The Club will be hosting the next Members’ Forum on Tuesday 12 July at 6:30pm in the Doug Insole Pavilion.
Chief Executive and Interim Chair, John Stephenson and Head Coach, Anthony McGrath will be on the panel for an opportunity to hear the latest Club news on and off the pitch, including information on the new Governance Action Plan.
The forum will be exclusively for 2022 Members and is available to attend either in person or via the zoom conferencing platform.
Attendees are invited to submit questions in advance by midday on Tuesday 12 July to [email protected].
We hope Members are able to join us for our first Forum in person since early 2020.
All Members with a valid email address on their account will receive an email from the Club with an exclusive link. We advise checking your online Membership account if you have recently changed your details.
Essex Eagles: Adam Rossington (wk), Robin Das, Michael Pepper, Dan Lawrence, Paul Walter, Tom Westley, Daniel Sams, Simon Harmer (c), Aaron Beard, Ben Allison, Sam Cook.
Glamorgan: Tom Bevan, Sam Northeast (c), Colin Ingram, Billy Root, Eddie Byrom, Chris Cooke (wk), Dan Douthwaite, Andrew Salter, Prem Sisodiya, Jamie McIlroy, Michael Hogan.
Match Details:
Umpires: Ben Debenham & Rob Bailey Match Referee: Simon Hinks Toss: Glamorgan, who elected to field Result: Essex Eagles win by 69 runs
Dan Lawrence and Paul Walter’s sensational hitting fired Essex Eagles to their highest Vitality Blast total as they kept their home quarter-final dreams alive.
Lawrence thrashed 71 off 37 balls, Walter a blistering 23-ball 58 and Adam Rossington a booming 45 to take the Eagles to 254 – beating the 244 set barely two weeks ago.
Glamorgan reached 185 for seven in reply, with stand-in captain Sam Northeast pumping an unbeaten 97, to lose by 69 runs.
2019 winners Essex, who had already confirmed a knockout spot, moved to second in the South Group and will host a last-eight match if Surrey beat Somerset on Sunday.
Essex were put in and blasted it from ball one on a belting wicket with short boundaries. Robin Das struck the first of 16 sixes in the third over by pinging one over long-off before following it up with a second over deep midwicket from the next ball.
Das pulled another ball to the boundary before he skied to cover to give Jamie McIlroy a T20 wicket on debut, he would later pick up Lawrence to claim an impressive 2/32 – the only bowler to go at under 10s.
Adam Rossington powered his way to 45, having scored 95 the previous evening, with seven fours and a six off 23 balls. But his quick scoring was just the prelude for what was to come.
Michael Pepper was caught on the reverse and Rossington holed to long-on before Lawrence and Walter went ballistic with a 101-run partnership off 69 balls.
Douthwaite took the biggest tap, going for 12 and 13 in successive overs as he returned the fourth-worst bowling figures in Blast history, eventually going for 66 in four wicketless overs.
But the showpiece over for Essex was the 31 taken off Prem Sisodiya. Walter started off with four sixes before Lawrence completed the over with another maximum.
It started a final five overs where 95 runs were plundered. Walter fell for a 23-ball 58, an innings which included 6 sixes, but Daniel Sams picked up where he had left off with three sixes in his first four balls.
Lawrence had been on 18 from his first 20 balls but caught up in style to reach his 11th T20 half-century in 30 balls before eventually falling for 71. 15 came off the final over as the Eagles crashed the joint fourth-best total in the tournament’s history.
Glamorgan never looked like replicating their greatest chase of 224 – against Essex in 2017 – with three wickets falling in the powerplay.
Aaron Beard was the chief destroyer as he picked up two for 16 in his first 16 overs with debutant Tom Bevan top-edging to deep third man and Billy Root getting bowled.
Eddie Byrom and Chris Cooke were both caught, but Sam Northeast, skippering his third Blast side for the first time, stuck around and plundered a couple sixes of his own on his way to a 38 ball fifty.
