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Match Preview: Lancashire v Essex Eagles

Lancashire v Essex Eagles

Royal London Cup
Emirates Old Trafford
Thursday 12 August
11am start

 

The Essex Eagles booked their place in the knockout stages of the Royal London Cup when they beat Sussex Sharks at The Cloudfm County Ground yesterday, and they now have an important match when they travel to Emirates Old Trafford to face third-placed Lancashire in the last fixture of group matches.

Victory would guarantee a home tie on Saturday in the Quarter-Finals although, should Durham lose their remaining match against Hampshire and the Eagles win in Manchester, then Tom Westley’s side would by-pass the Quarter-Finals and be guaranteed a home Semi-Final on Tuesday.

For the second time in three days, rising young batting stars Feroze Khushi and Josh Rymell captured the attention. On Sunday, the emerging duo figured in a century partnership on their way to individual scores of 109 and 40 respectively although their efforts failed to gain the victory.

But 48 hours later back on home territory, their eye-catching performances delighted the 3,000 strong crowd basking in the sunshine and warming to the emergence of two future prospects. And the pair responded by underpinning a victory with Rymell posting a career-best 78 whilst Khushi contributed 77 supported by 53 from Adam Wheater.

Then all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate returned his best figures with the ball since 2016 claiming 4/34 as the Eagles completed a 97 run success and their fifth victory in 7 matches in the competition.

Squad:

LANCS SQUAD

Rymells’s View:

Josh Rymell once again demonstrated his batting talents when he top-scored for the Eagles in their win against Sussex Sharks yesterday with 78, having been promoted in the order to open with Alastair Cook.

The 20-year-old batsman was undaunted, batting beautifully to contribute the highest score in the Eagles win in what was only his third List A innings.

He said: “On the first 2 occasions, I was a bit frustrated that I didn’t get to the 50 mark (he scored 30 and 40) and against Sussex, I was frustrated that I didn’t go on and get a 100.”

He and Feroze Khushi have posted century partnerships in each of the last 2 Eagles matches and the Ipswich-born right-hander admits he believes the pair have an effective understanding.

“Feroze and I have batted together for a few years now and so we know each other’s game and it’s great to see him doing so well. We came through the Academy together and so it’s nice to see a familiar face down the other end.

“But it was a surreal experience to open with Alastair Cook on Tuesday. If you had told me 3 or 4 years ago that I would be opening with him, I wouldn’t have believed you. I’ve actually now got a photo of us together and I’ll be really cherishing that!

“Perhaps there was a little bit of nerves walking out to bat with him but I think I have enough confidence in my own game to back my abilities. I was quite composed now I’ve played a few games.

“I’ve mostly batted in the middle-order in my career so far but I think in white-ball cricket, opening the innings is the best place to bat, so I was really happy to be asked to open against Sussex.

“Everyone in the dressing room is looking forward to Thursday’s game now and hopefully we can keep that momentum going and come out on top again.”

The Opposition:

Lancashire have been weakened by the loss of a significant number of players to The Hundred competition. Liam Livingstone, Matt Parkinson, Tom Hartley, Saqib Mahmood, Alex Davies and Luke Wood are all with teams in domestic cricket’s newest competition and additionally, Jos Buttler is with the England Test squad team for the Test series with India.

The Red Rose have won 3 matches in the Royal London Cup this summer beating Hampshire, Gloucestershire and Sussex although Middlesex and Durham have both inflicted defeats. 2 of Lancashire’s matches were abandoned.

The home side will select from the following 13-man squad:

Tom Bailey (C), Tom Aspinwall, George Balderson, Josh Bohannon, George Burrows, Taylor Cornall, Steven Croft, Liam Hurt, Rob Jones, Danny Lamb, George Lavelle, Jack Morley, Luke Wells.

The Eagles and Lancashire have met on 62 occasions in List A cricket, with Essex winning on 32 occasions, losing 25 whilst 5 matches have been abandoned.

How to Watch:

There will be a Live Stream service from Emirates Old Trafford. This will be available via the Essex Cricket Matchzone from 11am.

Access via the Essex Cricket Matchzone is available here.

 

Match Preview: Essex Eagles v Kent Spitfires

Essex Eagles v Kent Spitfires

Royal London Cup
The Cloudfm County Ground
Sunday 01 August
11am start

 

Essex Eagles host old adversaries, Kent Spitfires at The Cloudfm County Ground on Sunday when the two teams continue their Battle of the Bridge encounters in the Royal London Cup.

