Due to the ongoing completion of the building work at The Cloud County Ground, and following consultations with the safety officers, the club and volunteer conference scheduled for Saturday 24 February has been postponed.
Anybody who has already registered will contacted directly over the next 24 – 48 hours with options in regards to their registration.
We are working to make alternative arrangements for the event in the coming months. Once confirmed, details of the re-schedule event will be posted on the website and our social media channels.
This is the second of a seven-part series, with a look back at a memorable game from the past against each of Essex’s 2024 home Vitality Blast opponents.
Essex (168-6) beat Sussex (159-9) by nine runs Hove County Ground, 22nd August 2019
It’s hardly a situation that most people will ever find themselves in, but the apparent expert advice when faced with a shark attack is to stand your ground and fight back.
While it would have been overdramatic to suggest that Essex were in that kind of danger during their 2019 clash with Sussex in Hove, they were still up against it when they stepped into the Sharks’ tank.
At the point of Luke Wright winning the toss and opting to put Essex in to bat, the hosts were top of the South Group and had lost just once.
However, by the end, the Eagles had secured a vital win that kick-started a successful late surge for the knockout stages, and no Essex fan needs a reminder of how 2019 eventually ended up playing out.
Dan Lawrence top-scored for the visitors with an unbeaten anchor innings of 59 off 43, while Ravi Bopara added some late flourishes with a 24-ball 45 to post a competitive total.
Then, just when Sussex thought it was safe to go back in the water to begin the chase, Mohammad Amir returned 4/29 and Simon Harmer picked up 2/19 to ensure the hosts fell just short.
Tom Westley had begun the Essex innings in confident fashion, driving Jason Behrendorff’s first ball for four, just prior to doing exactly the same to Reece Topley’s first delivery too.
Westley continued to find gaps in the field with enough regularity to keep the scoreboard ticking over, providing the glue in the opening exchanges before lofting Will Beer to Behrendorff in the deep for 34.
With the aim of no further losses on their minds, Lawrence and Ryan ten Doeschate guided the Eagles to 68-3 by the halfway point, before the former decided he had seen enough.
A consecutive pair of cleanly-struck sixes down the ground off Danny Briggs followed, before he repeated the trick against David Wiese in the 15th to add to his stand with Bopara.
That fifth-wicket partnership eventually totalled a crucial 82 in just 51 balls and included Lawrence’s individual fifty from 29 deliveries, providing a crucial momentum shift.
By the time Bopara clubbed Topley to Chris Jordan from the penultimate ball, Essex were firmly in the game, finishing just ahead of the 2019 Blast’s average first-innings score to set up a thrilling chase.
Amir gave the Eagles a significant boost in his first spell, seeing both Phil Salt and Luke Wright hole out, before Aaron Beard bounced out Alex Carey to leave Sussex on the back foot inside the powerplay.
Wiese fought back, in partnership with Laurie Evans, and took a particular interest in Delport and Paul Walter to haul Sussex back into the ascendancy at halfway, standing at 86-3.
However, the pendulum swung again when Walter removed Evans for 35 before Harmer took care of Harry Finch for a golden duck.
While key man Wiese was still in the middle, Sussex retained hope, and when he cut Walter away for four to reach a 26-ball half century in the 13th over, their target was a very doable 63 off 43.
Like he so often does, though, Harmer provided the breakthrough moment when the Namibian international was pinned lbw while trying to sweep, departing for 66 off 37.
Overseas duo Adam Zampa and Amir then drove home that latest momentum swing at the game’s most crucial point, returning combined figures across the 18th and 19th overs of 3-5.
That included Amir’s removal of Chris Jordan, a potential dangerman, for a surprisingly stodgy run-a-ball 19, before he put Essex one scalp away by castling Behrendorff.
Despite being nine down, the Sharks still needed only 18, giving a feeling of unlikely-but-possible about the final over, for which the ball was thrown to Beard.
The seamer confidently delivered the goods, though, conceding only eight, and the Eagles had not only picked up two precious points, but proved they could hold their nerve in a high-pressure situation.
Essex had followed that expert advice, staring down the marauding Sharks and fighting back, and ultimately emerging with crucial points that saw them go on to sneak into the top four.