Dan Douthwaite chipped in with 34 off 17 in a 62-run stand but had his stump broken by Sams. As the required rate broke passed 36, Andrew Salter and Northeast struck a few lusty blows.
Salter holed out and Northeast, needing four runs from the final ball to reach a century, ended on 97*.
In a game where 439 runs were scored, Dan Sams returned remarkable figures of 3/20 in his four overs. Aaron Beard finished with equally impressive figures of 2/16 in his three overs.
Sussex Sharks: Josh Philippe (wk), Harrison Ward, Ali Orr, Tom Alsop, Ravi Bopara (c), Delray Rawlins, George Garton, Rashid Khan, Henry Crocombe, Steven Finn, Archie Lenham.
Essex Eagles: Adam Rossington (wk), Robin Das, Michael Pepper, Dan Lawrence, Paul Walter, Tom Westley, Daniel Sams, Simon Harmer (c), Aaron Beard, Ben Allison, Sam Cook.
Match Details:
Umpires: Hassan Adnan & Rob White Match Referee: Devon Malcolm Toss: Sussex Sharks, who elected to field Result: Essex Eagles win by 28 runs
A magnificent bowling stint from the Essex Eagles captain Simon Harmer led his side to victory by 28 runs in the Vitality Blast match against the Sussex Sharks at Hove.
Harmer conceded just 18 runs from his four overs and also picked up the wickets of dangerman Ali Orr, Tom Alsop and George Garton. It was the eighth win of the campaign for Essex as Sussex Sharks disappointed once again before a sell-out crowd.
But Orr threatened more heroics as the Sharks chased a challenging 198 for victory.
After just four overs Sussex were 54 without loss, with Orr flying on 36. Josh Philippe was caught behind for 17 in the fifth over but after seven overs Sussex were better than on target, at 81 for one. But then Orr’s innings ended as he skied Harmer to midwicket. His 41 had come off just 21 balls, and there were five fours and two sixes.
Sussex Sharks were ahead of the game at the halfway stage, at 101 for two after ten overs. But then Harrison Ward holed out to the deep midwicket boundary for a 22-ball 31 and a 28-ball 47 from Sussex aptain and former Eagle, Ravi Bopara was not enough.
Earlier, Adam Rossington’s 50-ball 95, with 10 fours and 5 sixes, was the stand-out performance in the Essex total of 197 for eight. It was his highest score in the competition. But when Essex were 68 without loss in the seventh over they must have fancied their chances of scoring even more after being invited to bat.
Rossington brought up the fifty in the sixth over as he drove Henry Crocombe for a straight four, the bowler’s first three deliveries going for boundaries.
Robin Das featured for the first time this season but was out to Delray Rawlins for 17. Michael Pepper was caught brilliantly by Ali Orr, reverse sweeping to backward point, whilst Ravi Bopara’s second ball bowled Dan Lawrence.
Rossington moved to 95 with a maximum over long-off but was stumped next ball and then the emphasis turned to Tom Westley who hit a magnificent 54 off 30 balls. This turned out to be a crucial innings to help ensure the Eagles reached a challenging total. Westley struck three fours and four sixes, hitting George Garton out of the ground at cow corner. Rashid Khan was the pick of the Sussex Sharks bowling attack with 3/30, while Bopara (2/30) and Rawlins (2/34) also bowled well.
The win secured Essex Eagles a place in the knockout stages of the competition after Gloucestershire were defeated by Hampshire Hawks. The Eagles now return home to face Glamorgan at The Cloud County Ground on Saturday night (live on Sky Sports) with a chance to clinch a home quarter-final should Somerset drop points to Surrey.
Essex Eagles: Adam Rossington (wk), Feroze Khushi, Michael Pepper, Dan Lawrence, Tom Westley, Paul Walter, Daniel Sams, Simon Harmer (c), Aron Nijjar, Aaron Beard, Sam Cook.
Surrey: Jason Roy, Will Jacks, Jamie Smith (wk), Rory Burns, Laurie Evans, Sunil Narine, Chris Jordan (c), Tom Lawes, Conor McKerr, Dan Moriarty, Reece Topley.
