner of an online poll of fans on the PCA and Sky Sports websites, beating the Nottinghamshire pair of Samit Patel and Steven Mullaney and Somerset all-rounder Lewis Gregory.

“Thank you very much to everyone who voted for me, it’s been a pretty surreal couple of weeks with a couple of great wins for the Eagles. This is just the cherry on top so thank you,” Harmer said.

The shortlist was produced via the MVP Rankings system, an innovation which provides a more rigorous analysis of player performances than traditional batting and bowling averages.

The rankings were designed by the players to identify the match-winners and key influencers of matches throughout the domestic season.

The formula gives full credit to those players whose performances improve their team’s chances of winning. Points are accrued for all runs scored and wickets taken, these are then adjusted within the context of the match to take into account strike rates and economy rates.

The formula also takes into account conditions, quality of opposition, captaincy and strike-rates as well as runs scored and wickets taken with the player who tops the overall PCA MVP Rankings at the end of the season, receiving a £10,000 prize and a trophy.

Harmer follows Gloucestershire seamer Liam Norwell (April) and Surrey’s former Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara (May) as a PCA Player of the Month.

The South African took Essex to the top of the Specsavers County Championship First Division by taking 28 wickets in successive victories over Warwickshire and defending champions Middlesex at Chelmsford.

He took 14 for 128 against Warwickshire, the best match figures for Essex since 1985, including eight for 36 in the second innings.

Harmer’s career-best lasted only a week as he took nine for 95 to spin Middlesex to defeat. His figures were the best for Essex since Mark Ilott took nine for 19 against Northamptonshire at Luton in 1995.

The 28-year-old’s two 14 wicket match hauls earned him 125 of his monthly haul of 146 rankings points and took him to third in the overall PCA MVP behind Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens and Sangakkara.

Harmer took 20 wickets in five Tests two years ago and joined Essex as a Kolpak signing this season.

Ashar Zaidi showed he is nicely in tune for Essex’s NatWest T20 Blast campaign by smacking a six second ball over the bowler’s head in a warm-up game this week.

The bars around the Cloudfm County Ground will empty at every one of Essex’s seven home group matches when the pint-sized left-hander strides out to the middle, starting tonight against Surrey.

The crowd-pleasing big-hitter, nicknamed Boom Boom, sounds like a boxer with tickets to sell when he says: “I am feeling quite confident about how hard I’ve been hitting the ball in the nets and in second-team games.

“My feeling is if the ball is there then I’ll back myself to hit it to the boundary, and the maximum option as well.”

Zaidi is box-office gold for Essex, not that they need to talk up the competition: tonight’s opening fixture is already sold out, and there is limited availability for the rest.

Zaidi’s statistics paint a picture of muscular power and skill. Others may have scored more runs, hit more sixes and posted a higher average in last year’s domestic competition. No one, though, bettered his seriously-high strike-rate of 168.83, and that is the measure of success in T20. Sixty-one per cent of his 363 runs came in boundaries, 23 of them clearing the ropes. He averaged more than 40 every time he went to the crease, which isn’t bad for primarily a middle-order batsman.

However, when asked to nominate the innings from 2016 that stood out to him, he went for one that only contained two fours and one six, but set up Essex for a three-run win at Hampshire.

“It was on a tricky wicket and showed how I could do a job,” he said of the comparatively pedestrian 43-ball 47.

“The big innings was the one against Middlesex at Lord’s when we had to win to qualify for the quarter-finals, and I got us over the line.” Left unsaid was that Zaidi smashed 38 off the last nine balls, and took just 24 deliveries to reach an unbeaten 59, his career-best T20 score.

“Sometimes,” he says, “the smaller totals to win a game are just as important. But I was pretty pleased with my efforts last year. Hopefully, I can repeat them this season.”

There was a hint of what may be to come at the end of April when he caned Hampshire for 72 not out from 40 balls in the opening Royal London Cup game. There were just the four sixes that day.

“How I get on in the T20 depends on how much opportunity I get,” says the Pakistani all-rounder, who turns 36 next week. “Will it be 10 overs or will it be four or five? That is why I am preparing myself for anything and everything, and if I’m asked to do a job, then I’ll try and stay until the end.”

Several times last year Zaidi was elevated in the batting order from No7 to four or five, usually to good effect. “The more time you spend out there the more chance you give yourself to build a decent innings. If you get 14 or 15 overs to bat there is the chance you can get 50 or 60 more runs out of it.

“If you are doing a finishing role, that is a completely different job because you know you literally have to tee off from ball one. Or if you’re chasing, you know you’ve got to score, like, 10 an over, or 13 an over, so the mindset is different. But I do prefer going in with plenty of time to myself.”