As for the events that followed in that year’s knockout stages, and at Finals Day in particular, they will be forever etched in Essex history.
Get priority access to Vitality Blast tickets
The Eagles will host seven explosive T20 encounters at The Cloud County Ground this summer, and with over 10,000 tickets already sold, there’s no time to waste to put yourself next in line to grab the best seats.
You can secure early access ahead of general sale to purchase your tickets from Thursday 08 February by subscribing to our ‘Over & Out!’ e-newsletter.
This is the first part of a series, with a look back at a memorable game from the past against each of Essex’s 2024 home Vitality Blast opponents. First up, Essex’s epic victory against Glamorgan in 2022, when the Eagles racked up a record T20 total in the Chelmsford sun.
Essex (254-5) beat Glamorgan (185-7) by 69 runs The Cloud County Ground, 2nd July 2022
So said Dominic Cork at the moment of Adam Rossington clubbing Michael Hogan for four over mid-off in the powerplay of Essex’s innings during their home tie with Glamorgan in 2022.
As it turned out, he was spot on, as an hour later, the Eagles had racked up a record-breaking total, smashing their previous best score in T20 cricket as the boundary was peppered again and again.
Dan Lawrence’s 71 from just 37 deliveries was the standout, but a 23-ball 58 from Paul Walter and a swift 45 off 23 by Adam Rossington were significant contributions too.
It all added up to likely leave Glamorgan captain Sam Northeast feeling rather hot under the collar, and not just from the roasting temperatures, after he had opted to field first having won the toss.
While a big score looked on the cards, the final total, with its utterly colossal nature, seemed improbable even into the latter stages of the Eagles’ innings.
Rossington’s contribution set the Eagles on their way, with the powerplay yielding 65 runs and Glamorgan only able to take one wicket, that of Robin Das.
Even as Rossington hit 14 off one Andrew Salter over, the end of the fielding restrictions brought about a natural deceleration in Essex’s batting, and the score stood at 98-3 after halfway.
However, perhaps some of the most destructive, high-intensity hitting Chelmsford had ever seen unfolded from that point onwards.
Starting with Lawrence and Walter, 61 runs came off the next five overs, including an utterly monstrous maximum by the latter off Salter that had the ducks in the River Can paddling for cover.
Yet, even with the score up to 159-3 with five still to go, that would appear comparatively pedestrian after what was about to unfold.
Prem Sisodiya was hammered by Walter for four sixes to start the 16th, and although the crowd ironically jeered his single off the fifth ball, Lawrence put the cherry on top with another maximum.
That meant the over had totalled 31, but Essex were not done yet; even though Walter fell to Hogan, his replacement Daniel Sams hoisted three more consecutive sixes to take the score past 200.
With Chelmsford now whooping with delight, Lawrence continued to thrill with a further 24 off the 18th, before Simon Harmer, who hit three of his four deliveries to the boundary, signed off with a flourish.
The eye-watering innings was underlined by the statistics that every single Essex batter struck at a rate above 164, while all but one Glamorgan bowler – Jamie McIlroy – had an economy rate above 11.
When South Africa famously conceded 434-4 to Australia in Johannesburg in 2006, Herschelle Gibbs is said to have remarked at the halfway point that the Australians were 15 or 20 light.
The Proteas went on to win in one of the most sensational ODIs ever, though whether any Glamorgan player tried to rally spirits by saying something similarly tongue-in-cheek remained under wraps.
Northeast did do his best to make up for his earlier misstep at the toss, top-scoring with an unbeaten 97 off 56 balls in Glamorgan’s chase, but simply did not receive enough support from his side.
Dan Douthwaite, who hit 34 off 17, and Salter, who added a 13-ball 24, were the only other visiting batters to pass 12, while Sams and Aaron Beard combined for a strangling 5/36 from eight overs.
Where the Eagles had built a solid platform that enabled Walter and Lawrence to go on the rampage, Glamorgan were instantly put under even more immense pressure inside the powerplay.
Sam Cook held on to two catches inside the first nine balls, first pouching Thomas Bevan off Beard before snaffling danger man Colin Ingram off Sams to instantly rock the visitors.