Match Details:
Umpires: Graham Lloyd & James Middlebrook Match Referee: Alec Swann Toss: Surrey, who elected to field Result: won by 43 runs
Michael Pepper continued his Vitality Blast love affair with The Cloud County Ground before Aaron Beard returned career-best figures as Essex Eagles condemned Surrey to a second straight loss.
Pepper took his Chelmsford tally to 304 in six innings – and 386 in total – with an impressive 48 as Paul Walter continued his fine form with a 49 as the Eagles soured to 198.
Before fast bowler Beard, on just his second appearance of the season, nipped openers Will Jacks and Jason Roy to eventually pick up four for 29 – as Surrey fell 43 runs short.
Essex Eagles boosted their hopes of securing a home quarter-final to move to seven wins out of 12, while Surrey remain top and will host a home knockout game but having been previously unbeaten in all competitions until Thursday night have lost momentum.
On a fixture celebrating Essex Pride, Surrey stuck the Eagles in to bat and had Adam Rossington caught behind in the second over, with the first two overs only going for six before Pepper went ballistic.
He struck 30 from the first nine balls he faced, with just a dot and a single punctuating his boundary blitz. The South African-born batter began by scooping a six, something he replicated in the following over between a bullet cut shot and followed by four consecutive boundaries off Dan Moriarty.
His hitting paused after a strike to the box, which he never really recovered from as he limped to five more runs before he reversed straight to third – the second wicket in three balls for Sunil Narine.
Essex’s rebuild and second 10 overs were a textbook display of accumulation – with only seven dot balls, along with four wickets coming in the second half of the innings for 110 runs.
Walter was the chief architect of the scoring with his 49, which included four towering sixes, as he put on 51 with Dan Lawrence and 44 with Simon Harmer.
Topley made sure his former county didn’t get to 200 as he chipped away throughout and added Walter, Daniel Sams and Harmer to his earlier Rossington dismissal to end up with four for 35.
Beard made an electrifying start as he picked up both a yorked Roy and Will Jacks – the ball after selecting a new bat – brilliantly caught at short fine leg by Tom Westley.
Smith and Rory Burns put on 57 with a low-risk approach, while still keeping up with the rate before Lawrence stuck one through Smith. Burns followed by screwing Beard to mid-on and Narine fired back at Harmer as Surrey lost their way.
Laurie Evans continued the slump when sub fielder Ben Allison produced a spectacular solo relay catch at wide long-on – Harmer grabbing two wickets in the over to return two for 20. Beard had debutant Tom Lawes skying on mid-on for his fourth.
Sams pilfered Chris Jordan and Sam Cook had Conor McKerr as Surrey could only reach 155-9.
The penultimate home match is this year’s Vitality Blast is now sold out! Friday evening’s T20 clash against Surrey will be played in front of another full house at Fortress Chelmsford.
Thank you to everyone who has purchased tickets for this match and for games across the competition so far and we’re set for another great Fortress Friday at The Cloud County Ground.
There is still time to secure your tickets for the final South Group game against Glamorgan on Saturday 2 July but we are urging supporters to be quick to avoid missing out.
Friday 24 June, 7pm: Surrey – SOLD OUT!
Saturday 02 July, 6:30pm: Glamorgan – Final tickets remaining
Tickets are also available in person at The Cloudfm County Ground (Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm) and by phone on 01245 254010 (Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm).
Have you tried Hospitality at The Cloud County Ground?
Enjoy the T20 matchday dining experience with hospitality packages selling fast across the Vitality Blast competition in 2022!
The popular unlimited drink options return this year for both limited over competitions, plus the chance to enjoy our Bottomless Bubbles Prosecco packages at this year’s international England Women’s fixture!
Packages for the remaining Blast matches are still available. For further information on the options available and to book your places, including for our Unlimited Drinks packages, contact our Commercial Department by phone 01245 254120 or [email protected].