Last season, Essex flopped badly in the quarter-final against Nottinghamshire. This season, Zaidi has largely been a spectator as Essex have opened a sizeable gap at the top of the Specsavers County Championship, though he played a role with bat and ball in helping the county to the semi-final of the 50-over competition.

He says: “We’ve got to keep ticking along and keep the momentum going. This could be the year for us to lift the Championship – and do the double with the T20.” Boom boom times, indeed.

Essex Eagles ran out 51-run victors in the annual T20 warm-up match against a Premier League XI last night.

Representatives from the Essex Premier League and East Anglian Premier League descended on Chelmsford to aid the Eagles preparations ahead of the curtain raiser against Surrey on Friday.

The home side batted first at The Cloudfm County Ground and lost Varun Chopra early to the impressive Dustin Melton. His opening partner Dan Lawrence departed not long after, again to Melton, for a quick-fire 16.

Tom Westley was joined by Ravi Bopara at the crease and both looked to continue the high run rate. Westley took Ben Allison for 10 in an over, while Bopara played a back seat role.

Essex’s vice-captain continued to look fluent but was caught by Browne after hitting Clifford for a four and six and departed for 69.

Captain ten Doeschate scored a brisk 30 from 15 balls, taking a particular liking to Mike Jones, but was eventually caught at short third-man.

A small collapse followed as Zaidi got off the mark with a six but then went to a stunning catch at fine-leg from Melton. Walter and Harmer followed quickly and it was left to experienced wicket-keeper Foster to keep the score ticking over.

Foster hit Westfield into the pavilion but then next ball was cleaned up by a yorker and the final over was faced by Jamie Porter and Matt Dixon.

Singles followed to finish the innings and Essex Eagles ended on a daunting target of 186/9 from their 20 overs.

Essex opening batsman and Premier League XI Captain for the day, Nick Browne, started the response and quickly hit Mohammad Amir for two boundaries in the opening over.

Hasshan Chowdhury met Porter with a 4 back over his head but Porter got his revenge by picking up the wicket of his Essex teammate Browne.

Star spinner Simon Harmer came into the attack and immediately picked up a wicket as Aaron West tried to reverse-sweep him but only succeeded in being trapped LBW.

Zaidi got in the act, with Plater bowled for 1 and Paul Walter then took two wickets in two balls with Chowdhury caught by Zaidi and Reynolds bowled.

Golden arm ten Doeschate joined the attack and picked up the wickets of Will Buttleman and Mervyn Westfield in consecutive deliveries. Westfield scored a brisk 33 before being caught on the boundary.

Vickery and Jones tried to get the Premier League XI closer to the target with some trickery and delicate shots but the visitors finished short on 135/9.

A great run out for The Eagles ahead of the sold-out NatWest T20 Blast opener against rivals Surrey on Friday.

Essex County Cricket Club are delighted to announce Felsted School have extended their partnership with the Club for a further three years.

The Essex school will continue to sponsor the Felsted Family Stand and the Family Sunday matches as the partnership continues to flourish.

With a number of academy players such as Ben Waring, Will Buttleman, Alex Went and Annabel Hills studying at Felsted School, and Essex Women and Academies playing matches on the School grounds, the partnership is wide-ranging across all facets of Essex County Cricket Club.

Darrell Fox, Essex Cricket Commercial Manager, said: “This has been a longstanding partnership that has gone from strength to strength over the years.

“Felsted School are involved across all areas of Essex County Cricket with the pathway for future professional players proving very smooth for those wishing to achieve at a high level.

“We are looking forward to more Felsted students progressing into the first-team fold as we have seen in past years, with players such as Tim Phillips and Nick Knight.”

Jason Gallian, Director of Cricket at Felsted and former England and Essex player comments: “Cricket at Felsted is going from strength to strength and our partnership with Essex is key to that.

“In particular our growth and success in girls’ cricket has been phenomenal, with our U15 team claiming the Lady Taverners’ National Title this year, outdoing the boys, who were last year’s national 20/20 beaten finalists.

“Supported by Carla Rudd, a current SuperLeague Player, pupils at Felsted really have all the coaching, fixtures and expertise they need to support them on their cricketing journey, whatever their level.”

Jack Plom and Feroze Khushi have been named in respective England U19 squads for the summer series against India

Max Holden and Harry Brook will lead England Under-19s this summer in four-day and one-day series.

Holden, the Middlesex opener who has spent an extended loan spell with Northamptonshire this season, will captain the team in the two “Tests” in Chesterfield and Worcester – as he did in India earlier this year, and at home to Sri Lanka last summer.