In both of the two white-ball exchanges this summer in the Vitality Blast, it was the Spitfires who prevailed and now Tom Westley’s men are looking for a win to redress the balance.

The Eagles are also eager to get back on the winning trail following the 182-run defeat to Worcestershire Rapids on Thursday night.

That loss followed two successes by the Eagles in the opening two 50-over matches and they now face a Spitfires side who suffered frustration in their latest match. The encounter with Sussex Sharks at Hove was abandoned with the Spitfires’ innings 4.2 overs short of constituting a match, although they were well ahead of the DLS par score.

It was the second time in three days that Kent had suffered an abandonment. Added to their defeats in the opening two fixtures, the Spitfires now have just 2 points from 4 matches.

Squad:

The Eagles have named a 13-man squad for the clash with Kent Spitfires that includes Ben Allison and Jack Plom who both made their List A debuts last Thursday.

However, neither Jamie Porter (side strain) nor Paul Walter (hamstring) are expected to feature in the remainder of the competition.

kentsquad

Anthony McGrath’s View:

“Yes, we are disappointed with the result and there are things to work on before we face Kent Spitfires on Sunday, but by no means will there be any knee-jerk reactions.”

“Sometimes when you lose games, there is a tendency just to look at what we did wrong but you have to give Worcestershire a whole lot of credit for the way that they played,” he continued.

“They put us under pressure and outplayed us. Their two openers were superb, they didn’t take any risks and at 243-0 you have to take your hat off to them. Sometimes you just have to acknowledge the performance of the opposition.

“Ironically, we were happy at the halfway point because we clawed it back in the last 19 overs and after the way we batted on Sunday, we felt we had a chance of chasing them down but losing early wickets was hard from thereon.

“Losing Jamie (Porter) and Paul (Walter) gave us two big blows to the balance of our team but we have the quality in the squad to address that going forward.

“I was happy with the way we started the competition with the win at Hampshire and then following it up against Middlesex, which was probably one of our best one-day performances, so we need to get back to that level,” he continued.

“We need to review what we’ve done really well so far and put that into practice when we meet Kent.

“We will keep working hard to get things right and hopefully get back to putting in more of the levels of performance we achieved in those first two games.”

The Opposition:

Jack Leaning, who was named as the Spitfires captain for the Royal London tournament, has been called up by the Trent Rockets for two matches. He becomes the eighth Kent player to be involved in The Hundred, along with Daniel Bell-Drummond, Zak Crawley, Joe Denly, Fred Klaassen, Alex Blake, Sam Billings and Jordan Cox.

Additionally, Harry Podmore is likely to be sidelined due to an injury picked up during the week.

Ollie Robinson will lead the Spitfires have named a 13-man squad for the match:

Ollie Robinson (c & wk), Harry Finch, Nathan Gilchrist, Joe Gordon, Heino Kuhn, James Logan, Matt Milnes, George Munsey, Tawanda Muyeye, Marcus O’Riordan, Hamid Quadri, Darren Stevens and Grant Stewart.

How to Watch:

There will be a Live Stream service from The Cloudfm County Ground which will be broadcasting ahead of play from 11am via the Essex Cricket Matchzone. The stream will also be available via the Essex Cricket YouTube Channel.

Access via the Essex Cricket Matchzone is available here.

 

Essex Cricket celebrate Rainbow Laces this weekend

Essex Cricket will be joining the cricket community in celebrating Rainbow Laces alongside Stonewall from July 30-August 1.

It’s the fourth year the game has come together to celebrate LGBTQ+ inclusion in cricket, and Essex Cricket are committed in making our Club and The Cloudfm County Ground a welcoming and safe place for LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people, and their friends and families.

We will continue to promote an inclusive community across Essex through the Club and our Community work. The Rainbow Laces campaign is important in sending a strong message of zero tolerance to homophobic, biphobic and transphobic behaviour, whether on the pitch, within our ground or on our online community.

Earlier this year the ECB supported what was believed to be the first fully inclusive LGBTQ+ game of cricket – between Graces CC and Unicorns CC – and in September the business will be represented in the march at London Pride.

laceshome

ECB Chief Executive Officer Tom Harrison said: “I’m proud to see our game standing squarely behind inclusion.

“We’re driven by our desire to open up the game to as many people as possible. We want cricket to be a game for everyone and we want the LGBTQ+ community to both feel welcome and able to be themselves in our sport.

“The rainbow laces and the rainbow stumps are a powerful symbol of support, and it’s good to see the players and the wider game reaffirming our desire to be a sport that everyone feels they can be involved in.”

