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Subscribers to our ‘Over & Out!’ e-news can take advantage of a great discount from the Essex Cricket Conference & Events.

Up until Friday 06 May, subscribers can get 50% off room hire for parties on Friday nights throughout the whole of 2016, when booking via the phone. This offer is exclusively for subscribers of our e-news and a great way to get your party booked up early this year!

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Job Vacancies

 

Welcome to the vacancies page for Essex Cricket. Below are the current jobs available at the Club.

 

Essex Cricket is committed to safeguarding and protecting children, young people and Adults at risk. As such, any roles involving any type of regulated activity or any interaction with children, young people or adults at risk are subjected to an Enhanced ECB DBS clearance before taking up the role along with the collection of references. We ensure that we have a range of policies and procedures in place which promote safeguarding, EDI and safer working practices across our services. We ask that as standard practice, all applicants complete the application form regardless of the role you are applying for.

 

East Region Facility Investment Manager

The East of England has the ambition to be the Number 1 Cricket Region, linked into a clear purpose to use the diverse formats of the game helping all communities in the region to Celebrate, Inspire, Connect, Transform and Grow.

To be able to support the network with this fast-changing landscape Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, East Hertfordshire, and the ECB are looking to appoint a new Facility investment manager to support the implementation of our strategic facility plans, and ensure we have sufficient, appropriate sustainable welcoming environments, in order to sustain the growth and increasing interest in the game.

• View Job Description – here

• Closing date: Sunday 30 June 2024

If you are interested in applying for this position, please complete this form. Email to [email protected].

>> Apply Here

 

Groundstaff (Seasonal)

Essex Cricket have temporary positions available on the Club’s Grounds team, based at both The Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford and Billericay CC, which hosts Essex 2nd XI, Billericay CC, Mens/Womens Premier League teams, Development sides and International cricket.

The positions are seasonal until Monday 30 September 2024 and based on 37.5 hours per week. Please note, flexibility is required due to the nature of the job.

• Groundstaff (seasonal) based at The Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford – view job description

• Groundstaff (seasonal) based at Billericay – view job description

Closing date: Application process open until the position is filled

If you are interested one of the available positions and would like to apply, please complete this form and state which location you are applying for. Email to [email protected]. A full job description is available via the following link.

>> Apply Here

 

Bar/Hospitality Staff

Essex Cricket are looking for passionate, reliable, and trustworthy members of staff to join the Club’s catering and bar staff all year round. This is an opportunity to learn new skills in the hospitality industry and be part of a winning team, sharing the success on and off the field of play.

Previous experience is preferred, and you can also take advantage of:

• Opportunity to progress and take advantage of shifts all year round
• Training to a high standard achieving industry-acknowledged certificates
• Gain experience in Catering, Hospitality, Events and Conferencing

Please submit your CV to [email protected].

Competitive rate of pay for applicants 16 years old and over.

 

History


 

Early Years

Essex CCC was formed in 1876 as a result of a meeting held at the Shire Hall, Chelmsford on 14 January of that year.

A ground was acquired at Brentwood and a number of matches were played, some against First-Class opposition. However, it was not until 1894 that Essex were accorded official First-Class status and they competed in the County Championship for the first time in 1895.

In 1886, the Club moved from Brentwood to Leyton and this remained the headquarters until the 1933 season. During this impecunious time, Essex developed a policy of taking cricket around the County, venturing to Clacton, Southend, Chelmsford, Colchester, Westcliff and Romford as well as continuing to play at Brentwood and Leyton. Because of pressure on the Club’s finances and a need to serve the rapidly expanding centres away from London, the Club had to sell the Leyton ground in 1933 – offices were set up in Chelmsford and Ilford was added to the festival weeks.

 

The Dominant Years

In 1979 the Club won its first honours – the Benson & Hedges Cup and the County Championship. These successes heralded relative prosperity and further success for the Club, making it a cricket force to be reckoned with in the eighties, nineties, and beyond.

