Watch the latest Members’ Forum which took place earlier this month with our panel of Club guests.
The evening was hosted by Committee member, Mike Smith who was joined by members of the Committee including Chairman, John Faragher and Head Coach, Anthony McGrath.
Members were invited to submit questions in advance and on the night with topics discussed including Membership, the return of spectators to The Cloudfm County Ground and looking back at our Bob Willis Trophy success.
Essex County Cricket Club is announcing today that Chief Executive Officer, Derek Bowden will leave the Club at the end of October. Derek has decided to cease full-time employment and the Club wishes him all the best in the future.
We would like to thank him for the work he has undertaken and for his contribution to the Club’s success during his time as Chief Executive Officer.
Commenting on this, Derek Bowden, said: “I am extremely proud of what the Club has achieved, particularly over the last five years, where after gaining promotion to Division One it has secured five trophies in five years, the high point being the winning of the ‘double’ in 2019.
“I wish everyone at the Club the best of luck for the future and hope that there is further success in the years to come.”
Commenting on Derek’s departure, Essex County Cricket Club Chairman, John Faragher, said: “I would like to thank Derek for all his hard work and support during his time at Essex.
“The last five years have been really special for the Club, and Derek has been instrumental in taking the business to the next level. We wish Derek all the very best for the future.”
The Club will be hosting a post-season virtual Members’ Forum at 6pm on Tuesday 6 October via the Zoom conferencing platform.
This will be a chance to hear from the Club Committee plus Head Coach Anthony McGrath after another trophy-winning campaign for the Club.
The following Club representatives will take part in the panel discussion hosted by Committee Member, Mike Smith and there is an opportunity to submit questions both in advance and during the event:
• John Faragher, Chairman
• Peter Northfield, Deputy Chairman
• Anthony McGrath, Head Coach
• Derek Bowden, Chief Executive
• Ian Patterson, Treasurer
• Ronnie Irani, Chairman of the Cricket Advisory Board
• Philip George, Essex Cricket in the Community Chair
The virtual forum will be exclusively for 2020 Members, with a unique link and instruction sent via email prior to the meeting.
You can submit questions in advance of the event by 4pm on Tuesday 6 October, emailing: [email protected]
All Members with a valid email address will receive an email from the Club with an exclusive link ahead of the event, so we advise checking your online Membership account if you have recently updated your email address.
Essex Eagles: Cameron Delport, Tom Westley, Dan Lawrence, Michael Pepper (wk), Ryan ten Doeschate, Paul Walter, Simon Harmer (c), Matt Quinn, Jack Plom, Aron Nijjar, Sam Cook.
Sussex Sharks: Phil Salt (wk), Luke Wright (c), Delray Rawlins, Ravi Bopara, David Wiese, Calum MacLeod, George Garton, Ollie Robinson, Danny Briggs, Mitch Claydon, Tymal Mills.
Umpires: Rob Bailey & Ben Debenham
Match Referee: Steve Davis
Toss: Sussex Sharks who elected to bowl
Result: Sussex Sharks won by 4 wickets
Despite the heroics of Paul Walter, Essex’s disappointing Vitality Blast campaign came to an end when they suffered a 4 wickets defeat against Sussex at Chelmsford.
Walter smashed 76 from just 45 balls as Essex posted a total of 136 for nine, a total that was passed by the visitor’s with 10 balls to spare to send them into the quarter-finals.
Essex’s failure to make progress in a competition they won last season was a big blow but at least they made a fight of it in attempting to defend such a modest total.
They fielded a much weakened side ahead of Wednesday’s Bob Willis Trophy final clash against Somerset at Lords, and Jack Plom and debutant Ben Allison took early wickets as Sussex struggled to 59 for five.
But George Garton and Calum MacLeod put together a partnership of 73 as Sussex were able to celebrate a home tie in the quarter-finals.
Garton had earlier taken 4-21 from his four overs as the Essex batsmen struggled.
The only exception was Walter who has proved himself the find of the season with his performances either as opener or in the middle order.
On this occasion he found himself coming in at number 5 and the first three wickets had gone down for 18 after a young Eagles side with Feroze Khushi and Robin Das also debutants, had been put into bat.
His response was to take the fight to Sussex with a succession of powerful strokes either side of the wicket.
His reward was nine fours and three sixes before he departed in the final over of the innings.
None of his colleagues managed to get beyond 15 in a duel in which Garton removed Cameron Delport and Feroze Khushi in the first over without a run on the board.