Erin Williams, Sport Engagement Manager at Stonewall (she/her & they/them) said: “We’re delighted that the ECB is celebrating Rainbow Laces for the fourth time this summer.

“Sport has an incredible ability to bring us together, and it’s brilliant to see the dedication that the ECB has shown to LGBTQ+ inclusion over the years.

“This year saw the first fully inclusive LGBTQ+ game of cricket, between Graces CC and Unicorns CC, and we’re excited to see The Hundred matches throughout the summer. We’re proud to be working with the ECB to make cricket a game where everyone is free to play as themselves.”

 

Buttleman looking to learn from the best

Will Buttleman was three years old when Sir Alastair Cook made his List A debut for Essex – 18 years on and he’s opening the Eagles’ batting with him in the Royal London Cup.

Chelmsford native Buttleman, 21, first remembers hearing about Cook, 36, after his double-century for Essex against Australia during the 2005 Ashes summer.

He then watched in awe from The Cloudfm County Ground stands whenever Cook returned from international duty, before rising through the county’s academy to eventually stroll out alongside him.

“I went to most T20s and 50-over games when I was younger and a bit of championship too when I was allowed outside of school,” Buttleman said. “I vividly remember watching him play. That’s why I find opening with him so cool.

“He’s had a lot of opening partners through his career so it is quite surreal and an honour. He is the best in the business and hopefully, we can have some big partnerships and I’ll learn a lot from him.

“We have opened together twice now so I am still getting used to it but batting for 20 or 30 overs with him would be a cool experience.”

Having a 22-yard view of one of the sport’s greats is one thing, but having his unmatched wealth of experience and advice on tap is another.

“I probably ask him too many questions!” Buttleman laughed. “I can ask him anything I want. It isn’t just about what he thinks but also things from people he’s been around throughout his career – he can talk about them and how they played.

“The mental side is his strength and that is probably the area I can most improve as well. I maybe lost a bit of concentration in the last game and I need to be hungrier. I need to concentrate on every ball, take them as they come and let it happen.

“I need to listen to ‘Cooky’ when I’m out there and see what he thinks. He is probably the best man ever to listen to about scoring big runs.”

Buttleman has had a breakthrough season at the Eagles, making his Vitality Blast debut, collecting a first professional fifty and now being entrusted at the top of the order in the 50-over competition.

His enterprising 23 against Middlesex, part of a half-century stand with Cook, hinted that he is on the cusp of making significant contributions.

“I feel like 50-overs is my best format. I feel it is a good opportunity to score big runs and to be able to do it in first-team cricket would be ideal,” the wicketkeeper-batsman said. “I’m training harder than ever. I’m doing extra hours and hitting as many balls as I can.

“I really want to cement my place in the team and win games of cricket. I’ve played a handful of games now and had a lot of starts and now I want to make some big scores to help the team.”

It has, however, been a frustrating season so far for Essex. They failed to reach Division One of the LV= Insurance County Championship, thereby ending their defence of that title and the Bob Willis Trophy, while a lack of consistency saw them miss out on the Vitality Blast quarter-finals.

But having won their opening two Royal London Cup fixtures – plus only losing Dan Lawrence and Sam Cook for the competition – the Eagles have high hopes of claiming a fifth trophy in five seasons.

Buttleman said: “We want to keep winning. It is a big opportunity for us to get some silverware.

“We were really disappointed with our T20 competition. We had a lot of inexperience in our side but we felt there were 50-50 games which we should have won.

“We have a nice balance to our 50-over side, and the games so far have shown how much we have matured.”

 

Royal London Cup: The Lowdown

The Royal London Cup makes its welcomed return to the domestic schedule on Thursday following a hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Somerset are the defending champions after they defeated Hampshire at Lord’s in 2019 with Trent Bridge set to host the showpiece decider in August this year.

Here are all the details you need to know about this season’s 50-over white-ball competition.

When does the Royal London Cup start?

The tournament will begin on 22 July with Essex Eagles taking on Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl in Group A.

What is the format of the competition this summer?

The 18 First-Class counties have been randomly drawn into two groups of nine teams.

Each county will play eight group-stage matches – four at home and four away – with the top three counties in each group progressing to the knockout stages.

The format for the knockout stages are:

• Quarter-finals – 14 August (hosted by second-placed counties)

• Group A Second-placed county v Group B Third-placed county

• Group B Second-placed county v Group A Third-placed county

• Semi-finals – 17 August (hosted by group winners)

• Group A winner v Quarter-final winner

• Group B winner v Quarter-final winner

The winners of the semi-final progress to the Royal London Cup final at Trent Bridge on 19 August.

