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Essex Club Captain Ryan ten Doeschate was thrilled to see Jamie Porter’s winter hard work pay off as he produced career best match figures of 9-160 in the Championship draw against Surrey.

Porter is in a rich vein of form: he posted best List A figures (four for 40) two weeks ago, career-best first-class figures (five for 24) against Hampshire last week and now best match figures.

All-rounder ten Doeschate believes it is a testament to coming back even fitter and stronger for pre-season.

He said: “Ports has just got better and better as he has experienced more first-class cricket. One of the challenges we set him over the winter was to come back stronger and fitter. That is one of the hallmarks of where has improved as he has got top quality third and fourth spells in him now.

“We know he has all the skills and ability but it was about helping him use those consistently over four days of Championship cricket.”

The top-of-table-clash looked destined for a draw until a fabulous spell of bowling from the 24-year-old saw him take 5 Surrey wickets in just 27 balls.

Dutch International ten Doeschate added: “The game looked pretty dead this morning and he produced a wonderful spell to turn the game on its head somewhat. He already had 40 overs under his belt so to produce a spell like that was a testament to the hard work he has put in.

“Working under someone like Chris Silverwood obviously helps as well as he has seen it all first-hand and can pass on valuable experience. Ports is bowling terrifically at the moment and hopefully he can continue that as the season progresses.”

Essex have named a 13-man squad as they continue their Specsavers County Championship schedule when they entertain Surrey in a top-of-the-table clash at The Cloudfm County Ground starting tomorrow.

The home side sit proudly at the top of the league following their comprehensive thrashing of Hampshire inside three days and that success meant they are the only side in the division to have won two matches in the competition so far.

Their advantage over Surrey is a slender one, just a single point, and the Brown Caps are sure to prove daunting opponents.

Essex Head Coach Chris Silverwood admits that his squad go into the match in excellent spirit following their fine run that has seen them lose just one match in all competitions this year – and that by just a single run in a Royal London One-Day Cup match with Glamorgan.

“Coming off the back of a good win against Hampshire and a successful one-day campaign, we go into the match full of confidence which is really nice and the lads are really up for the Surrey game,” he acknowledged.

“We are still very aware that there is a lot of work in front of us and, coming up against a side that are second in the division, means that this is a big game for us. But it’s one that we are really looking forward to.”

He is rightly proud of the achievements of his squad so far.

“They’ve done really well and it’s great to see us top of the league and in the semi-final of the 50-over competition but we’ve achieved that by playing some really good cricket,” he said.

“The two wins in the Championship have both come inside three days and there were some more stand-out performances in the last match when we beat Hampshire.

“Obviously the way that Alastair Cook and Tom Westley batted showed how valuable runs were on that wicket and that illustrates how well they played. And I thought that Jamie Porter bowled exceptionally well from a seaming point of view and was ably backed up by the rest of the guys. On that last day, I thought that everyone bowled well but I have to say that the 5-for by ‘Ports’ in their first innings was top class.

“Surrey are obviously a good side but to be honest every match in the First Division brings it challenges, we’ve already come up against some tough sides but the great thing is that we are learning on our feet so far and we are also learning through winning.

“Hopefully that will continue but there is a lot of cricket in front of us, it’s still early days. We have to keep doing the basics right, stick to our game plans and keep doing the good things really well.

“I’ll keep driving that home to the players.”

Surrey enjoy bragging rights over their opponents coming into the match unbeaten in the last six encounters between the two sides are unbeaten in six matches versus Essex with two wins and four draws.

The visitors are also enjoying a five-game unbeaten run in Chelmsford with two wins and three draws.

Kumar Sangakkara (Surrey) has recorded more Championship runs than any other batsman this term (592); doing so with an average of 98.67. Another prolific run-getter for the visitors is Mark Stoneman with 388 runs @ 64.67. For the home side, Alastair Cook leads the way with 337 Championship runs @ 67.40, Dan Lawrence has 284 runs @ 56.80 and Tom Westley 327 runs @ 54.50.

Essex squad
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) Captain
James Foster (7) WK
Ravi Bopara
Nick Browne
Varun Chopra
Alastair Cook
Simon Harmer
Dan Lawrence
Jamie Porter
Matt Quinn
Neil Wagner
Paul Walter
Tom Westley

Surrey squad | Gareth Batty, Scott Borthwick, Rory Burns, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Mark Footitt, Stuart Meaker, Amar Virdi, Ravi Rampaul, Kumar Sangakarra, Dominic Sibley, Mark Stoneman.

Essex batsman Dan Lawrence has been selected in the England Lions squad for the three-match one-day series against South Africa A next month.

James Vince will lead an experienced squad and Lawrence is involved in his first series for the Lions following an impressive England U19 stint last year.

The 19-year-old continues to go from strength to strength in the first-team and saved the game against Lancashire with a stunning hundred.

Vince is one of four players included with senior ODI experience in the last eight months, alongside Ben Duckett and Steven Finn – who were both included in the England squad for the recent Royal London One-Day Series against Ireland – and his Hampshire team-mate Liam Dawson.

The squad also includes Dawid Malan, the Middlesex opener who was a non-playing member of England’s T20 squad last summer, while six of the remaining eight players toured Sri Lanka with the Lions in the winter.

James Whitaker, the National Selector, said: “We wanted to select a strong and experienced Lions squad for this series, as it coincides with the early stages of the ICC Champions Trophy, and therefore provides us with the opportunity to keep our standby players in white-ball action.

