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Essex County Cricket Club is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of former Captain, Brian Taylor at the age of 84.

Known as ‘Tonker’ for his exuberant approach to the game, Brian Taylor made 539 First Class appearances for Essex between 1949-73, second only to Keith Fletcher and named as the ‘Wisden Cricketer of the Year’ in 1972. During this time, he also captained the county for seven seasons from 1967, up until he retired from cricket in 1973.

A skilled gloveman, Brian has the 7th highest number of dismissals in First Class cricket with 1,295, which included over 1,000 catches and 191 stumpings; a record which is unlikely ever to be surpassed by an Essex player.

Hitting over 18,000 runs for the Club, Brian was a very popular batsman with Essex supporters playing exciting cricket with a variety of shots. This was summed up perfectly by Taylor himself, “I suppose it’s right to say that if I’d taken more care with my batting I would have got far better results. But I, and perhaps the crowds, have had more enjoyment at the way I have batted”.

Brian earned a place on England’s Tour to South Africa in 1956-57, though a Test cap never came to fruition due to the form of wicket-keeper, Godfrey Evans.

After cricket, he was elected to the panel of England Test selectors in 1973 and 1974 before becoming heavily involved in school’s cricket across the county. Brian was an Honorary Life Vice President of the Club and still a keen supporter, who regularly attended matches at Chelmsford.

Nick Browne has had plenty of time to contemplate whether he has turned the corner in a frustrating season. Much of that contemplation took place on a beach in Malaga as the Essex players were given a week off ahead of a busy schedule.

The left-handed opener was able to raise his bat for the first time this season after digging in for a gritty fifty in his last innings, against Surrey last week. It was only the second time in eight Specsavers County Championship innings he had scored more than his first-class career average, which hovers in the mid-forties.

Essex resume today after an 11-day break in the fixtures with the second of back-to-back games against Surrey, with 26-year-old Browne admitting: “It was nice to get away from cricket for a bit.

“I suppose you want to keep playing when you’ve got some runs, but for me at the moment it was quite nice to just get away from it and start again. I’ll take the confidence of that last innings into this one. I’ve hit plenty of balls in the last couple of days, so I feel ready to go.”

Browne has put 198 runs on the board in the four-day game, only once failing to make it to double-figures, but rarely moving beyond the teens. His painstaking 52 in the draw against Surrey took 152 balls and spanned nearly three hours.

He admits: “I haven’t scored the runs this year that I wanted to. I actually thought I felt OK, but I’m disappointed I haven’t got the results to show for it.

“I’ve been getting twenties and thirties and doing my job as an opener and seeing off the new-ball, but then not really kicking on, getting out to the first-change bowlers more often than not. I genuinely thought the Surrey one was going to be the breakthrough innings and I’d score a big one.

“I had a good pre-season, scored quite a few runs out in Dubai and then got a hundred against Durham [MCCU]. I thought, ‘Yeah, I’m on here’, I felt good. I’m not sure what happened afterwards; it’s not quite gone my way.

“Every time I’ve made a mistake I’ve got out. I keep picking out fielders; when you’re in-form it bypasses them. Then there are the lbw decisions that don’t go your way. It’s about luck: if you get dropped and end up getting a hundred no one talks about the dropped catch. That’s cricket, isn’t it? Hopefully a big score is just around the corner.”

For quarter-of-an-hour under ten hours, Browne chased balls from Kumar Sangakkara’s bat around Chelmsford as the Sri Lankan finished with a combined 284 runs from two innings, but 16 short of a record sixth consecutive Championship century. At Guildford this weekend he will be looking for his one hundred hundred in all cricket, as well as the 124 runs to take him past one thousand runs in the competition this season.

Browne could only look and admire. “I didn’t realise how consistent he was, and the amount of shots he’s got. He can play every shot in the book with ease, and has three or four shots to every ball. It was lovely to watch him bat like that. What a player; sheer class.

“It would be nice to get him out early this time! Hopefully we can take our chances if one goes to hand. I thought we bowled quite well to him. Without Sangakkara I think we would have steamrolled them. Hopefully we can keep him down below his average this time.” That average currently stands at 109.50.

Essex lock horns once again with Surrey when the teams meet at Guildford in the return Specsavers County Championship Division One clash starting tomorrow.

The sides recently met at The Cloudfm County Ground when a draw was the outcome in a contest that provided a number of headline performances.

Kumar Sangakkara struck a double-century in the Brown Caps first innings and then fell tantalisingly short of a record sixth consecutive Championship century. Having reached 84 in his second visit to the crease, he gave a return catch to Tom Westley. That took the batsman’s overall tally of runs in the competition to 876.

Essex batsman Dan Lawrence and Jamie Porter also both caught the attention; teenager Lawrence made 107 whilst the ever impressive Porter enjoyed match figures of 9 for 160.

Surrey and Essex have met twice previously in Guildford; both resulting in a draw (1968 & 2009).

Chris Silverwood has named a 13-man squad for the trip to Guildford adding Ashar Zaidi and Paul Walter to the team that drew the previous encounter at Chelmsford.

“I am delighted with the way that we are performing this season, we are getting first division sides on the ropes at various stages of the game and creating opportunities,” he said.

“I’m sure that it is only a matter of time before we will take more and more of those opportunities.

“We have won two and drawn three of our first block of 5 matches and that took us to the top of the Division One table. We also finished top of our group in the One-Day Cup and overall, that makes pretty impressive reading.

“But we can’t sit back and admire what we’ve achieved, if anything we have to work even harder now to capitalise on that and build on that great start. We’ve got to keep driving forwards and make things happen.