Which counties are in each group?

• Group A: Essex, Worcestershire, Sussex, Middlesex, Kent, Durham, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Lancashire.

• Group B: Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Glamorgan, Yorkshire, Surrey, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Somerset.

The groups for the Royal London Cup were randomly drawn. The order that they were drawn appears in the above list and has determined the home and away ties.

Example: The first team in the Group will play at home to the second, third, fourth and fifth teams drawn, and away to sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth. This continues – another example is the team drawn seventh; this team will play at home to teams drawn eighth, ninth, first, second, and away to teams drawn third, fourth, fifth, sixth.

How can I watch and follow the competition?

All Essex Eagles home matches will be streamed lived via the Essex Cricket Matchzone found at essexcricket.org.uk or on the Club’s official Essex Cricket TV YouTube channel – here.

Our host counties for away games will also be streaming the games live and these can be found on the Essex Cricket Matchzone.

Can I buy tickets to the matches?

Tickets for all Essex Eagles home games in the Royal London Cup are on sale now and selling fast and the opening match at The Cloudfm County Ground against Middlesex on Sunday 25 July is now sold out.

buytickets

The health and safety of anyone attending matches this summer will remain the priority of the ECB and the First-Class Counties.

We continue to work closely with Government, and other sports, as we plan ways we can safely welcome supporters back to venues across England and Wales this summer.

Should the attendance of supporters at a Royal London match be affected by COVID-19 restrictions, each host venue will have its own communicated ticket refund and rollback policy.

 

Match Preview: Hampshire v Essex Eagles

Hampshire v Essex Eagles

Royal London Cup
The Ageas Bowl
Thursday 22 July
11am start

 

Essex Eagles commence their Royal London Cup season on Thursday with a trip to the South Coast to face Hampshire at The Ageas Bowl, with the fixture scheduled to start at 11am.

Hopes of silverware for the Club this season now rest with the Royal London Cup, after two disappointing campaigns in both the LV= Insurance County Championship and Vitality Blast.

The 50-over tournament returns to the domestic calendar this season having been cancelled last year due to the restricted season brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Squad:

HAMPSHIRE SQUAD 

McGrath’s View:

Eagles Head Coach Anthony McGrath is delighted to see the return of 50-over cricket.

He said: “It’s a competition that I’ve always been delighted to be involved with and I know the players all enjoy it.

“It’s being played alongside The Hundred which means a number of players will be away from their sides but that offers other players the opportunity to come in and show what they can do.

“We are all disappointed that we now won’t be able to challenge for the County Championship title this year and equally, the T20 tournament proved hugely frustrating, so the 50-over competition offers us an opportunity to win a major trophy this year.

“The first challenge is of course to make the next stage but we want to finish top of our group because that would take us into the semi-final and a guaranteed home tie.

“So, we will be taking it very seriously and putting out our best available team.”

The Opposition:

Hampshire have several key players involved in cricket’s latest tournament and will be without D’Arcy Short, Mason Crane, Chris Wood, Liam Dawson and James Vince.

However, their involvement elsewhere does offer some young up-and-coming hopefuls their opportunity in the Royal London Cup with Hampshire expected to include highly promising quartet, all-rounder Scott Currie and batters Tom Prest, Fletcha Middleton and Tony Albert.

The two sides have met on 70 occasions in List A cricket with Essex successful in 32 matches, Hampshire triumphant in 35 whilst 3 matches ended as no results.

How to Watch:

There will be a Live Stream service from The Ageas Bowl which will be broadcasting ahead of play from 11am via the Essex Cricket Matchzone. The stream will also be available via the Hampshire Cricket YouTube Channel.

Access via the Essex Cricket Matchzone is available here.

 

Match Preview: Essex Eagles v Middlesex

Essex Eagles v Middlesex

Vitality Blast
The Cloudfm County Ground
Sunday 18 July
2pm start

 

Essex Eagles entertain Middlesex at The Cloudfm County Ground in their final Vitality Blast fixture in what has been a disappointing T20 campaign for the home side.

Defeat by Hampshire Hawks on Friday ensured that the Eagles were unable to reach the quarter-final stages of the competition for the second year in succession having won the trophy in 2019.

Their record this term in the tournament is 5 wins and 7 defeats, with 1 game washed out.

Middlesex too have struggled and are also only playing for pride on Sunday. They currently prop up the South Group with just 3 wins from their 13 matches.

Squad:

MID SQUAD 

Harmer’s View:

Following the Eagles defeat by Hampshire Hawks on Friday, skipper Simon Harmer pulled no punches in his assessment of the latest defeat and the Eagles T20 season overall.