“The quality of the squad we have selected reflects well on the strength in depth we now have in 50-over cricket which has emerged through the county game. All the players in this squad will have the 2019 World Cup in their sights, and playing for the Lions offers them the platform to show what they can do.

“In addition to his considerable captaincy experience with Hampshire, James Vince has led the Lions before, to an excellent series victory against South Africa A in early 2015 and again when they played 50-over and T20 series against Pakistan A in Dubai in the winter of 2015-16 – and he also impressed in captaining the South to victory in the North-South Series earlier this year. He is a good tactical reader of the game.

“We were also mindful in selecting this squad that the series coincides with an important round of matches in the Specsavers County Championship. As ever we are grateful to the counties for their support, and for appreciating the importance of the Lions programme in developing players for international cricket.”

Surrey, who are the only county with three players in the squad, do not have a fixture in the round of Championship matches starting on Friday June 2, and nor do Essex or Kent.

The Lions series starts at Trent Bridge the previous day with the remaining two games at Northampton on Saturday June 3 and Monday June 5, the latter a day-night fixture – with free entry to all three games.

The Lions also play a four-day game against South Africa A at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence from June 21-24, and then a three-day match against the senior South Africa tourists in Worcester from June 29 – July 1, with squads for those matches to be named next month.

England Lions squad – to play South Africa A in three-match one-day series at Trent Bridge (June 1) and Northampton (June 3 & 5).

Dawid Malan (Middlesex)

Ben Duckett (Northants)

Daniel Bell-Drummond (Kent)

James Vince (Hampshire, captain)

Liam Livingstone (Lancashire)

Liam Dawson (Hampshire)

Ben Foakes (Surrey, wk)

Sam Curran (Surrey)

Tom Curran (Surrey)

Craig Overton (Somerset)

Steven Finn (Middlesex)

Dan Lawrence (Essex)

George Garton (Sussex)

Having progressed to the semi-finals of the Royal London One-Day Cup with a highly impressive record of 7 wins from eight matches, Essex resume red-ball cricket when they entertain Hampshire in a Specsavers County Championship fixture starting at The Cloudfm County Ground tomorrow.

Essex have named a 14-man squad and Head Coach Chris Silverwood admits that the successful Royal London Cup campaign has put them in good heart.

“I’m delighted with the way the guys have played in both forms of the game and the way we have performed in the 50-over format gives us a lot of confidence now we are reverting to the Championship game,” he said.

“To win 7 out of eight games in white ball cricket that earned a home semi-final in the Royal London One-Day Cup was a fantastic achievement and every credit to all the boys for achieving that.

“But we do have to put thoughts of the 50-over game to the back of our minds because we now have three very important and difficult Championship matches coming up in the next three weeks starting with Hampshire on Friday followed by back-to-back clashes with Surrey who are top of the table at the moment.

“Yes, there is a lot of self-belief throughout the squad but we need to be at our best throughout these three matches. Division One cricket can be a very unforgiving game if you let your standards slip even for one session and all the players are very aware of that.

“One very satisfying aspect of our season overall has been the number of players who have stepped up with influential performances just when we’ve needed them but we are still very much a work in progress and there is a lot more to come from us.”

Both Essex and Hampshire have so far played 3 Championship matches and both have won one and drawn 2 games but a superior tally of bonus points (6 batting and 8 bowling) has taken the visitors into third place in Division One with 40 points and just five behind early leaders Surrey.

Essex occupy fifth place and have five points fewer than Hampshire having accrued 2 batting points and 7 bowling points.

Hampshire have only managed to claim two victories in their last 12 visits to Chelmsford losing 5 of those matches whilst there has been only one drawn fixture across the last 10 meetings between these sides; five wins for Essex and four going Hampshire’s way.

Both teams come into the match in a good vein of Championship form having suffered only one defeat each from their last nine matches; Essex have won 4 and drawn 4 whilst the South Coast county have won 2 and drawn 6 matches.

Essex squad:
Varun Chopra (6)
James Foster (7)
Nick Browne (10)
Simon Harmer (11)
Neil Wagner (13)
Tom Westley (21)
Paul Walter (22)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Alastair Cook (26)
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) Captain
Dan Lawrence (28)
Adam Wheater (31)
Jamie Porter (44)
Matt Quinn (94)

Alastair Cook has earned an invitation to play in the 2018 North-South Series after his key role in Essex Eagles’ progress to the semi finals of the Royal London One-Day Cup.

The former England captain has scored 503 runs in eight innings at an average of more than 70 as Essex topped the South Group, leaving him third in the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s MVP Rankings – behind Glamorgan’s South African opener Colin Ingram, and young Derbyshire all-rounder Shiv Thakor.

The top four England-qualified players in the rankings from both the North and South groups will be offered places in the North-South Series, which will again be watched closely by the England selectors and management in their planning for the 2019 ICC World Cup.

So while Thakor is set for a place in the North squad who will aim to take revenge for the 3-0 whitewash inflicted by the South in the first series in the UAE earlier this year, Cook will be invited to lend his considerable experience to the South – although his availability remains uncertain, as the dates and venues of the 2018 series have still to be finalised.

Hampshire captain James Vince, who led the South to their 2017 triumph, has qualified automatically this year, and the other two invitations have been earned by Kent’s England Lions opener Daniel Bell-Drummond, and Cook’s Essex and former England team-mate Ravi Bopara.

Keaton Jennings, Sam Hain and Gary Ballance are in the frame to join Thakor in the North squad – again, providing there are no clashes with any England commitments.

The 13-man North and South squads will be finalised by the England selectors at the end of the season, with dates and venues to be confirmed soon.