“We’ve got bowlers in our squad that have the ability to put the opposition on the rack, Jamie Porter’s done it, Neil Wagner’s done it, Matt Quinn’s done it. We had Surrey in trouble last week but unfortunately, they had Sangakkara in their ranks that showed he is a world-class player. But that’s why you play cricket, to pit your abilities against high-class players.

“The boys are loving competing in Division One and they are learning with each game they play and there is some great cricket being played.

“I ask three things from the boys, respect, attitude and effort and they are all choices. If a player turns up every day with those three characters, then there is a very good chance they have every chance of being successful.

“There is still a lot we need to work on and that will always be the case but what we need to do immediately is to keep the momentum going.”

Hampshire currently lead Division One with 82 points from 6 matches. Essex occupy second position with 68 points, Surrey have 67 points and Yorkshire 66 points although all three teams have only played 5 matches.

Essex squad:
Ryan ten Doeschate, (27) Captain
James Foster (7) WK
Nick Browne (10)
Simon Harmer (11)
Neil Wagner (13)
Tom Westley (21)
Paul Walter (22)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Alastair Cook (26)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Jamie Porter (44)
Matt Quinn (94)
Ashar Zaidi (99)

There is now just one month until the NatWest T20 Blast tournament opener against Surrey at The Cloudfm County Ground.

The last remaining tickets for the Surrey match on 7 July have now been made available and other matches are in high demand!

If you want to see The Eagles continue their excellent start to the season make sure you purchase your tickets before they are gone.

Ashar Zaidi will look to continue his limited-over heroics, while Mohammad Amir arrives as one of best fast bowlers in the world.

A T20 at Chelmsford is a spectacle like no other, so make sure you join us for an evening of high quality cricket!

Buy your tickets | here.

Hospitality

Hospitality is now limited but there is still space available for the NatWest T20 Blast matches against Gloucestershire on Saturday 29 July and Glamorgan match on Sunday 16 July.

The Beer and Balti Package is available for both fixtures from £99 + VAT per person.

The Felsted Family Package is also available for the Glamorgan game and this is priced at £69 + VAT for Adults and £39 + VAT for Children.

To book any hospitality places please email commercial@https://http://essexcricket.org.uk/ or call 01245 254120.

Even willing workhorses need a rest sometimes. The 11-day hiatus between matches in Essex’s fixture list provides Neil Wagner with the opportunity to recuperate before a final burst ahead of his scheduled mid-season departure.

The New Zealand Test left-armer has been the epitome of the perfect house guest in his role as Essex’s overseas player for the first half of the summer: uncomplaining, hard-working and with the results to show for his prodigious efforts.

Wagner arrived on the back of a full domestic season at home, finishing with a three-Test series against his native South Africa before hopping on a plane straight into the English season. It has not stopped him bowling more Specsavers County Championship overs for Essex (173) than anyone else, barring spinner Simon Harmer, while only fellow seamer Jamie Porter has taken more than Wagner’s 15 red-ball wickets.

“I’m loving every minute of it here,” he confirmed this week. “I’ve been having a helluva time, making new friends, making new memories, it’s been outstanding. And we’ve been playing really good cricket, which shows why we’ve been enjoying it.”

Wagner started his Essex career sharing the new-ball with Porter, but the return to fitness of Matt Quinn has meant he was reverted to coming on first-change in the two most recent games against Hampshire and Surrey. He admitted: “It’s something I wanted to do. It’s what I do in Test cricket.

“I also noticed that with the Duke balls [used in England], when you come on first-change they tend to seam a little bit more. The Kookaburra ball [used Down Under] swings a lot more from the start. The Duke ball seems to swing a little bit more when it gets a bit of the lacquer coming off.

“For me, I wanted to get back into that role as first-change bowler and do it consistently over a period of time. Then I can work on some things I need to work on, and want to work on, looking forward in my career. And with the balance we’ve got in the team it fits in nicely. The other two are such good new-ball bowlers.”

Not that Wagner has rejected the idea of opening the bowling again from the River End at Chelmsford. “If one of those two don’t play then I’m happy to fit in wherever the team requires and what the team needs me to do,” he said.

Wagner leaves this month to accommodate the arrival of Mohammad Amir, fresh from Pakistan duty in the Champions Trophy, probably in time to make his Essex debut in the home day-night Championship match against Middlesex on June 26.

The precise date of Wagner’s departure depends on Essex’s continued progression in the Royal London Cup. If they win their sold-out semi-final in a fortnight’s time, and with Amir ineligible for the final having not played in the group stage, Wagner’s contract will be extended to accommodate his participation.

He said: “If it happens, and fingers crossed we do what we need to do and go well in the semi-final, I will be staying on for the extra few days.”

Otherwise he will play in the intervening Championship matches against Surrey and Warwickshire before heading to South Africa for some proper R&R. “I’ve got a bit of a break,” he said, “to rest the body, get the body right before our season starts back in New Zealand. I’ve got a bit of a holiday planned – I haven’t had one for two years – and then do some fitness and conditioning before getting back to work.”

Dan Lawrence has linked up with the England Lions squad ahead of their One-Day series against South Africa A over the coming week.

The three match series begins tomorrow at Trent Bridge and will be completed by fixtures at Northampton on Saturday and then on Monday.

Joining up with the England Lions squad takes the batsman one step closer to full international honours and the 19-year-old follows in the footsteps of Tom Westley who has toured abroad with the Lions for successive winters.

Lawrence has started the Championship season in impeccable fashion and is leading the way in the Essex run scoring charts with 391 runs, including two stunning hundreds, and the call up is just reward for rising to the Division One challenge.

Joining up with the squad in Nottingham completes a whirlwind week for Lawrence who was also handed his Essex County Cap during lunchtime of Day 1 of the draw against Surrey.

The youngster will now, along with teammates Tom Westley and Jamie Porter, hope to be included in the four-day squads for the upcoming series against South Africa A.