Essex Eagles: Adam Rossington (wk), Feroze Khushi, Michael Pepper, Matt Critchley, Paul Walter, Tom Westley, Daniel Sams, Simon Harmer (c), Aron Nijjar, Ben Allison, Sam Cook.
Somerset: Will Smeed, Tom Banton (wk), Rilee Rossouw, Tom Abell (c), Tom Lammonby, Lewis Gregory, Ben Green, Roelof van der Merwe, Lewis Goldsworthy, Peter Siddle, Jack Brooks.
Match Details:
Umpires: Nigel Llong & Martin Saggers Match Referee: Steve Davis Toss: Somerset, who elected to field Result: Somerset won by 8 wickets
Despite a career best 86* from Michael Pepper, Essex succumbed to a blistering partnership between Rilee Rossouw and Tom Abell to lose by eight wickets at Chelmsford.
Rossouw plundered 85 not out with seven sixes and five fours to move ahead of Northamptonshire’s Chris Lynn in the Vitality Blast run-scoring standings as Somerset raced to the target of 189.
All this came after Michael Pepper (86 not out) and Paul Walter (58) were the mainstays of the Essex’s tally of 188-5, Jack Brooks the pick of the Somerset attack with two for 23.
On the same pitch which yielded 477 runs in Friday’s encounter with Sussex, Essex got off to a slower start after being put in.
Adam Rossington gloved one from Peter Siddle through to Tom Banton and Feroze Khushi flourished before lofting Ben Green to mid-wicket.
Pepper spiced things up, sweeping Roelof Van Der Merwe over backward square for six, but when the in-form Matt Critchley fell, the Eagles were 78-3.
It was Walter who changed the complexion of the innings, clearing his front leg and striking the ball cleanly to all parts, one of his five sixes threatening the residents of flats on the old hospital site.
The all-rounder raced to 50 in 26 balls and the stand reached 87 from 47 before he holed out in the deep, one of two wickets in as many balls for Brooks.
Pepper though, whose 50 came in 31 balls, dinked Siddle for six over third man as 20 came from the final over to leave the Eagles 188-5 at the end of their 20 overs.
189 was a far less intimidating target than the 245 that faced Susssex Sharks on Friday and when Will Smeed plundered three sixes from the opening over, Somerset had already put a dent in the target. Shortly after, he edged Sams through to Rossington to fall for 22.
Banton briefly picked up the baton, only for Pepper to send him on his way courtesy of a stunning catch, running in from the fence and diving full length to cling on inches above the turf.
Sams gave Rossouw a life when he spilled a chance in the deep later in the same Ben Allison over.
The groans from a big crowd suggested it was a pivotal moment and Rossouw reinforced the view by lofting the luckless Allison for successive sixes in his next over, before plundering another maximum off spinner Simon Harmer.
Two more mighty blows off Aron Nijjar took him to 50 off 19 balls with five sixes and three fours, and with Tom Abell providing wristy elegance from the other end the 100-stand took just 52 balls as Somerset coasted home.
Essex Eagles: Adam Rossington (wk), Feroze Khushi, Michael Pepper, Matt Critchley, Paul Walter, Tom Westley, Daniel Sams, Simon Harmer (c), Aron Nijjar, Ben Allison, Sam Cook.
Sussex Sharks: Mohammed Rizwan (wk), Luke Wright, Ali Orr, Tom Alsop, Ravi Bopara (c), Rashid Khan, Delray Rawlins, Harrison Ward, Henry Crocombe, Tymal Mills, Steven Finn.
Match Details:
Umpires: Paul Baldwin & Steve O’Shaughnessy Match Referee: Steve Davis Toss: Sussex Sharks, who elected to field Result: Essex Eagles won by 11 runs
Australian all-rounder Daniel Sams thrashed his maiden Vitality Blast half-century against Sussex Sharks to guide Essex Eagles to their highest-ever total in the tournament and a fourth consecutive victory at Chelmsford.