Then the Yorkshire batsman Brook, another of six members of the four-day squad who travelled to India in the winter, will take over the captaincy for a five-match Royal London One-Day Series – for which the England selectors considered only players who are available for the ICC Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in early 2018.

That ruled out Holden and a number of other members of the four-day squad, including the Somerset pair George Bartlett and Ben Green, the Worcestershire fast bowler Josh Tongue, and the Surrey spinner Amar Virdi, who was invited to train with England Lions last week.

Andy Hurry, the head coach of the Young Lions programme, said: “We had an excellent tour of India earlier this year, when the lads involved learned so much both in red-ball and white-ball cricket.

“Facing the Indians in a return series this summer provides an excellent opportunity to build on that, and to face international opposition in more familiar home conditions.

“It’s going to be fascinating to see our most talented young cricketers put in that position. It’s worth noting that we didn’t consider four eligible players for selection as they are likely to be in contention to play first-team cricket for their counties – Sam Curran, Ollie Pope, Matt Fisher and Delray Rawlins – not to take anything away from the guys who have been selected, but to underline the amount of young talent we have in the domestic game.

“With the ICC World Cup in New Zealand early next year, it made sense only to consider players eligible for that when we were choosing our squad for the Royal London One-Day Series. But that series remains very important in its own right, and there should be some excellent Under-19s cricket for players and spectators to enjoy this summer.”

Hamidullah Qadri, the 16-year-old off-spinner who made an historic first-class debut for Derbyshire in the Specsavers County Championship last week, is one of the new faces in that one-day squad – putting him in line to become the first Afghanistan-born player to represent England at Under-19 level.

Warwickshire have three players in the four-day squad – opener Liam Banks, and fast bowlers Henry Brookes and George Panayi. Brookes and Banks are two of seven players included in both squads – with Brook, Nottinghamshire spinner Liam Patterson-White, Durham seamer Matt Potts, Surrey batsman Will Jacks and Kent wicketkeeper Oli Robinson.

England will play a two-day warm-up match against a Unicorns XI in Loughborough on July 19-20 before the “Tests”, at Queen’s Park in Chesterfield from July 23-26, then New Road in Worcester from July 31 to August 3.

Eight more players have been selected for an Invitational XI who will provide India with their warm-up opposition, also in Loughborough – meaning a total of 27 youngsters will have the chance to face international opposition this summer, representing 15 of the 18 first-class counties.

The Royal London One-Day Series starts at the SSE SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff on Monday August 7, which is followed by a day-night match at the Spitfire Ground St Lawrence in Canterbury on Wednesday August 9 to be shown live on Sky Sports.

The series continues at the 1^st Central County Ground in Hove on Saturday August 12, with match four at the Brightside Ground, Bristol on Monday August 14, and concludes on Wednesday August 16 at the Coopers Associates County Ground in Taunton.

England Under-19s squads

For two four-day matches against India: Max Holden (Middlesex, capt), Liam Banks (Warwickshire), George Bartlett (Somerset), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Henry Brookes (Warwickshire), Ben Green (Somerset), Will Jacks (Surrey), George Panayi (Warwickshire), Ryan Patel (Surrey), Liam Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire), Matt Potts (Durham), Oli Robinson (Kent, wk), Harry Swindells (Leicestershire, wk), Josh Tongue (Worcestershire), Amar Virdi (Surrey).

For five-match Royal London One-Day Series against India: Harry Brook (Yorkshire, capt), Liam Banks (Warwickshire), Tom Banton (Somerset, wk), Henry Brookes (Warwickshire), Adam Finch (Worcestershire), Alfie Gleadall (Derbyshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Tom Lammonby (Somerset), Felix Organ (Hampshire), Liam Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire), Jack Plom (Essex), Matt Potts (Durham), Hamidullah Qadri (Derbyshire), Oli Robinson (Kent, wk), Liam Trevaskis (Durham).

For Invitational XI to play India, Loughborough: Adam Finch (Worcestershire), Alfie Gleadall (Derbyshire), Feroze Khushi (Essex), Tom Lammonby (Somerset, wk), Prem Sisodiya (Glamorgan), Fin Trenouth (Somerset, wk), Liam Trevaskis (Durham), Harisson Ward (Sussex).

Fixtures

Four-day matches versus India: Queen’s Park, Chesterfield (July 23-26); New Road, Worcester (July 31 – August 3).

Warm-up matches: England v Unicorns XI, India v Invitational XI – both Loughborough, July 20-21.

Royal London One-Day Series versus India: SSE SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff (August 7); Spitfire Ground St Lawrence, Canterbury (August 9, day-night live on Sky Sports); 1^st Central County Ground, Hove (August 12); Brightside Ground, Bristol (August 14); Coopers Associates County Ground, Taunton (August 16).