Essex announced that wicket-keeper batter Jordan Cox joined the Club from Kent after agreeing a three-year deal from the start of the 2024 season.
He memorably hit an unbeaten 238 in 2020, when, alongside Jack Leaning, he participated in Kent’s highest partnership of all time.
The right-hander received full international recognition in September last year when he was named among the 21-strong England squad that toured Pakistan for seven T20Is.
In response to this morning’s announcement, Essex Cricket would like to place on record its wholehearted congratulations to Alastair Cook on a truly illustrious career.
The Club is delighted to have been Cook’s home county for the past two decades and is hugely grateful for all his efforts in an Essex shirt.
He hangs up his bat having established himself as one of the greatest to ever play our sport, and all at Essex Cricket wish him further great success in his future endeavours.
Cook’s maiden Test century on his debut is common knowledge, but his class was evident from even before that, with his first-class debut, at home to Nottinghamshire, delivering an unbeaten half-century.
Having hit 957 red-ball runs across his first two summers, including a first hundred against Leicestershire in 2004, Cook would go on to achieve a truly breakout year amid the backdrop of a watershed summer for English cricket.
He was described by former Essex and England captain Keith Fletcher before the 2005 season began as “one of the most exciting prospects I’ve ever seen,” and he roundly backed that up in the months that followed.
Then aged 20, he was capped by the Club in May 2005 prior to a Sunday League match against Glamorgan, and as England crowned off the summer with an unforgettable Ashes win, Cook hit a total of 1,466 first-class runs.
Even that weighty total did not include a sparkling 214 against the Australians in a tour match at Chelmsford, in which he proudly stood firm against a bowling battery containing Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, and Shaun Tait.
Perhaps it was his technique, fluency, or casual domination of a touring attack that took 895 Test wickets between them that caught the eye, but in any event, Cook received full England honours less than six months later.
Despite the inevitability with which many at Chelmsford would have viewed the call, which came from India, it was unexpected for the man himself, who was in the West Indies with the second-string Three Lions at the time.
Having initially been a modern-day Christopher Columbus and ended up in the Caribbean instead of the subcontinent, he arrived in Nagpur to face his first ball in the Test arena, from S. Sreesanth, on 1st March 2006.
He started as he meant to go on, with a fifty and then a century, and twelve years and 12,472 runs later, against the same opponent, he received a handshake from every fielder as he departed the middle at the Oval.
A career in the international arena was bookended by two centuries, and there was no more fitting way for the man who is still his country’s most prolific run-scorer of all time to bow out.
Although he repeatedly put the Australians to the sword across six Ashes series, just as he had done in that tour match, it was curious how many of Cook’s seminal moments seemed to come against India.
Indeed, his only Test wicket, taken on placid fifth-day track at Trent Bridge in 2014, was Ishant Sharma, caught behind by Matt Prior; he will forever hold a Test match bowling average of just seven, suggesting a hidden talent!
He was also part of the 2011 England side that whitewashed the then-ranked world number one Indians to take the top spot themselves, notably hitting his highest individual score of 294 in the third Test at Edgbaston.
There have been many thousands of runs for Essex, too, from that Nottinghamshire debut to the low-key exit he desired at Northamptonshire, as he racked up 15,077 in all formats.
During the former, he shared a dressing room with Andy Flower, his future England coach, and Ronnie Irani, while his last outing saw the presence of six players who were still in primary school on the occasion of his debut.
He won six titles with the Eagles, from the Club’s first County Championship title in 25 years, to back-to-back Sunday League trophies either side of his England Test debut.
Everyone connected to Essex recognises the invaluable nature of Cook’s contributions over the past 20 years, and has their own personal treasured memories with him.
“It’s been a pleasure and a privilege in equal measure to share a field with Chef,” said Club Captain, Tom Westley. “His record speaks for itself, but my experiences with him as a person have been nothing but positive too.