Sams hammered 71 from just 24 deliveries, including six sixes and as many fours, as Essex racked up 244 for seven at Chelmsford after being put in to bat.
Mohammad Rizwan blazed 66 from 32 to keep the Sharks’ hopes alive before former Essex star Ravi Bopara bludgeoned a valiant 51 from 26.
But it was not enough as he perished to Sams in the final over and Sussex fell just short on 233 for six – the match aggregate of 477 setting a Blast record.
Adam Rossington got the Eagles’ innings off to a brisk start, paddling the wayward Henry Crocombe for two boundaries and dispatching his former Middlesex team-mate Steven Finn back over his head for successive sixes.
The second of those blows raised the 50 partnership with Feroze Khushi (34) inside the fifth over – only for Rossington (35) to hole out to deep square leg on the very next delivery.
Michael Pepper took up the baton with a bustling 36, finding the fence regularly and sweeping Rashid Khan for six as the Afghanistan spinner’s first over in this year’s Blast disappeared for 17.
Rashid recovered to pick up the wicket of Paul Walter, who swung at a straight one and missed – but that heralded the arrival of Sams, who immediately proceeded to savage the Sussex bowling.
The Australian’s clean hitting ensured that one of Tymal Mills’ death overs cost 29 and he and Matt Critchley (34) put together a partnership of 51 from just 18 balls, with the last four overs of the innings yielding 76.
The visitors’ chances of overhauling Essex’s enormous total largely rested on a lightning start by Rizwan – and the Pakistan star, returning to the side after international duty, did his best to oblige.
Although Luke Wright departed early, pulling Ben Allison to midwicket, Rizwan and Ali Orr (38) accumulated a stand of 87 from 31, with the latter slamming Allison for a trio of sixes in one over.
Rizwan registered five maximums of his own, including a ruthless swat off Sams that flew out of the ground and, despite pulling up in pain just short of his half-century and limping from then on, he kept Sussex up with the required rate.
Aron Nijjar claimed the prized scalp of Rizwan with his second ball, deceiving him with the flight to win a leg-before appeal – but Tom Alsop (45) and Bopara maintained the chase with a partnership of 69 from 31.
However, once Critchley had Alsop and Rashid caught on the boundary in successive balls, even Bopara’s heroics were not quite enough to prevent Sussex’s fourth straight defeat.
Friday evening’s T20 clash against Sussex Sharks is now sold out! Fortress Fridays are rocking in Chelmsford with all remaining games set to sell out after packed houses at the games against Middlesex and Sussex Sharks.
There is still time to secure your tickets for this year’s Vitality Blast but we are urging supporters to be quick to avoid missing out.
Still want to get your T20 fix this summer? Tickets for the other 3 remaining matches are available online:
Friday 19 June, 7pm: Sussex Sharks – SOLD OUT!
Sunday 19 June, 2:30pm: Somerset – Final tickets remaining
Friday 24 June, 7pm: Surrey – Final tickets remaining
Saturday 02 July, 6:30pm: Glamorgan – Final tickets remaining
Tickets are also available in person at The Cloudfm County Ground (Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm) and by phone on 01245 254010 (Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm).
Have you tried Hospitality at The Cloud County Ground?
Enjoy the T20 matchday dining experience with hospitality packages selling fast across the Vitality Blast competition in 2022!
The popular unlimited drink options return this year for both limited over competitions, plus the chance to enjoy our Bottomless Bubbles Prosecco packages at this year’s international England Women’s fixture!
Packages for the remaining Blast matches are still available. For further information on the options available and to book your places, including for our Unlimited Drinks packages, contact our Commercial Department by phone 01245 254120 or [email protected].
Glamorgan: David Lloyd (c), Sam Northeast, Marnus Labuschagne, Kiran Carlson, Chris Cooke (wk), Andrew Salter, Dan Douthwaite, Michael Neser, James Weighell, Prem Sisodiya, Michael Hogan.
Essex Eagles: Adam Rossington (wk), Will Buttleman, Michael Pepper, Matt Critchley, Paul Walter, Tom Westley, Daniel Sams, Simon Harmer (c), Aron Nijjar, Ben Allison, Sam Cook.