Keith Fletcher built a team in the late 1970s that dominated domestic cricket from 1979 to 1992, when Essex won six of thirteen County Championship titles. Two cricketers wrote their names into club history and earned legendary status. Both were integral in the side of 1979 that lifted the County Championship title just a few weeks after they had won the Benson & Hedges Cup to secure their first piece of silverware in the club’s history. East had a memorable career during which he took nearly 1300 and scored more than 8,300 runs ensured he was an influential force in four more title achievements for the County until he retired.

 

Limited Overs success in mid 2000s

Essex found a winning formula in limited overs cricket in the mid-2000s with the signings of David Masters, Chris Wright and Jason Gallian. They lifted the Totesport League trophy in fine style in 2005 and followed that up by retaining the crown in 2006. Essex continued their impressive Limited Overs form in 2008 with the Friends Provident Trophy and NatWest Pro40 Division Two titles.

In the Friends Provident Trophy Essex were runners up to Kent in the group stage, but comfortably qualified for the quarter-finals. Essex inflicted a crushing defeat on Leicestershire in the quarter final with a margin of 118 runs. Ravi Bopara scored a memorable 201 not out off just 138 balls to lead Essex into the semi-finals much to the delight of the Essex fans. The Eagles then beat Yorkshire at Chelmsford before winning the Battle of the Bridge contest at Lord’s against Kent in front of 30,000 people.

Essex clinched the Pro40 Division Two title and sealed the Limited Overs double in 2008 with a victory against arch rivals Kent again. Needing a win away, the Essex fans turned out in force at Canterbury cheering The Eagles onto the victory target of 247. Mark Pettini was given out first ball of the innings before an unbeaten 68 from Grant Flower and fifties from Jason Gallian and Ravi Bopara helped Essex pick up the Pro40 Division 2 title.

Although Essex did not win the Twenty20 tournament in 2008, making the finals at The Rose Bowl with a young team was a success. The tournament also saw the emergence of club legend Graham Napier as a big-hitting batsman (hitting a world record 16 sixes in his 152 not out off just 58 balls against Sussex at Chelmsford).

 

One point promotion in 2009

Essex secured top flight cricket for the first time since 2003, beating Northamptonshire to promotion by a single point. Ryan ten Doeschate smashed a stunning 108 off just 59 balls as Essex snatched a shock five-wicket win at Derby to earn promotion back to Division One. Dutch international ten Doeschate hit eight sixes in an unbroken stand of 156 with Mark Pettini (85) as Essex won the match with five overs to spare.

All-rounder ten Doeschate spoke following promotion and said: “The belief in the camp is very strong and it was a must- win game, so there wasn’t really any other choice. Whatever Derby had set us we would have given it our best try.”

Although Essex would only stay in Division One for a season, some of the younger players gained valuable experience of the highest level in the game which would only stand the club in good stead going forward.

 

Coaching changes bring Championship success

Three consecutive third place finishes in the County Championship, plus two years of Quarter-Final appearances in both Limited Over competitions, saw Paul Grayson leave his position as Head Coach towards the end of the 2015 season. In December, Chris Silverwood was announced as his replacement and the County embarked on a fresh start. A considerable focus on youth ensued with players such as Jamie Porter, Dan Lawrence and Tom Westley forming the backbone of the side for 2016. Chris Silverwood was looking to claim the one promotion slot on offer in his first season in charge.. He did it and Essex were crowned Specsavers County Championship Division Two Champions.

Graham Napier and David Masters embarked on their final seasons in professional cricket looking to claim silverware and go out on a high. Napier went on to have his most successful season ever being the leader in all three formats, including 63 wickets in his final County Championship season. Jamie Porter backed up 50 wickets in a Championship season again, claiming 55 wickets to continue to show maturity beyond his years. Tom Westley and Nick Browne both scored 1000 runs again whilst captain Ryan ten Doeschate was to prove to be the leader Silverwood expected and score over 1100 runs with the bat in Championship cricket.