“Not only is he one of England’s and Essex’s greatest cricketers, but what sets him apart is the person and human that he is. He is the epitome of ‘team first’.
“He has always strived to improve as a person, and one thing that has struck me over the last few years has been his humour. He has miraculously become very funny!
“He’s been a wonderful friend within and outside of cricket, and it’s been an honour to share many of my most treasured memories with him over such a long period of time.
“Like many, he has helped me in some of my toughest times, purely just by being Chef. I, we, and the whole of Essex will miss him so much.”
John Stephenson, Chief Executive Officer, added: “Many great players have walked out to the middle at Chelmsford, but by sheer weight of runs, Alastair is undoubtedly up there with the very best of them.
“I know from my conversations with our members and supporters that it’s been a great pleasure and privilege to watch him bat here at Chelmsford, and I can also attest to that.
“Both on behalf of the Club and from a personal point of view, I would like to thank Alastair for all he has done for his county, his country, and his sport, and I wish him the very best as he departs as a true legend.”
Charlie Allison, Noah Thain, and Luc Benkenstein have all been named among a 17-player England Men Under-19s’ squad for a Quadrangular Youth ODI Series in India next month.
Allison, who this week signed a new deal to keep him at The Cloud County Ground for another year following a breakout campaign in 2023, is included in a Youth ODI group for the first time.
He hit 254 runs at an average of 36.28 in this season’s Metro Bank One Day Cup, dovetailing with Thain’s 159 at 39.75 in the same competition.
Meanwhile, Benkenstein made his return from a lengthy injury lay off to play as a specialist batter in five of the Eagles’ eight group-stage matches.
Durham batter Ben McKinney will again captain the squad, with Kent’s Jaydn Denly, Seb Morgan of Middlesex, and Durham’s Haydon Mustard the additions from the group that played Australia U19s in the five-match home Youth ODI Series last month.
The Quadrangular Series is to be played in Vijayawada, India from 4-29 November and will feature India U19s A, India U19s B and Bangladesh U19s.
The series will provide the final competitive preparation for the Young Lions ahead of the 2024 ICC Under-19 Men’s World Cup, which will be staged in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 13 January – 4 February.
England Men Under-19s’ Head Coach, Mike Yardy, said: “Touring India at any level is challenging, which why it is so valuable to be able to expose our best young players to these experiences at Under-19 level.
“We expect both the India and Bangladesh Under-19 teams to be very strong, as India showed when they beat us in the final of the most recent ICC Under-19 World Cup last year.
“So this is a huge opportunity for the 17 players who have been selected, especially with the next U19 World Cup following this tour in January 2024.”
England Under-19 Men’s squad: Ben McKinney (Durham, captain), Farhan Ahmed (Nottinghamshire), Tazeem Ali (Warwickshire), Charlie Allison (Essex), Charlie Barnard (Lancashire), Luc Benkenstein (Essex), Jack Carney (Lancashire), Jaydn Denly (Kent), Eddie Jack (Hampshire), Dom Kelly (Hampshire), Mitch Killeen (Durham), JT Langridge (Somerset), Seb Morgan (Middlesex), Haydon Mustard (Durham), Hamza Shaikh (Warwickshire), Noah Thain (Essex), Theo Wylie (Warwickshire).
Northants: Hassan Azad, Emilio Gay, Luke Proctor (c), Karun Nair, Rob Keogh, Saif Zaib, Lewis McManus (wk), Justin Broad, Tom Taylor, Ben Sanderson, Jack White.
Essex: Nick Browne, Alastair Cook, Tom Westley (c), Dan Lawrence, Matt Critchley, Paul Walter, Adam Rossington (wk), Simon Harmer, Umesh Yadav, Sam Cook, Jamie Porter.
Match Details:
Umpires: Mark Newell & Russell Warren Match Referee: Dean Cosker Toss: Essex won the toss and elected to bowl Result: Northamptonshire won by innings & 39 runs.