Beard’s express pace was proving a serious issue for Glamorgan, and the pressure again told when Billy Root’s leg stump was knocked over to leave the score at 10-3 after three overs.
An attempted recovery from Northeast and Eddie Byrom followed, but when the latter slapped Simon Harmer’s fifth ball to Luc Benkenstein at cover, the inevitable became even more so.
Ben Allison removed Chris Cooke for just two to put Glamorgan on 70-5 at halfway, though Northeast continued his one-man effort, slog-sweeping Harmer for six to post a 37-ball fifty.
Despite then being part of a stand with Salter that saw three successive overs towards the end of the chase each hit for 16, the visiting captain ultimately ended up falling short of a century.
Sams and Cook were the parties responsible for denying him three figures, as they ensured he, and Glamorgan, could only take one boundary off the final two overs.
Although the possibility of winning the game had long since passed the Welsh outfit by, a Northeast hundred was still within touching distance right up to the final ball, delivered by Cook.
However, an inch-perfect yorker could only be dug out for a single, handing Essex victory by 69 runs, and leaving the curtain to fall on a famous Saturday night in recent Eagles history.
Get priority access to Vitality Blast tickets
The Eagles will host seven explosive T20 encounters at The Cloud County Ground this summer, and with over 10,000 tickets already sold, there’s no time to waste to put yourself next in line to grab the best seats.
You can secure early access ahead of general sale to purchase your tickets from Thursday 08 February by subscribing to our ‘Over & Out!’ e-newsletter.
Vitality Blast Passes for the 2024 T20 season are now on sale.
Purchasing a Blast Pass will secure your seat for all seven of the Eagles’ home Vitality Blast fixtures in the upcoming season.
This year, there were 250 Adult Blast Passes available with an early bird discount. There are only 67 early bird Blast Passes remaining and we expect these to be sold soon, so make sure to purchase early to get the cheapest price.
The group stages of this year’s Vitality Blast will be played between Thursday 30 May and Sunday 14 July, with Essex’s first home game coming on Sunday 02 June against Middlesex.
Essex will play three Friday night T20s, two Sunday family-friendly T20s and two Thursday night clashes against top opposition at The Cloud County Ground in 2024. It promises to be a summer of unmissable action in the Blast.
Blast Pass Pricing
When can I buy matchday tickets?
Individual matchday tickets go on general sale on Tuesday 20 February, but you can skip the queue and access tickets as early as Thursday 08 February by subscribing to our free newsletter. If you purchased a T20 ticket at Chelmsford in 2023, you will be able to buy tickets from Thursday 25 January.
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The temperature might be dropping below zero in Chelmsford, but conditions are far more suited to cricket in other parts of the world.
With the English winter just over halfway through, numerous members of the Essex squad are still dotted all over the globe.
This is the second part of a series tracking where the Eagles who are plying their trade across the world are up to.
Under-19 World Cup
Having completed a quadrangular ODI series in India in November, three young Eagles in Charlie Allison, Luc Benkenstein, and Noah Thain are in England’s squad for the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa.
Also representing the Eagles is Mackenzie Jones, who will play for Scotland – and, as the luck of the draw would have it, those two nations start their respective campaigns against one another on Saturday.
There are a total of 16 countries competing at the tournament, split into four groups, with the Three Lions and the Saltires joined in Group B by South Africa and West Indies.
South Africa
Also in South Africa are Adam Rossington, Simon Harmer, and Sam Cook, who are taking part in the ongoing second edition of the SA20 tournament.
Joburg Super Kings have taken on the services of Cook, while Rossington and Harmer have donned the colours of Gqeberha-based Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
Cook is yet to break into the starting XI for the Super Kings, while Harmer has played two of Sunrisers’ games so far and Rossington has appeared once.
Elsewhere, Robin Das is playing club cricket for Cape Town CC, and he will shortly be joined in the country by Tom Westley, who arrives towards the end of January to spend time working on his game with Gary Kirsten and Neil McKenzie.
Australia
Flying the flag for Essex down under has been Paul Walter, who has lit up south-eastern Queensland with a series of eye-catching displays for Brisbane Heat that have seen him named in the Team of the Tournament.
He has claimed 13 wickets at an average of just 15.69, second only to Xavier Bartlett for the team, and is the team’s sixth-highest run scorer too with 93, with his five sixes being the third-most of any Heat batter.