Essex clinched the title after the second day against Glamorgan at Chelmsford attaining the 5 bonus points required to be promoted. Although Chris Silverwood’s team went on to lose the game, they claimed a draw against rivals Kent and lifted the trophy in front of jubilant fans at Canterbury.

Championship promotion was the number one aim at the start of the year but The Eagles also had some success in the shorter forms of the game. Essex reached the quarter-finals of both the NatWest T20 Blast and Royal London One-Day Cup before being knocked out by Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire respectively.

With the return of Essex academy players’ Adam Wheater and Varun Chopra who have proven Division One credentials, and the influx of some exciting signings over the winter, Essex will look to maintain their position in Specsavers County Championship Division One in 2017.

 

DIVISION ONE CHAMPIONS 2017 & 2019

After being promoted from Division Two as champions the previous season, not many would have predicted what was to happen over the following months.

Essex drew their first game of the season at home to Lancashire in April, a match which most notably saw Daniel Lawrence save Essex with his second innings score of 141 after a first-innings collapse saw the side all out for 159.

The teams first win came the following week, when they beat Somerset by 8 wickets and Alastair Cook made 110 whilst Roelof van der Merwe took 3 wickets for 26 runs.

Lawrence scored a respectable 75 in the following match in which Essex drew with Middlesex at Lord’s.

Essex then beat Hampshire by an innings and 97 runs with Cook again making a century and Jamie Porter taking 5 wickets for 24 runs, but they couldn’t make it back to back wins and drew the next match with Surrey, with Lawrence knocking up 107 and Porter taking 9 wickets for 160 runs over the two innings.

Essex then found some consistency and momentum and unexpectedly to most won five consecutive games in a commanding fashion.

The first saw them beat Surrey by 8 wickets with both Ryan ten Doeschate and Tom Westley recording centuries. In the following match, Ravi Bopara top-scored with a huge 192 whilst Simon Harmer took 14 wickets for 128 runs over the two innings as Essex beat Warwickshire by an innings and 164 runs.

Harmer’s form with the ball carried on into the next match against Middlesex as he took 9 wickets for 95 runs whilst Nick Browne scored 221, making him the first Essex player to record a double century that season and resulted in Essex winning by an innings and 34 runs.

Mohammad Amir took 5 wickets for 18 runs against Yorkshire, a match Essex won by 8 wickets, which was followed up by another emphatic victory against Somerset. Porter recaptured his form and took 12 wickets for 95 runs over the two innings and Essex won by a comfortable 179 runs.

The five-game win streak had lasted three months and finally came to an end in August. The match with Lancashire was heavily interrupted by the weather and with no play possible on day one, the game resulted in a draw.

It wasn’t long before Essex were back to winning ways and Simon Harmer took 8 wickets for 72 runs over two innings in a match Essex won by an innings and 56 runs against Warwickshire.

Essex made it two wins in a row in the penultimate game of the season as Sam Cook took 5 wickets for 18 runs and Lawrence again recorded over a ton against Hampshire.

Going into the final game of the season, the Division One title was long-secured, and Essex were still unbeaten (winning 9 and drawing 4). Yorkshire were the visitors and were now the only team standing in-between Essex and a historic undefeated season.

Yorkshire elected to field first and Simon Harmer made 64 as Essex were all out for 227. Essex replied quickly and Neil Wagner took 3 wickets for 21 runs as Essex bowled Yorkshire out for just 111. Lawrence top scored with 83 for Essex as they declared on 334 for 7 in their second innings and set the visitors a target of 451 to win. Yorkshire’s second innings lasted just 28.5 overs, as Cook took 5 wickets for 20 runs and Yorkshire were bowled out for a low 74.

This completed a near-perfect season for Essex, which saw them lift the Division One title after many tipped them as potential relegation candidates just five months earlier.