Northamptonshire seamer Jack White rounded off the LV= Insurance County Championship campaign with a five-wicket haul to ensure his relegated side bowed out of Division One in style by crushing runners-up Essex.
White, who received Northamptonshire supporters’ player of the season award during the lunch interval, achieved his century of first-class wickets as the visitors were hustled out for 211 in their first innings at Wantage Road.
That snuffed out Essex’s hopes of denying Surrey another title – and, having been put in again, they promptly collapsed to 119 all out, with Paul Walter’s pugnacious 73 from 53 balls their only significant contribution.
White claimed the final wicket to finish with five for 57 – his 50th Championship scalp of the season.
Essex resumed on 125 for four, but their already slim hopes of amassing the runs required to prolong the title race were dented further as Tom Taylor’s first ball of the morning sent two of Walter’s stumps flying.
White and Ben Sanderson both found some unpredictable bounce from the David Capel End, but it was a half-volley by the latter that secured his landmark 100th wicket when former Northamptonshire team-mate Adam Rossington drilled to mid-on.
Essex skipper Tom Westley applied himself diligently, but he then got stuck on 49 and was eventually undone by a beauty from opposite number Luke Procter that pitched, left him and took a faint edge through to Lewis McManus.
Procter pinned Simon Harmer leg before to finish with figures of three for 47, but Umesh Yadav opted to throw the bat and rattled up 24 from 18 deliveries, playing some delightfully wristy shots as well as lifting White for a leg-side six.
Sam Cook joined in, steering Taylor for successive fours to lift the Essex total above 200 but Yadav holed out to deep midwicket before last man Jamie Porter was castled by Taylor to confirm the Championship pennant would remain in Surrey’s possession.
Having not managed to supplement his three wickets from the previous evening, Sanderson made amends for that in the first over of the follow-on, with Nick Browne misjudging a ball that jagged back and careered into his off stump.
Lunch offered Essex some respite – but the carnage continued after the interval and within seven overs of their second innings, the visitors had collapsed to 13 for five, with Sanderson and White claiming another two wickets apiece.
Those included Cook, caught behind nibbling outside off stump at Sanderson, while Justin Broad’s tumbling cover catch accounted for Westley and Emilio Gay pouched two at second slip.
Walter launched a bold counterattack with a series of front-foot drives, while Rossington kept him company for 35 minutes despite playing just a single scoring stroke as the pair shepherded Essex to 50.
Taylor broke the partnership with an unplayable delivery that kept low and seamed back to uproot Rossington’s off stump, but Walter kept going and advanced to his half-century with a cover boundary off White.
Rob Keogh’s first over of off-spin cost 19 runs, with Walter twice dispatching him over the stand before White eventually got his man, tempting the left-hander to pull a short ball and top-edge to Saif Zaib in the deep.
That paved the way for White to apply the finishing touch and he bowled Harmer before clipping Yadav’s off bail to wrap up Northamptonshire’s second win of the season – their first by an innings in more than two years.
Day Two Highlights:
Day Two Match Report:
Veteran Northamptonshire bowler Ben Sanderson dented Essex’s lingering hopes of clinching the LV= Insurance County Championship title with a masterclass of seam bowling at Wantage Road.
Essex started their first innings needing at least 400 if rivals Surrey were bowled out for less than 250 in their game at Southampton, but Sanderson made short work of their top order, removing Alastair Cook, Nick Browne and Dan Lawrence in a nine over spell, while conceding just 14 runs.
They rallied to 125 for four by close of play, still trailing by 244 runs to just about keep their challenge alive following Surrey’s collapse at the Ageas Bowl. Surrey though require only a draw to clinch another Championship. Essex, meantime, are pinning their hopes on Hampshire beating Surrey, and then finding a way to somehow earn four batting points tomorrow and beat Northamptonshire.
Sanderson (3-15) made the most of overcast conditions under lights, bowling a metronomic line and length and extracting prodigious seam movement which drew Essex’s batters into repeatedly playing and missing outside off-stump. Along the way he reached 350 first-class wickets in Northamptonshire colours when he dismissed Cook.