He said: “We put ourselves into a strong position in the match but couldn’t see it through which is very disappointing.

“It’s been a disappointing competition for us from start to finish.

“There were glimmers of hope there for us but I think as a whole, we haven’t been good enough. Our skills haven’t been good enough and so we have only ourselves to blame. we need to find ways to get better, there are lots of opportunities flying around but it just hasn’t been our tournament.

“Yes, it’s a tough group but we can look back and reflect that we could and should have been achieving a lot better than we have. It’s something that we will discuss in-depth later.

“Meanwhile, we have our final game on Sunday and even though the competition is over for ourselves, we have to go into that game with Middlesex with the right attitude and put on a professional performance.”

Opposition:

Middlesex will be without top-scorer Stephen Eskinazi on Sunday who suffered a torn groin muscle this week when batting against Leicestershire in the County Championship whilst Eoin Morgan is away leading England in their T20 series with Pakistan.

However wicket-keeper batsman John Simpson returns to the side having played in all 3 of England ODI’s against Pakistan.

Paceman Steven Finn captains a side that has plenty of bowling options. Seamer Tom Helm, also a member of the England ODI squad v Pakistan, is joined by Blake Cullen, Daryl Mitchell, Martin Andersson whilst the visitors could also field Nathan Sowter, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Luke Hollman to present a three-man spin attack.

In their latest match when playing against Kent Spitfires on Friday night, Middlesex suffered a heavy defeat when they were bowled out for 80 after their opponents had scored 157-8. Top-scorer for the beaten side was last man Mujeeb Ur Rahman who contributed 13 whilst the only other batsmen to post double figures were Varun Chopra and Helm, who both scored 12.

Head to Head:

Despite the lowly positions of the teams, there was an exciting clash when they met at Lord’s last month. Stephen Eskinazi carried his bat for 102 out of 183-2, but Dan Lawrence (59), Michael Pepper (43) and Jimmy Neesham (30) appeared to have put the Eagles on the road to a comfortable victory.

At the start of the 18th over, they needed 16 with 7 wickets in hand. Then with the total on 170-3, the innings imploded as the Eagles lost 5 wickets in 10 balls for 9 runs as nerves took over.

But skipper Simon Harmer remained clear-headed and struck the winning boundary from the only ball he faced to see the Eagles to victory off the final scheduled delivery of the match and with 2 wickets to spare.

How to Watch:

There will be a Live Stream service from The Cloudfm County Ground which will be broadcasting ahead of play from 2pm via Essex Cricket Matchzone. The stream will also be available via the Essex Cricket YouTube Channel.

Access via the Essex Cricket Matchzone is available here.

 

Match Preview: Hampshire Hawks v Essex Eagles

Hampshire Hawks v Essex Eagles

Vitality Blast
The Ageas Bowl
Friday 16 July
2pm start

 

Essex Eagles finish their Vitality Blast South Group matches this weekend starting at The Ageas Bowl on Friday afternoon where they meet Hampshire Hawks.

It has been a season of inconsistent results for the Eagles who have won 5 and lost 6 of their 12 matches so far with 1 game washed out by the weather.

Although they start Friday’s match in Southampton with the chance of progressing into the quarter-finals, they need to win both this and the game with Middlesex on Sunday whilst also hoping that results from elsewhere go in their favour.

Kent Spitfires lead the group with 15 points, 1 ahead of Sussex Sharks and 2 ahead of both Gloucestershire and Somerset. They are followed by Surrey with 13 points and then come the Eagles who have accrued 11 points but who have an inferior run-rate to the teams above them.

Squad:

Hants Squad 

Nel’s View:

The Eagles welcome back Dan Lawrence to their squad after the influential batsman missed the match with Sussex Sharks last Friday having been called into the England ODI side.

In his six T20 matches so far this summer, the 24-year-old has collected 163 runs at an average of 40.75 to top the Eagles averages. However, the highest runs scorer is Michael Pepper with 248 at 31, followed by Adam Wheater with 199 at 24.87.

Simon Harmer and Sam Cook lead the list of Eagles wicket-takers with 16 at 18.06 and 15 at 19.33 respectively.

The defeat at Hove last Friday left the Eagles with work to do and Assistant Head Coach & Bowling Coach Andre Nel reflected on the outcome before looking ahead to the Eagles fixtures this weekend.

He said: “We were 20 runs short of what we think we needed at Hove having laid a decent foundation.