Much of their success was built around a home-grown product – Daniel Lawrence was particularly impressive with the bat whilst Jamie Porter finished with 75 wickets (with an average of 16.83) making him the leading wicket-taker in the country.

Essex repeated the feat in 2019 by successfully fending off strong competition from Somerset. The season went down to the wire with Ryan ten Doeschate’s men taking on Somerset at Taunton for a final match showdown. After heavy rainfall disrupted the first two days, it came down to the final day where Alastair Cook guided Essex to a draw in Marcus Trescothick’s final appearance for the hosts.

The match was broadcasted on Sky Sports as Tendo lifted the County Championship trophy for the second time in three years.

INAUGURAL T20 TRIUMPH

The 2019 season will forever be synonymous with Essex’s double trophy triumph. The competition started with a 7-wicket defeat to Middlesex but the opening home match of the campaign was a memorable one. After rain restricted play versus Surrey to 15 overs aside, opener Cameron Delport announced himself to the Chelmsford crowd by hitting 129 off 49 balls. The South African was duly supported by Dan Lawrence who struck an 18-ball half-century to help the Eagles to a 52-run victory.

Three wins in the final four games of the campaign saw the Eagles sneak into a qualification place where Lancashire Lightning awaited. With Emirates Old Trafford hosting Test cricket, the game took place at Durham’s Emirates Riverside ground. Fireworks from Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate set up a thrilling finale to win the match by 6 wickets.

Essex Eagles went into Finals Day with a clash against Derbyshire Falcons. A half-century from Cameron Delport and career-best figures of 4/19 from Simon Harmer helped to book a place in the Final against Worcestershire Rapids.

The Vitality Blast Final did not disappoint after Simon Harmer won the toss and elected to bowl first. More magic from Harmer saw the spinner take 3/16 to record the best-ever bowling figures witnessed at Finals Day. After restricting the Rapids to 145 runs it was Tom Westley (36) who got the Eagles off to a good start after Delport fell early for 1.

In a low-scoring game, it came down to Ravi Bopara (36) and Simon Harmer to try and see their team over the line. The victory came in a dramatic fashion with 11 runs required off the final over. Following his heroics with the ball, Harmer was the man to strike the winning blow off the final ball with just one run needed to win, sending the Essex faithful into raptures.

 

Club Honours

County Championship – Division 1
1979, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1991, 1992, 2017 & 2019
County Championship – Division 2
2002, 2016 & 2021
John Player Special League
1981, 1984 & 1985
Totesport League – Division 1
2005
NatWest Pro40 – Division 1
2006
NatWest Pro40 – Division 2
2008
Refuge Assurance Cup
1989
Benson & Hedges Cup
1979 & 1998
NatWest Trophy
1985 & 1997
Friends Provident Trophy
2008
Twenty20 Finals Day
2006, 2008, 2010, 2013 & 2019
Twenty20 Champions
2019
Bob Willis Trophy
2020

 

Matt Quinn

Matt Quinn, born in New Zealand, made his first-class debut for Auckland and represented New Zealand A before he took advantage of a British passport and won a three-year contract with Essex.

His two seasons with the Club have been hampered by injury so far, but his potential was evident as he took his Championship wickets at 21 apiece. The highlight came at the Cheltenham Festival in 2016 where he swung the ball at a decent pace to take six wickets in a 10-over spell, finishing with 7 for 61.

Date of Birth: 28/02/93
Squad No: 94
Nationality:
Debut 2016
Capped
Role in Team: Bowler
Batting: Right-Hand
Bowling: Right-Arm Medium-Fast
@Quinny_Cricket
Player Sponsor:

 

Jamie Porter

Jamie Porter has made an incredible impression since breaking into the side at the end of the 2014 season. He made the step up from the Second XI after a number of impressive performances. This included 8/48 against Sussex, with match figures of 11/92.