Earlier centurion Rob Keogh moved from his overnight 154 past his previous highest score of 161 at Wantage Road, before he was adjudged lbw to Umesh Yadav for 172 off just 167 balls (25 fours, four sixes).
Justin Broad, who played the supporting role throughout a 98-run partnership with Keogh in 20 overs, went onto post his maiden first-class half-century when he smashed Jamie Porter (4-105) down the ground for four. He largely eschewed risk, hitting along the ground and sweeping the spinners adeptly, finishing unbeaten on 56 (95 balls, 7 fours).
Wickets continued to fall at the other end. Tom Taylor (14), playing his final match for Northamptonshire before moving to newly-promoted Worcestershire, came out with real intent. He smashed Matt Critchley down the ground for six, but when he attempted to repeat the shot, he could only pick out Porter at mid-on.
The new ball did the trick for Porter who got one to seam back and knock Sanderson’s middle stump out of the ground before enticing the edge from White, Alastair Cook taking a tumbling catch at slip.
In reply, Browne (13) started briskly but drove loosely to a fuller ball from Sanderson and was caught behind by keeper Lewis McManus. Cook (6) played a beautiful extra cover drive off Sanderson but was undone when the Northamptonshire stalwart got one to nip back and send his off-stump cartwheeling.
Lawrence (12), playing his final match for Essex before he joins Surrey, fell soon after lunch when he played away from his body to another ball from Sanderson which seamed away, McManus again taking the catch.
Critchley (17) saw off Sanderson, eventually getting hold of one from Taylor, guiding it safely down to third to bring up Essex’s 50 in the 16th over and driving White through midwicket for another boundary. But when Northamptonshire skipper Luke Procter pitched one up, Critchley played across the line trying to work the ball to leg, only to have his off-stump knocked back.
Jack White was finding plenty of movement off the seam too and drew Paul Walter into edging behind with just 1 to his name, only for Karun Nair to drop the ball at first slip. Walter though started to find the boundary, driving fluently through extra cover.
Tom Westley, who had put on 33 with Critchley, played sweetly off his legs early on, but became becalmed, scoring just 1 out of an unbeaten partnership of 27 with Walter before bad light and rain stopped play with Essex on 95 for four, still trailing by 274 runs.
After the resumption, Walter started to stroke the ball sweetly down the ground, but Essex’s scoring remained below three an over, putting them a long way behind the rate needed to secure the three batting bonus points they need.
Day One Highlights:
Day One Match Report:
Rob Keogh gave Northamptonshire supporters a rare moment to celebrate with a stunning century against Essex at Wantage Road, scoring 154 off just 145 balls. With the county already relegated and playing for pride after a nightmare season, Keogh put on a show with boundaries all around the ground as Northamptonshire claimed their first batting bonus point at home this summer and closed on 279 for six on day one of this LV= Insurance County Championship match.
Keogh batted with a sense of freedom, taking the positive, attacking route, but timing the ball to perfection and not offering any chances. Strong on the drive and cut and punching firmly off the backfoot, when Essex resorted to bowling short, he dismissively hooked and pulled the ball away to the ropes, hitting 23 fours and four sixes.
He ticked off milestones along the way too, passing 6,000 career first-class runs and becoming Northamptonshire’s highest run scorer in the Championship this season. The innings neatly bookends his season following 116 in the Steelbacks’ opening fixture against Kent in April.
Keogh came to the wicket after Jamie Porter (2-82) had struck twice, finding plenty of movement outside off-stump and immediately took the positive route against the Essex seamer, sharing a stand of 107 with Saif Zaib (28) in exactly 25 overs.
Earlier Essex won the toss and decided to field and Sam Cook and Porter took a wicket apiece to reduce Northamptonshire to 23 for two after five overs. First Emilio Gay was adjudged to have edged Cook behind to the keeper. Then in the next over Porter squared up Steelbacks skipper Luke Procter, the ball flying off the inside edge to Matt Critchley at third slip who took a good low catch.