“I thought Tom Westley did really well on his return, he played really well but unfortunately, we didn’t support him enough at the back end of our innings. There were a few reckless shots and we could have played smarter cricket. Then, unfortunately, we didn’t bowl as well as we could.

“So, we let ourselves down but these things happen, it is what it is and now we just have to dust ourselves down and try and come back with 2 positive results.

“The defeat made makes it ten times harder for ourselves but you never know what can happen with this Eagles squad. When we look as if we are down and out, we tend to soar and come back times harder. We know we have to scrap really hard in these last two games and hopefully get ourselves into a situation where we can reach the quarter-finals.”

Opposition:

Coach: Adi Birrell
Captain: James Vince
Last Year’s Performance: Bottom (South Group)
2020 Leading Runscorer: James Fuller (205 @ 34.16)
2020 Leading Wicket Taker: Mason Crane (9 @ 22)

Overseas players: D’Arcy Short (Australia)

Key man: James Vince – After helping Sydney Sixers win the Australian Big Bash, the Hawks skipper will be desperate to repeat that success on home soil.

Flies under the radar: Ian Holland – The American-born, Australian all-rounder has been in fine form with the bat in the LV= Insurance County Championship and is a decent but unheralded seam bowler.

Young Gun: Tom Prest – The hugely exciting 18-year-old batsman could be given the chance to transfer his prolific 2nd XI form to the Blast.

Head to Head:

When the teams met earlier at Chelmsford just over a month ago, the Eagles suffered a 13-run defeat after the Hawks posted 155-6 with Weatherley top-scoring with 42, whilst D’Arcy Short and James Fuller contributed 26 apiece.

Despite 42 by opener Tom Westley, 29 from Paul Walter and 28 by Jimmy Neesham, there were no other significant contributions and the Eagles were bowled out for 142 in 19.2 overs.

When the teams met last season at The Ageas Bowl, the Eagles recorded a 54 runs victory with Westley again leading the way with 51 from 37 balls. Cameron Delport had scored 31 out of an opening partnership with Westley of 57 before Dan Lawrence (49) and Ryan ten Doeschate (29*) put on 58 in 5.4 overs.

The Eagles closed their innings on 168 before outstanding bowling by Aron Nijjar and some excellent catching and fielding reduced the home side to 38-6. Although the tail wagged, the Hawks ended their innings on 114-9 as Nijjar ended his 4 overs with 3/22 and Jack Plom 2/18.

The teams have met on 34 previous occasions in T20 cricket which has resulted in 13 wins and 19 defeats for The Eagles with one no-result and one abandoned match.

How to Watch:

There will be a Live Stream service from The Ageas Bowl which will be broadcasting ahead of play from 2pm via Essex Cricket Matchzone. The stream will also be available via the Hampshire Cricket YouTube Channel.

Access via the Essex Cricket Matchzone is available here.

 

Match Preview: Derbyshire v Essex

Derbyshire v Essex

LV= Insurance County Championship
Derby
Sunday 11 – Wednesday 14 July
11am start

Essex return to red-ball action when they meet Derbyshire at Derby in an LV= Insurance County Championship contest that commences on Sunday.

It is their 10th and final match in their qualifying group as they seek to finish with a top-two placing. That would secure a place in Division One for the remaining four matches of the season enabling them to challenge for the Championship title.

They are currently in fourth place with 118 points, 19 behind leaders Nottinghamshire and 13 adrift of second-place Warwickshire. Durham are third with 122 points. Elsewhere in this round of matches, Durham meet Notts and Worcestershire entertain Warwickshire.

With Anthony McGrath temporarily drafted into the England coaching set-up for the series with Pakistan, Assistant Head Coach & Bowling Coach Andre Nel takes charge of a squad that includes New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham.

The 30-year-old Kiwi, who was signed for the Vitality Blast competition, has agreed to extend his stay at Chelmsford and replaces Peter Siddle as one of the two Essex Overseas players.

Dan Lawrence misses the Derbyshire match having been called into the England squad for the Pakistan series.

Lawrence currently tops the Essex batting averages with 495 runs at an average of 55, although the most productive is Tom Westley with 573 runs at 44.07.

Chief wicket-takers for Essex are Simon Harmer with 38 wickets at an average of 25.78 and Sam Cook with 32 victims at 18.90.

Squad:

DERBYSHIRE SQUAD 

Hear from Nel:

Andre Nel takes charge of the side whilst Head Coach Anthony McGrath continues his temporary role with the England caching set-up.

Nel said: “We have to win but again, we have to take care of every session and if we do those things well, then we will put ourselves in a position to win the game.