Match Details:
Umpires: Russell Warren, Alexander Wharf & Tom Lungley Match Referee: Peter Such Toss: Glamorgan, who elected to field Result: Glamorgan win by 6 wickets
Glamorgan ran out winners by 6 wickets in the Vitality Blast clash at Sophia Gardens after an excellent bowling display from the hosts restricted Simon Harmer’s side to 113 through 20 overs.
The Eagles struggled to get into the game with collapses at both the start and end of the innings, with only Matt Critchley making a sizable contribution at a decent rate.
With just 114 runs needed Glamorgan reached their victory target with 19 balls and 6 wickets to spare with Sam Northeast top-scoring with 44.
Glamorgan took control of the match inside the opening powerplay having put the Eagles into bat. Hogan and Neser were impressive, combining to restrict the visitors to 17-3 at the end of the sixth over.
Will Buttleman showed attacking intent from the start of his innings, attempting to slog-sweep Michael Hogan in the first over. Unfortunately he never really got going and when he played his second big sweep shot off Hogan he was trapped lbw for 2 from 8 balls.
It was also Hogan who claimed the second wicket with Rossington, who mistimed a pull shot that was caught on the boundary by Neser.
Michael Pepper had made a career-best 75 not out in his last match in the Blast, but here he managed 3 from 10 balls before he drove the ball to Dan Douthwaite at mid-on off the bowling of Neser.
Things then settled with a partnership between Paul Walter and Matt Critchley, which brought the Eagles back into the match but when both fell in the space of 3 balls to Douthwaite it was Glamorgan who were back on top. Walter went to a ball that swung enough to take an edge through to wicket-keeper Chris Cooke. Critchley absolutely creamed a cut shot that was hit straight at Marnus Labuschagne who held on to the catch.
When Daniel Sams was run out and Simon Harmer was caught behind off Hogan from the very next ball the Eagles had gone from 72-3 to 81-7in the space of 10 balls.
Neser finished with career-best figures of 3/13 as the Harmer’s side finished on a disappointing 113-9.
The side were giving some hope of defending the target when Glamorgan skipper David Lloyd was dismissed by Daniel Sams for a four-ball duck, but from there a string of partnerships anchored by Northeast put Glamorgan in sight of victory before some big hits from Chris Cooke and Dan Douthwaite got the team over the line.
It was Critchley who was the best performer for the Eagles with the ball, finishing with 1/17 from his 4 overs with Simon Harmer also bowling a tight spell, but it was ultimately in vain.
The Eagles will look to get back to winning ways tomorrow night, when they face off with Gloucestershire at The Bristol County Ground.
Essex County Cricket Club first played at Garon Park in August 2005, with a first-class match against Durham that ended in a two-wicket victory.
Since then it has been used as an outground and home to Club’s Second XI, Women’s and Ability Teams.
Former Essex County Cricket Club Board Member Peter Butler sadly passed away in November 2021 after many years of service to the Club and to sport in Essex as a whole. Today, the Club are pleased to announce that Garon Park has officially been renamed The Peter Butler Oval.
Essex County Cricket Club Chief Executive & Interim Chair, John Stephenson, said: “I’m pleased to hear the news that Garon Park has officially been renamed The Peter Butler Oval.
“Aside from Chelmsford, Garon Park is one of our most used grounds across all of our teams at Essex County Cricket Club. We’ve been playing there for almost 20 years and so many Essex heroes have honed their skills at the venue.
“Last year we received the devastating news that Peter had passed away.
“He was an extremely kind and generous man who was not only a lifelong supporter of Essex County Cricket Club, but of cricket and sport in general. His passion was evident for everyone to see in his ongoing charity work as Chairman of Essex and Southend Sports Trust, which supported and funded sports initiatives and projects in the region.
“Therefore it seems very fitting that Garon park should be renamed after somebody who gave an awful lot for both this Club and sports within the County.”
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