Azad was joined by Indian batter Karun Nair and the pair batted for 12 overs, putting on 40. Azad moved onto 32, picking up five streaky boundaries behind square on both sides of the wicket. He eventually middled one through backward point before Simon Harmer’s second delivery earned the breakthrough, an arm ball which trapped Azad lbw.
Nair (21), fresh from scoring 150 at the Oval last week, played a couple of handsome shots including a beautifully timed on drive off Porter, but departed when he got an inside edge onto his stumps against the same bowler with Northamptonshire 95 for four.
Keogh then took command against Porter, driving through midwicket and extra cover, pulling over midwicket and guiding him off the backfoot to bring up Northamptonshire’s 100 in the 27th over.
After reaching his half-century off 62 balls before tea, Keogh continued to score freely after the interval, garnering 14 off one over from Harmer. He slog swept the spinner for four, hit the next ball over long-on for six and then played a backfoot punch for another boundary.
He moved towards three figures by pulling Porter for six and four and then swung Matt Critchley through mid-on to bring up his 16th first-class century off 105 balls. Consecutive boundaries followed off Umesh Yadav including a push down the ground for four before he pulled the Indian paceman behind square for six and smashed him back over his head for four.
Zaib largely played the supporting role to Keogh but deployed the sweep shot against the spinners to good effect before he was caught behind off Critchley. It was the twelfth time in 19 innings this season that Zaib has been dismissed between 25 and 49 In his next over Critchley (2-22) trapped McManus lbw with Northamptonshire 214 for six.
Keogh though was joined by Justin Broad who kept him company in a partnership of 65 off 76 balls, scoring just 17 as Keogh went on the rampage at the other end.
Essex Cricket can confirm that four players will depart the Club upon the expiry of their contracts at the end of the 2023 season.
Aron Nijjar, Josh Rymell, Eshun Kalley, and Will Buttleman will all leave The Cloud County Ground when their current deals run out.
Left-arm spinner Nijjar, 28, has played a total of 78 matches for Essex across all three formats since making his first-class debut in 2015, taking 81 wickets at an overall average of 37.58.
Opening batter Rymell, 22, has made 22 appearances for the Eagles, hitting a total of 475 runs, of which the bulk have been scored in List A cricket where he averages 28.53.
Seamer Kalley, 21, has played in only one first-class match, against Ireland earlier this year, and has appeared mostly for the Essex 2nd XI, where he has taken a total of 15 wickets this season.
Wicketkeeper-batter Buttleman, 23, has participated mostly in the white ball arena, averaging 17.45 across List A and T20 cricket but has also made five first-class appearances, scoring 141 runs and claiming 20 victims.
Essex Head Coach, Anthony McGrath, said: “It is always a tough time when we have to make decisions about not renewing players’ contracts, but the nature of professional sport does unfortunately require us to do exactly that.
“I wish Aron, Josh, Eshun, and Will all the best in their future endeavours, and I thank them for their efforts, which have always been 100%, during the time they have spent at the Club.
“Although their immediate future lies away from Chelmsford, I do believe they are all capable of progressing within the game and taking hold of other opportunities that come their way.”
During the recent match against Middlesex, both Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer reached the landmark of fifty first-class wickets for the season.
The pair were the second and third Division One bowlers to reach the milestone respectively, with Porter now being the leading red-ball wicket-taker in the country.
Porter brought up his fiftieth wicket with one of the balls of the season, pitched up and nipping away to uproot Sam Robson’s off stump. His figures of 6/34 in Middlesex’s first innings were his best of the season and his fourth five-wicket haul of the campaign.
In total, Porter has 53 first-class wickets in 2023 at an average of just 17.39. It’s the 6th time Porter has taken fifty first-class wickets in a year and he’s done it with his lowest average since taking 85 wickets at 16.74 in 2018.