Since making his debut against Kent in 2014, he has been an almost permanent fixture in the side.

Porter’s progress was rewarded with a nomination as the LV= Insurance Breakthrough Player for 2015, when he took 50 First Class wickets. Scooping 50 wickets again in the 2016 season, to help Essex to the Division Two title, and took an extraordinary 75 Division One scalps to help the Club to a County Championship title, in 2017.

International recognition followed with a call up to the England Lions Squad in June 2017. Following this he was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year and called up to the England Test Squad to face India in July 2018; but was not selected in the XI for any of the matches.

Porter fell just short of 50 wickets in Essex’s 2019 success, finishing with 48, this included then-career best match figures of 9/73 against eventual title-rivals Somerset. He pipped this just on his return, from an injury-hit season in 2021, in 2022 taking now-career best match figures of 9/69 in the first match of the season at Lord’s, this included the rare sight of the first four batters all being dismissed for a duck.

Date of Birth: 25/05/93
Squad No: 44
Nationality:
Debut 2014
Capped 2015
Role in Team: Bowler
Batting: Right-Hand
Bowling: Right-Arm Medium
Player Sponsor: best betting sites

 

Aron Nijjar

Aron Nijjar who is primarily a left-handed slow orthodox bowler, is also a handy left-handed batter. Making his debut in May 2015 against Leicestershire, Aron has played for Essex in all three formats but tends to be more prominent in the shorter formats.At Finals Day in 2019, due to Overseas player Adam Zampa returning home, Nijjar was drafted in at Edgbaston where he took 3/26 in the Semi-Final against Derbyshire Falcons and featured in the Final, playing an important role, to help the team lift the Vitality Blast trophy for the first time in the Club’s history.

Date of Birth: 24/09/94
Squad No: 24
Nationality:
Debut: 2015
Capped:
Role in Team: Bowler
Batting: Left-Hand
Bowling: Slow Left-Arm
Player Sponsor:

Ravi Bopara

Ravi Bopara worked his way through the youth ranks at Essex, before making his First XI debut in 2002. He recorded his maiden County Championship century in 2005, and that summer he also made 135 against Australia, alongside Alastair Cook (who made 214). England recognition came when he made his Limited Overs debut against Australia in February 2007, before going onto make his Test debut against Sri Lanka during that winter.

Ravi enjoyed a sparkling season on the domestic circuit in 2008, the highlight of which was 201 not out from 138 deliveries against Leicestershire in the Friends Provident Trophy quarter-final, the highest one-day score ever by an Essex player and he was also named Young Cricketer of the Year.

Ravi has played 13 Tests, 120 ODIs and 38 T20Is to date, and was part of the World Cup squad in 2015.

In 2016, Ravi was announced as the Limited Overs Captain for the Essex Eagles, before stepping down at the end of that season to allow Ryan ten Doeschate to take over in all formats. Bopara has continued to be an integral part of the side in all formats, while also representing teams in various T20 leagues around the world.

Date of Birth: 04/05/85
Squad No: 25
Nationality:
Debut 2002
Capped 2005
Role in Team: All-Rounder
Batting: Right-Hand
Bowling: Right-Arm Medium
@ravibopara
Player Sponsor:

 

Kishen Velani

Kishen Velani is another product of the fabled Essex Academy, who made his First Team debut in the final game of 2013. Since then, he has played 9 First-Class matches, but has mainly been used in Limited Overs cricket.

He played for England at the U19 World Cup in 2012, and has a reputation as a fine stroke maker. He also bowls occasionally, and took 1/14 in the 2015 Royal London One-Day Cup victory over Warwickshire. He signed a new two year contract at the end of the 2015 season.

Date of Birth: 02/09/94
Squad No: 8
Nationality:
Debut 2013
Capped
Role in Team: Batsman
Batting: Right-Hand
Bowling: Right-Arm Medium
@kishenvelani8