“We can’t look too far ahead, we have to win and then see what happens elsewhere.”

The former South Africa international fast bowler reflected on his change of role within the Club, albeit only until McGrath’s return later this month.

“It’s different and it’s a crucial time of the season and for me, hopefully, it’s an opportunity for me to stand up and show what I can do,” he stated.

“I’m delighted for Mags, he really deserves his chance. I’ll never be like him, he’s a unique person, he’s brilliant but although I’ll do things my way, nothing will really change because he has set up a brilliant foundation for everyone to work on.

“All I’m doing is stepping in and hopefully do the best I can with the support of the players and other coaches.

“You never know with Essex and with this side, when it comes down to the crunch, they normally step up quite big, so hopefully we can do that.”

Injury/Absentees News:

Dan Lawrence will miss this match having been named in the England squad for the ODI series with Pakistan.

Opposition:

Derbyshire, who are destined to finish at the foot of the group in the qualifying stages, are still seeking their first win of the season in the competition.

They have 63 points for their 9 matches and face an Essex team looking to repeat their success earlier in the season when the teams clashed at Chelmsford.

That game in mid-May was particularly memorable because of a stunning performance by Simon Harmer who took 9/80 in Derbyshire’s first innings followed by 3/122 in their second. Essex had amassed 412-3 from 76 overs when they declared after Dan Lawrence had scored an unbeaten 152 supported by 106 from Tom Westley and half-centuries from openers Nick Browne and Alastair Cook. The visitors could only manage 146 in their first innings before posting 251 second time around to be beaten by an innings and 15 runs.

Despite a difficult season for Derbyshire, all-rounder Matt Critchley has impressed with 712 runs at 44.87 and 21 wickets at 38.42. Experienced Wayne Madsen has contributed 514 runs followed by wicket-keeper Harvey Hosein with 359 runs.

With the ball, pacemen Fynn Hudson-Prentice and Ben Aitchison have 21 and 20 wickets respectively to their credit to provide chief support to Critchley.

One to Watch:

Leg-spinner Matt Critchley is currently Derbyshire’s most successful player both with the bat and ball in what has been a difficult season for the Club.

Born in Preston, he moved away from his native Lancashire in search of more opportunities and as an 18-year-old, he became Derbyshire’s youngest centurion in just his second first-class game.

Now 24, he was the County’s Player of the Year last season and heads their batting and bowling charts this time around and recently took on the captaincy of their Vitality Blast side.

Head-to-Head:

The teams last met at Derby in the Couty Championship in 2016 when Essex recorded a comprehensive success winning by an innings and 62 runs. Nick Browne posted an unbeaten 229, Tom Westley scored 72, Ryan ten Doeschate 60 and debutant Paul Walter 47 as the visitors reached 530-9 before declaring.

Derbyshire were dismissed for 165 with Graham Napier claiming 4/28 and Walter 3/44. The hosts did put up more of a fight in their second innings with former Essex opener Billy Godleman scoring 100 out of 303 all out as Napier again proved chief wicket-taker with 4/56.

In the 182 Championship clashes thus far, Essex have secured 79 victories and 72 draws.

Potential Milestones:

Simon Harmer needs 7 more wickets to reach 300 first-class wickets for the Club.

Adam Wheater requires 5 more dismissals to reach 150 first-class dismissals for Essex. He currently has 133 catches and 12 stumpings.

Ryan ten Doeschate requires a further 159 runs to reach 10,000 first-class career runs for Essex.

How To Watch:

Our Live Stream service will be available across all four days of this game from 11am, which also includes player stats, scorecards and clips throughout the day. Access via the Essex Cricket Matchzone is available here.

 

Match Preview: Sussex Sharks v Essex Eagles

Sussex Sharks v Essex Eagles

Vitality Blast
The 1st Central County Ground, Hove
Friday 09 July
7pm start

 

With Head Coach Anthony McGrath called temporarily into the England coaching set-up for the ODI and T20 series with Pakistan, bowling coach Andre Nel will take charge of the Essex Eagles for the remainder of their Vitality Blast Group matches and the County Championship match with Derbyshire that begins on Sunday.

An upturn in recent form has afforded the Essex Eagles an opportunity of claiming a top-four place in the tightly-contested Vitality Blast South Group and consequently a place in the knockout stages of the competition.

Simon Harmer’s team travel to Hove to meet the Sussex Sharks on Friday night having won four of their last five matches, a sequence of results that has seen them move away from the foot of the table. Now just 2 points behind Sussex Sharks, who start the match in fourth place with 13 points, both teams are in hot pursuit of Kent Spitfires who lead the group with 15 points.