Further down the coast, Nick Browne has been turning out for Mosman CC, in the top grade of New South Wales Premier Cricket, and top-scored just before Christmas with an 86-ball 95 in a 113-run win over Sydney University.
In Melbourne and its surrounds, there are three Eagles, with Aaron Beard, Feroze Khushi, and Ben Allison all turning out in Victorian Premier Cricket.
Beard is playing for Geelong CC, Khushi is at Roxburgh Park CC after moving from his previous outfit of Seddon CC, and Allison rounds out the trio having recently joined up with Dandenong CC.
Beard was involved in four T20 matches following his arrival in late November, claiming nine wickets at 18.17, and recently played his first 50-over game for the club, returning figures of 1/37 from seven overs against Ringwood.
Meanwhile, Khushi crunched an enormous 166 on debut for Roxburgh Park against St Andrew’s Footscray, and followed it up with 65 off 61 against Melton South to total 283 runs across both 50-over and T20 cricket.
Finally, Allison has played three games for Dandenong, with a best bowling return of 3/31 from seven overs against Melbourne, a haul that included the wicket of Test-capped Will Pucovski.
United States
Just before Christmas, there was Essex representation at the week-long US Open tournament, held between seven competing teams at the Broward County Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Adam Rossington and Matt Critchley played for Dallas All Stars, while Michael Pepper turned out for Florida Scorpions.
Abu Dhabi
Finally, the capital of the UAE has seen two separate tournaments either side of Christmas, with both witnessing Eagles players take part.
In the T10 league, held in late November and early December, Jordan Cox finished as the second-highest run-scorer while playing for Bangla Tigers, and Sam Cook donned the colours of Chennai Braves, taking four wickets.
Meanwhile, the International League T20, beginning tomorrow, sees Cox and Michael Pepper play for Gulf Giants and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, respectively.
Get priority access to Vitality Blast tickets
The Eagles will host seven explosive T20 encounters at The Cloud County Ground this summer, and you can secure early access to purchase your tickets from Thursday 08 February by subscribing to our ‘Over & Out!’ e-newsletter.
Renowned as one of the world’s best openers, South African batter Dean Elgar joined Essex ahead of the 2024 season after retiring from international duty. Throughout a 12-year international career, during which he captained his country in 13 of the 86 Tests he played, Elgar hit over 5,000 runs and made 14 centuries.
Hailing from Welkom, a city in South Africa’s central Free State province, Elgar made his Test debut in 2012 against Australia. His gritty, resistant style is borne out by his achievement of being one of only two men to have carried their bat three times in Tests, alongside West Indies’ Desmond Haynes.
Elgar hit his first international century against New Zealand in January 2013, and following the retirement of Graeme Smith just over a year later, he was given the opportunity to bat in his preferred opener position. He went on to make the spot his own, being the leading Test run-scorer among openers between 2016 and 2021.
He was appointed Test captain in March 2021, taking over from Quinton de Kock, and guided the Proteas to series wins over West Indies and India. Having also played eight ODIs for South Africa, Elgar retired from all internationals in January 2024 after a final home series against India.
Three of the First Team headed out to South Africa this week to join up with their new teammates for the second year of the SA20 T20 competition.
Bowler Sam Cook will be pulling on the colours of the Joburg Super Kings. He will be making his first appearance in the competition after featuring in the Abu Dhabi T10 at the end of 2023.
He will be playing alongside the likes of Moeen Ali, Middlesex’s new signing Leus du Plooy and Captain Faf du Plessis.
Joining the Sunrisers Eastern Cape is batter wicket-keeper Adam Rossington. Rosso was retained by the Port Elizabeth based team after a fantastic campaign in 2023.m, which included a half-century in the final to help lift the trophy.
Simon Harmer will be joining Adam Rossington at Sunrisers Eastern Cape after being traded with Jon-Jon Smuts, who heads in the opposite direction to the Durban Super Giants.
We will bring you updates on all three players throughout the competition via our social media channels on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Welcome to the test of your Essex knowledge about the 2023 season! As the curtains draw to a close on the year, see how many questions you can get correct with a chance to win a signed shirt by the Men’s First Team squad! Just make sure you enter by completing the form and the end of the quiz.