Of the Essex bowlers Shane Snater and Plom took 2 for 22 and 2 for 28 respectively from three overs each, but it was off-spinner Simon Harmer who proved the most economical with one for 18 from his allocation of four overs.
Essex Eagles: Adam Wheater (wk), Cameron Delport, Dan Lawrence, Michael Pepper, Ryan ten Doeschate, Paul Walter, Simon Harmer (c), Aaron Beard, Jack Plom, Aron Nijjar, Sam Cook.
Surrey: Will Jacks, Hashim Amla, Lauire Evans, Ben Foakes (wk), Rory Burns, Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Gareth Batty (c), Daniel Moriarty, Reece Topley.
Umpires: Ben Debenham & Nigel Llong
Match Referee: Peter Such
Toss: Essex Eagles won & chose to bat
Result: Surrey won by 4 wickets
Laurie Evans hit a magnificent unbeaten 88 from 52 deliveries as Surrey pulled off a thrilling last-ball victory in their Vitality Blast battle to leave Essex Eagles still searching for their first victory in the competition.
They did so when Gus Atkinson found the boundary from the final delivery after the Eagles had posted a total of 195-8. Evans struck 4 sixes and 7 fours in his effort after Cameron Delport and Adam Wheater both scored half-centuries to give the Eagles a great start to their innings.
The Essex openers started off like an express train as they raised the 50 in the fourth over. Wheater collected 3 successive fours at the expensive of Atkinson during an over in which Delport also struck a maximum. Delport then punished Jamie Overton for 3 boundaries in succession and as the runs continued to flow the total moved into three figures by the ninth over.
Surrey were to claim their first wicket with the total on 105 when Daniel Moriarty had Delport taken at fine leg by Hashim Amla to end an innings of 64 that contained 8 fours and 6 sixes and came from 32 balls. At the half-way stage the Eagles had reached 117 but then wickets started to fall in quick succession.
Dan Lawrence went for 17 when he was caught at deep cover by Overton to provide Moriarty with another success and the slow left-arm spinner struck again to end the fireworks provided by Wheater. He perished when he was stumped by Ben Foakes after a contribution of 63 from 40 deliveries with the help of 5 fours and 3 sixes.
Off spinner Gareth Batty then removed Paul Walter and Simon Harmer with successive deliveries while Topley claimed 3 quick wickets by removing Michael Pepper, Jack Plom and Aaron Beard. Ryan ten Doeschate finished unbeaten with 27 from 20 balls while Moriarty and Topley finished with 3 wickets each at a cost of 36 and 38 respectively. Batty proved the most economical with 2/23 from his allocation of 4 overs.
Surrey’s response began disastrously with Amla departing lbw to Aron Nijjar to the spinner’s first ball of the innings. That early setback, however, did not stop Will Jacks and Evans moving into top gear as they brought up the 50 in the fifth over of the innings. But then Surrey lost 2 quick wickets. Jacks was bowled by Sam Cook for 29 whilst former Essex player Ben Foakes was caught by Walter to provide Beard with success.
Evans continued to inflict punishment with some powerful hitting and reached a fine half-century from 27 balls with the help of 5 fours and 2 sixes. Soon afterwards he dispatched Harmer and Lawrence for maximums but lost Rory Burns for 30 after the pair had shared a partnership of 78 from just under 8 overs.
Burns was caught on the long-off boundary by Nijjar with a total on 137. With 4 overs left Surrey required 51 but were to lose Jamie Overton and Jamie Smith in the same Aaron Beard over, at which stage the visitors were still 21 runs short of their target. But in the end they squeezed home to register a victory that will hurt the Eagles players.
Simon Harmer has been chosen as one of the four nominees in August’s PCA Player of the Month award.
The first half of the truncated 2020 season has seen four rounds of Bob Willis Trophy fixtures, as well as a flurry of T20 action as this year’s Vitality Blast tournament has gotten underway.
The top performers across the four-day and 20-over formats have been identified by the PCA’s Most Valuable Player Rankings algorithm, with the final winner set to be chosen via public vote.
The MVP was designed by the PCA in conjunction with the players to identify the match-winning performers in any given fixture. On top of traditional batting and bowling averages, bonus points are awarded for key disciplines such as scoring quickly, claiming top-order wickets and taking catches in the field.
The Rankings therefore give the most accurate reflection of the top performers in the domestic game.
A cross-format Overall MVP will be named at the conclusion of the 2020 season, but the winner of this particular accolade will be based on performances in August alone.