The Eagles will be looking to improve on their performance when the sides met at The Cloudfm County Ground last month. Despite 38 from Michael Pepper and 26 by Will Buttleman, Essex could only manage a modest 128 for 8 from their 20 overs.

The Sharks made short work of their target with skipper Luke Wright leading the charge with 75 from 44 balls as Sussex Sharks coasted home by 7 wickets with 36 balls to spare.

This time around, both teams have been affected by international call-ups with Dan Lawrence and Phil Salt drafted into the England ODI squad leaving both sides without an influential batsman.
 

Squad:

sussexsquad090721
 
Sussex Squad: Luke Wright (c), Will Beer, Ravi Bopara, Oli Carter, Mitch Claydon, Henry Crocombe, Travis Head, Chris Jordan, Archie Lenham, Ali Orr, Delray Rawlins, Ollie Robinson, Harrison Ward, David Wiese.

 

McGrath’s View:

Although currently involved with England coaching duties, Essex Head Coach Anthony McGrath reflected on his team’s recent efforts; “We’ve won four of our last five games and, as I said earlier in the tournament, you do need to get on a roll to build momentum and that’s how it’s turned out,” he stated.

“It’s a shame that we couldn’t get things started a tad earlier but given our results and results from elsewhere, going into the last three matches we do now have a real chance of challenging to reach the knockout stages.

“Twenty20 cricket is amazing, one day you can look really shocking and then you can make your opponents’ look exactly the same the very next night. Sometimes there’s no rhyme nor reason to it, people put it down to selection or winning the toss or whatever but, at the risk of repeating something I’ve said all along, it’s all about individuals stepping-up to put in a defining performance.

“Someone might have a great over or two with the ball or somebody has a productive five overs or so with the bat and that can make a real difference and be a game-changer.

“If you can string 4 or 5 wins together, it puts you in a real strong position and builds that momentum and confidence.

“One of the pleasing thing in the last few games is how we’ve performed with the ball; we’ve got wickets in the powerplay and then with the bat, we’ve been getting half-centuries. But the outstanding issue has been the way that we’ve fielded.

“It’s something we’ve talked about in the last couple of years and a lot of work has gone in to improving that side of our game. I must give credit to the guys who really bought into it and we’ve seen some unbelievable catches and run outs and diving stops. That’s been really pleasing for me because there is one thing that you can control in T20 cricket and that’s how you field.

“So, with three games left, we’ve given ourselves a chance of a top-four place but we must be at the top of our game during all of our final three matches if we want to maintain hopes of that top-four spot.”

 

Opposition:

Coach: James Kirtley
Captain: Luke Wright
Last Year’s Performance: Quarter-Finals
2021 Leading Runscorer: Luke Wright (213 runs @ 53.25)
2021 Leading Wicket Taker: Tymal Mills (11 @ 15.27)
Overseas players: David Wiese (South Africa), Travis Head (Australia), Rashid Khan (dependant on arrival from PSL)

Sussex Sharks have been cruelly treated by the weather in this year’s competition with five of their 11 matches abandoned whilst they have won four of the six matches that have been completed.

Their most recent victory came last Friday when they beat Glamorgan by 33 runs with Luke Wright hitting 77 before 16 year-old leg-spinner Archie Lenham returned figures of 4 for 26.

 

Head to Head:

The teams have met on 29 previous occasions in T20 cricket which has resulted in 13 wins and 16 defeats for The Eagles.

The latest of those victories came at Hove last year. Essex posted 197 for 5 with Dan Lawrence providing a memorable 81. His first 46 runs came entirely in boundaries and he reached his half-century from 24 balls with 4 four and 5 sixes. Together with Tom Westley (39) 118 were added in 10 overs and although the visitors found themselves 150 for 5 with 4 overs remaining, Simon Harmer (21) and Michael Pepper (34) added an unbroken 47 runs to set the home side a challenging total.

Lawrence then showed his hand as a bowler to be respected when, in his only over, he removed both Sussex openers. With 4 overs remaining, the Sharks needed 52 runs but the dismissal of former Essex favourite Ravi Bopara for 7 proved defining with the hosts left to settle for 185 for 8 from their 20 overs.

 

How to Watch:

There will be a Live Stream service from The 1st Central County Ground which will be broadcasting ahead of play from 7pm via Essex Cricket Matchzone. The stream will also be available via the Sussex Cricket YouTube Channel.

Access via the Essex Cricket Matchzone is available here.