This quiz is your chance to relive the excitement, the highs, and the heroics that defined Essex’s 2023 campaign. From the thrilling performances en route to Finals Day to the nail-biting conclusion to the Championship title charge, this quiz will challenge your memory of the main moment that shaped the year.
By signing up to the Club’s e-news, you will receive regular email communications from Essex Cricket throughout the year. Your information will be used in line with our privacy policy, which can be viewed – here.
*The competition to win a signed shirt will close at midnight on Friday 12 January. The winner will be picked at random and contacted within 5 days of the competition closing.
The 2023 Annual General Meeting takes place at The Cloud County Ground on Tuesday 12 December in the Doug Insole Pavilion.
Members of the Club’s Board will be in attendance, including Chair Anu Mohindru KC, CEO John Stephenson and Treasurer Neil Faraday.
Members are invited to attend from 6:30pm in the Doug Insole Pavilion with tea and coffee available on arrival, ahead of the AGM starting at 7pm.
Please note that due to ongoing maintenance work being carried out at the ground, the Tees River Gate entrance will not be accessible for attendees and parking for Members at The Cloud County Ground will be free of charge.
This is a Member event and we ask that all valid bring their valid 2023 Membership card to register on arrival.
Members can submit questions for the panel in advance of the AGM to [email protected]
Watch Online
Members who are unable to attend in person can watch the AGM online via the Zoom conferencing platform.
A link will be emailed to Members with a valid email address ahead of the event and please get in touch with the Membership & Ticketing Office on 01245 254010 or [email protected] if you have not received your link by Tuesday 12 December.
With the English winter now settling in, many of the Essex first XI have begun to jet off around the world to ply their trade in sunnier countries.
Five players have headed for domestic clubs in Australia, with a further one also playing local league cricket in South Africa.
Meanwhile, there are nine others taking part on the global franchise and international scene across Australia, India, the United Arab Emirates, and South Africa.
This is the first of a series that will track the progress of the Eagles players across the world as the winter wears on.
England U19s in India
Starting in the subcontinent, where three Essex youngsters in Charlie Allison, Luc Benkenstein, and Noah Thain have been selected to be part of the England U19 squad for a quadrangular ODI series.
Also featuring Indian A and B teams, as well as Bangladesh, each side is playing six matches as part of a double-round-robin group, before the top two play one another to crown an overall series champion.
England have so far played both Indian sides, and although they have come away from each having been defeated, all three players have shown flashes of their talent.
Leg-spinner Benkenstein took 2/47 from seven overs against India B, and shone with the bat in hitting a 67-ball 69, during which he was complemented by Thain, who made 32.
The latter did not play against India A, but the Essex representation continued as Allison made 47 and Benkenstein turned in another impressive all-round show, hitting 30 and returning 1/47 from ten overs.
Australian Grade Cricket
Most of the Essex players currently in Australia are based in Victoria, but Nick Browne has opted for a return to Mosman CC, on Sydney’s North Shore.
His best performance thus far was 73 away to Campbelltown Camden in the city’s south-west, but his side still ended up defeated in the two-day match.
On the southern coast, Feroze Khushi is representing Seddon CC, in west-central Melbourne, in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association.
He has already displayed his panache on two occasions, first hitting a 47-ball 60 against Haig Fawkner, before following it up with 63 off 51 deliveries away to Penleigh & Essendon Grammar School.
Finally, Paul Walter warmed up for the Big Bash League, which begins on 7th December and during which he will play for Brisbane Heat, with a blistering one-match showing for Deepdene Bears in Melbourne’s east.
Opening the batting against Edinburgh, Walter blitzed a stunning 154 from just 107 balls, striking ten fours and ten sixes, to hand Deepdene a comfortable 115-run victory.
South Africa Club Cricket
Finally, Robin Das arrived in South Africa in early November, and made his debut for Cape Town CC away to Milnerton, in the northern suburbs of the city.
His side were defeated by seven wickets on that occasion, but they hit back the following weekend with a four-wicket victory over Western Province.
Das himself hit 27 from 32 deliveries as Cape Town impressively chased down a target of 190 with 11 overs to spare.
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