Jamie Porter: 53 wickets at 17.49
Harmer also brought up his fiftieth wicket during his best spell of the season, ending with 5/43. It was also his fourth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket for Essex in 2023.
Harmer’s tally of 51 wickets has come at an average of 28.33 and continues his remarkable record of having taken 50 wickets in a season in every year of county cricket he has played in, with the exception of the covid-affected 2020 season.
This is the 8th occasion Harmer has taken 50 first-class wickets in a season, two of those have come in South Africa and six in England for Essex.
Essex Cricket would like to place on record its heartfelt thanks to First Team Scorer of two decades, Tony Choat, who retired from his role after his final match with the team this week against Middlesex.
Tony, who was born in Benfleet, just 16 miles from The Cloud County Ground, has scored 764 first-team matches since his debut in 2001.
He initially joined the Club as a steward in 1993, and three years after initially beginning to score games, he took on the first-team role full-time.
Tony’s first experience in a professional scorebox came in a pre-season encounter at Cambridge University which Essex won by 335 runs, before his maiden County Championship outing saw Sussex visit Castle Park in August 2003.
His final match against Middlesex will be his 299th in the first-class format, a total that includes two England Test matches, both at Lord’s, against the West Indies in 2009 and Sri Lanka in 2016.
He was also in the scorebox at the Home of Cricket for the most unforgettable of all World Cup finals, when the Three Lions defeated New Zealand on boundary countback after a super-over in 2019 to lift the trophy for the first time.
In the List A format, Tony’s CV includes a total of more than 200 matches, while he has been responsible for scoring 213 T20 clashes too, including two Vitality Blast finals.
Tony’s service to the Club has been extensive, and all at Essex wish him the very best as he moves on.
Essex U18 Women finished third in the ECB County Cup after defeating Nottinghamshire in the third/fourth-place play-off at Grantham Cricket Club.
Despite falling short of reaching the final after a five-wicket defeat against eventual winners Staffordshire, the young Eagles came back strongly against the East Midlands outfit the following day.
In the semi-final, also at Grantham, Bella Howarth top-scored with 29 and wickets were shared evenly all around the attack, with the most economical figures of 1/2 from five overs going to Bella Johnson.
However, Staffordshire chased down Essex’s 86 all out in the 29th over as captain Ebony Jade Tweats matched Howarth’s earlier score by hitting the winning runs.
The third/fourth-place play-off provided another opportunity for the young Eagles, however, and they took full advantage by cruising to a comfortable win in chasing down Notts’ 128-9.
Hollie Dring-Richardson made a fluent 55 in 66 balls and Esmae Macgregor finished unbeaten on 33 off 45, with the duo sharing in a partnership of 70 for the fourth wicket to guide Essex to victory.
Prisha Bedi had earlier claimed 4/21 from eight overs as the young Green and Golds were heavily restricted, with Rhiannon Knowling-Davies’ 43 the only score above the teens.
Jessica Pugh, Cara Castleman, and Johnson all claimed a wicket apiece too as Essex set themselves an easily reachable target, and the efforts of Dring-Richardson and Macgregor saw them chase it down to take the bronze.
Umesh Yadav joined Essex in August 2023 as a replacement overseas signing for Doug Bracewell for the final 3 games of The County Championship season.
The Indian quick has appeared for his country at the Test-level 57 times since his debut in 2011, as well as 75 One Day Internationals and 9 International T20s. This also included the 2023 ICC World Test Championship against Australia.
Umesh has a small but effective history with the Cloud County Ground in 2018 tourist match for the Indian national team, where he took 4/35 across 18 overs.
Essex: Nick Browne, Feroze Khushi, Luc Benkenstein, Beau Webster, Charlie Allison, Noah Thain, Will Buttleman (wk), Ben Allison, Jamal Richards, Aaron Beard, Aron Nijjar
Surrey: Dominic Sibley, Ryan Patel, Josh Blake, Ben Geddes, Cameron Steel, Krish Patel, Conor McKerr, Tommy Ealham, Luke Griffiths, Dan Moriarty, Amar Virdi.