You can cast your vote on the PCA’s Twitter page below:
🚨 TWITTER POLL 🚨
🗳️ Vote for the first PCA Player of the Month of 2020!
4⃣ Nominees
1⃣ Winner🚀 @craigoverton12
🌪️ @Simon_Harmer_
🏏 @ryanhiggins21
👏 @Cooky_24🤔 Who gets your vote?#Blast20 #BobWillisTrophy
— PCA (@PCA) September 2, 2020
Harmy is up against three other contenders for the award including Somerset’s Craig Overton, Gloucestershire’s Ryan Higgins and Glamorgan’s Chris Cooke.
2019 Overall MVP Harmer was comfortably the outstanding performer in domestic cricket last year as he inspired Essex to the Specsavers County Championship title. The South African spinner has put himself firmly in the frame for further individual accolades this time around, with only 10 MVP points currently separating him from Overton at the top of the Overall MVP.
His 151 MVP points have come as a result of some typically prolific bowling performances in first-class cricket. Harmer has already claimed hauls of 8-64 and 6-67 against Surrey, as well as 5-54 against Sussex, which has made him the leading wicket-taker in the Bob Willis Trophy as it stands.
Somerset speedster Overton is the current leader of the Overall MVP with 161 MVP points to his name at an average of 32.32 points-per-game – the highest figure of any player inside the current top 50.
The England international has struck fear into the hearts of batting line-ups across the Bob Willis Trophy Central Group so far this summer, claiming five-wicket hauls against Glamorgan (5-38) and Gloucestershire (5-26). He has also contributed with the bat, with 53 against Northamptonshire helping him to accumulate 26.44 batting MVP points.
Currently the leading out-and-out all-rounder in the Overall MVP, Higgins has built on an impressive 2019 campaign with further strong performances this August.
Higgins’ most memorable contribution came during Gloucestershire’s Bob Willis Trophy fixture against Warwickshire, when the 25-year-old ran through the Bears’ batting order to claim career best first-class figures of 7-42 to secure a sensational 78-run win.
Glamorgan keeper Cooke has been in excellent form with the bat this month, passing 50 on five occasions across both formats, his top score of 82 coming against Somerset in the first fixture of the season.
His 20 dismissals behind the stumps also mean he is currently the leading fielder in domestic cricket. His 33 MVP points put him six clear of closest challenger Ben Cox in that particular discipline.
Surrey: Will Jacks, Jamie Smith, Laurie Evans, Ben Foakes (wk), Rory Burns, Scott Borthwick, Gus Atkinson, James Taylor, Gareth Batty (c), Daniel Moriaty, Matt Dunn.
Essex Eagles: Varun Chopra, Cameron Delport, Tom Westley, Dan Lawrence, Ryan ten Doeschate, Adam Wheater (wk), Paul Walter, Simon Harmer (c), Aron Nijjar, Shane Snater, Matt Quinn.
Umpires:Ben Debenham & Ian Gould
Match Referee: Graham Cowdrey
Toss: Surrey, who elected to bat first
Result: Match Tied
Matt Quinn and Cameron Delport combined to salvage a point for the Eagles in a dramatic conclusion as the title-holders tied their Vitality Blast clash with Surrey at The Kia Oval.
Chasing the Eagles score of 143-6, Surrey seemed to be on course for the win when they needed just 12 runs from the last 2 overs with 5 wickets intact and former Essex man Ben Foakes posing a real threat.
However, Delport conceded just 3 runs in the penultimate over and also accounted for Gus Atkinson who had just clubbed the only maximum blow in the Surrey innings. That left New Zealander Quinn with the final over and carrying the Eagles hopes.
His first ball of the deciding over was steered to the boundary by Foakes, 2 singles followed and then Foakes collected another 2 runs to level the scores. But Quinn then had Foakes caught by Paul Walter at deep fine leg for 44 to leave the outcome in the balance.
The deciding delivery pitched just wide of off stump but beat the bat of James Taylor and Adam Wheater whipped off the bails. Non-striker Matt Dunn was now already down the pitch and although the stumping appeal was turned down, Wheater threw the ball to the vacant bowler’s end where the run out was executed by Simon Harmer to leave the home side 143-8.
Earlier Walter had Jamie Smith and Laurie Evans (who scored 30 and 19 respectively) caught in the covers after Quinn captured the wicket of Will Jacks with his third delivery of the innings before Delport claimed the first of his wickets when Rory Burns was the victim of a diving catch by ten Doeschate at short mid-wicket.