Match Details:
Umpires: Nigel Llong & Tom Lungley Match Referee: Phil Whitticase Toss: Surrey won the toss and elected to bowl Result: Surrey won by 2 wickets
Ryan Patel recorded his fourth List A century to steer Surrey to their second Metro Bank One-Day Cup victory of the season and consign Essex to the Group A wooden spoon.
However, Patel’s 117 off 119 balls was not enough to help Surrey finish any higher than one place above Essex after a disappointing campaign for both counties.
Patel shared partnerships of 62 with late call-up Krish Patel, 60 with Josh Blake and 51 with Conor McKerr as Surrey chased down 260 to win with a boundary off the last ball. McKerr also claimed career-best List A figures of 4-55 in Essex’s 259-9.
Essex were indebted to two significant stands in reaching a slightly below-par score on a dead pitch. Beau Webster (69) and Noah Thain (63) lifted them from 79-4 with a fifth-wicket partnership of 109 in 24 overs, while Jamal Richards (31 not out) and Ben Allison put on 52 for the ninth wicket.
There was drama before play started when captain Rory Burns twisted an ankle in the warm-up and at 10.28am Surrey had to register 17-year-old leg-spin all-rounder Krish Patel.
Essex tails were up when they had Surrey’s best hope of anchoring their response, Dom Sibley, out first ball to a bottom edge and having his middle stump jagged back. But they had not factored in Ryan Patel.
Josh Blake joined Patel in a 60-run partnership that took up 10 overs before picking out the square-leg boundary sweeper to give Richards a wicket in his first over. Ben Geddes followed to a catch at mid-on off Aron Nijjar.
The left-handed Patel hit three fours in the first over and reached his fifty from 50 balls with a six over midwicket. But he lost Cameron Steel to a running catch at long leg off Webster.
The debutant Patel joined his namesake and had revised the target to 116 off 20 overs. The lateness of his call-up did not affect his nerves and even found time to deposit Nijjar for six over long off to mark the fifty partnership. He was eventually out for a 46-ball 30, lbw going back to Nijjar.
The senior Patel reached three figures with his 13th boundary, punched through extra cover, from his 102nd delivery faced. McKerr’s 20 from 24 balls kept Surrey on course before he was bowled by Webster.
Patel’s 45-over innings ended when he drove Allison to Webster at short extra cover and suddenly Surrey needed 33 from six overs with three wickets in hand, then 15 from 12 balls. They lost Ealham to another Webster catch in the covers off Allison as the target rose to 13 from eight balls.
A sweep off the first ball of Beard’s final over by Griffiths reduced the figure to nine off five balls, but only a single from the next two balls heightened the suspense. However, Moriarty nudged another bourndary followed by another to leave three required off the last ball. But Griffith’s drive through mid-on for four from a full-toss decided the outcome.
Essex lost their first three wickets to sloppy shots inside the powerplay. Nick Browne, captaining the side in his first List A game of the season, lofted Amar Virdi straight for six but perished next ball when he chipped tamely to short mid-on.
Feroze Khushi also departed after hitting Dan Moriarty’s second ball over the ropes before being stumped off a legside wide. And Luc Benkenstein became the third to fall in the first 10 overs when he chased a wide one. Charlie Allison did not last long either, dragging on against Steel to leave Essex four down and only 14 overs gone.
However, that was the prelude to a steadying century stand between Webster and Thain that helped Essex out of their nosedive
Thain’s second six, driven straight off Tommy Ealham, brought up the hundred stand in 21 overs before the pair were back in the pavilion in the space of 13 balls, both falling to McKerr. Thain pulled to short midwicket and Webster edged a lifting ball behind.
The returning Virdi grabbed two quick wickets for List A-best figures of 3-38 with Beard playing all around one to be lbw and Will Buttleman bowled off his pads.
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