But with Foakes timing the ball well, the home side looked in a strong position having reduced the target to 28 from 24 balls with 5 wickets in hand but Quinn and Delport were to prove a challenging proposition.
The Eagles had been put into bat and made sedate progress reaching 66-4 by the halfway stage if their innings with Delport out for 6, Varun Chopra for 16, Tom Westley 20 and Dan Lawrence 7 and leaving ten Doeschate and Wheater to add some substance to the score.
The pair figured in the highest partnership of the match putting on 58 in 8.3 overs but the rate of progress was stifled as they were forced to accept singles from 13 successive deliveries a between the 11th and 14th overs and with 5 overs remaining, acceleration was the order of the day with Essex were 93-4.
That came briefly from ten Doeschate who pulled a delivery from leg spinner Scott Borthwick into the vacant terraces on the Harleyford Road side and then hoisted the bowler’s next ball over the ropes to bring the total into three figures and raise the half-century stand with Wheater spanning 48 balls.
4 runs were collected from the next two deliveries but ten Doeschate’s move into overdrive was brought to a close when he pulled the last ball of the over from Borthwick into the hands of deep mid-wicket and departed for 35 from 32 balls.
Wheater was joined by Walter, who had a fine all-round game, and struck an unbeaten 23 from 13 balls that encompassed 1 six and 2 fours as 34 were added with Wheater from the final 4 overs before the Eagles wicket-keeper was run out from the final ball of the innings having scored a run a ball 32 and give the Eagles a modest total to defend .
Essex Eagles’ next match is just around the corner with Hampshire visiting The Cloudfm County Ground on Tuesday in the Vitality Blast. The game begins at 2pm with coverage underway at 1:45pm.
Members can tune in from 1pm to watch the pre-match build-up live from Chelmsford including interviews and match analysis.
Jamie Porter reckons he is near the top of his game as Essex’s designs on the Bob Willis Trophy gather pace.
The prolific seamer added 8 wickets, including his first 5-fer of the season, in the victory over Sussex at Hove this week to take his tally to 18 from the opening 3 games. Only team-mate Simon Harmer, with an incredible 28, has taken more.
“I feel I’m back to my best now,” says Porter, “especially in the last 2 games. I probably didn’t bowl too well in the first innings of our opening game against Kent, but still managed to pick up 4 wickets. But I thought I bowled really well in the second innings.
“I’ve managed to grab that form and take the confidence from that performance. I thought I bowled beautifully against Surrey in the next game. That was probably the best I could have bowled. And then I managed to take that with me to Hove and get a few more wickets.
“On a personal note, I’m feeling good. I’ve managed to tidy my game up from a disappointing season last year to what I think is near my best.”
Porter’s reward is a corporate one rather than personal: Essex have won 3 out of 3 Bob Willis Trophy matches and head to Arundel tomorrow to face Hampshire 16 points clear in the South Group.
Porter goes into the game needing 3 more wickets to not only pass 350 in first-class cricket, and that just 6 years after his Essex debut, but also 400 across all formats.
The majority of his wickets so far this summer have been snaffled behind the wicket or by the slip cordon, most notably in the bucket hands of Harmer.
“At Hove, on that wicket, bowling down the hill with that extra bounce, I felt my best option was to try and find the outside edge. I felt when I bowled in that channel area, they tended to flirt with it. There was that little bit of hope outside off-stump, so I didn’t need to go searching. If I attacked in the right areas enough times, then there would be a little nick eventually.”
As for Harmer’s contribution, Porter says: “That guy just makes my life so much easier. I mean, he takes wickets, takes catches, scores runs. I don’t think you could put a price on that guy, to be honest. He’s incredible.”
The partnership between the 27-year-old seamer and the South African off-spinner has been phenomenal. So far this season the pair have accounted for more than 75% of Essex’s victims between them. “I enjoy bowling with him because I feel we complement each other pretty well,” says Porter.
“We bowl well in partnership. If we’ve got a left-hand, right-hand pair against us, I know he might want the left-hander if he’s getting turn from around the wicket. So if I’ve got the left-hander on strike, I might drop the square leg and offer him one so Harmy can bowl at him. Little things like that. We do try and help each other as much as we can.
“He’s the best spinner I’ve seen in the flesh. And I’m lucky enough to play with him week-in week-out. Hove wasn’t a wicket you’d expect a spinner to take 8 wickets on. That shows how good he is, he does it anywhere on any wicket. He’s so important to us.”
