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Essex Cricket are pleased to welcome chartered accountants, MHA MacIntyre Hudson as a new partner.

MHA MacIntrye Hudson have signed a two-year agreement and will become the principal sponsor of the annual Lord’s Long Room Christmas Lunch, which will take place in December.

Essex Cricket Commercial Sales Executive, Greg Larkin, said: “We are delighted to welcome MHA MacIntyre Hudson as a partner at Essex Cricket, especially as their Chelmsford office is located opposite The Cloudfm County Ground.

“We are looking forward to working with Cara and the team at MHA MacIntyre Hudson over the next two years and to hosting our Lord’s Long Room Christmas Lunch as soon as we can safely do so. In the meantime, we really appreciate their support during these uncertain times.”

MHA MacIntyre Hudson Partner, Cara Miller, said: “People are at the heart of what we do, we are passionate about serving our local community and supporting our local cricket team is just one of the many ways we set out to achieve this. We are thrilled to be working with the Club and wish the Essex team lots of luck and success.”

About MHA MacIntyre Hudson:

As a firm of chartered accountants, tax and business advisers, MHA MacIntyre Hudson work in partnership with clients ranging from entrepreneurs and individuals to multi-national corporations.

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.”

Standing up to the stumps, Adam Wheater has a unique insight into the mysteries of Simon Harmer’s prolific wicket-taking prowess.

Harmer took another 14-wicket haul in Essex’s Bob Willis Trophy victory against Surrey this week with Wheater contributing a smart stumping to underpin the off-spinner’s figures.

“At the start, when Harmy first arrived, I found it incredibly tough keeping to him and it was a big learning curve. It’s not easy, believe me. I’m a foot away from the batsmen and they’re having trouble,” says Wheater ahead of tomorrow’s visit to Hove to take on Sussex.

“You’ve certainly got to embrace wicketkeeping to Harmy because it’s hard work, but it’s challenging and rewarding. You’ve got to understand that there’s going to be some good days and there’s going to be some bad days. He’s certainly making me strive to be a better keeper to make sure all those chances are taken.

“Luckily, he’s not a mystery spinner in terms of the googly, the slider, a toppy or whatnot. So you know what’s coming down. Whether I can predict the exact bounce or the amount of spin is hard to tell. It depends on the wicket we’re playing on. But, yeah, I can pick him, but whether I can catch every ball off him is another question.”

From his close-range position Wheater can almost sense the nervousness of the batsmen. “Sometimes you think, ‘Oh no, he’s working Harmy out’, and then he’ll have a rush of blood and play a rash shot and he’s out. Other times you think, ‘This guy won’t last long’, especially if he’s a tail-ender, and he’ll play him quite well. I think we know with his lines and lengths that there are rarely bad balls, and that can bring on that rush of blood.

“Wicketkeeping is one of those things where you’d prefer to get nought [when batting] than you would drop a catch because of how it can affect the team. You’ve certainly got to make sure you take the chances when they come or you’re going to have an unhappy dressing room.”

In addition to his glove-work, Wheater has started the season with greater reliability and responsibility with the bat. In his four Bob Willis Trophy innings to date he has accumulated 148 runs, including a half-century against Surrey, a tally only just short of his Specsavers County Championship aggregate for the whole of last year.

“I had a particularly poor season with the bat,” he admits of 2019. He spent the winter pin-pointing and correcting the problems with Batting Coaches, Tom Huggins and Barry Hyam. There was mitigation for the downturn, though: “I suffered a really bad broken thumb at the start of last year,” he says. “I had no power in my bottom hand and no trust in my thumb, which is quite a key point. You rely on your bottom hand for strength and I just felt like I had no strength at all and I couldn’t bat the way I wanted to bat. Then it becomes a mental game.

“But I was pleased with the way my wicketkeeping went last season, which is strange because you’d think the injury would have had more of an impact on that. So there was a silver lining of sorts.”

The effects of lockdown, coupled with “the huge honour” of receiving his Essex cap a week ago and the imminent arrival of his first child with wife Lauren have given the 30-year-old Wheater a new perspective on life.

“Lockdown solidified that I wanted to play cricket for a long time and I had to work out how best to go about that. So while I was at home twiddling my thumbs it gave me a chance to rejig my mental side. It gave me clarity to see how lucky we are as players and how it’s important to appreciate that and enjoy every day.

“The arrival of the baby is just four weeks away now and that’s certainly changed things. You don’t want to be out of work and unable to provide for your family. It’s certainly changed my thought process as far as looking forward and making plans for the future. When the day does come that I am no longer playing cricket, there are things in place which will make the transition slightly easier.”

Essex v Surrey

Bob Willis Trophy (South Group)

The Cloudfm County Ground, Saturday 08 – Tuesday 11 August

Team News:

Essex: Alastair Cook, Nick Browne, Tom Westley (c), Varun Chopra, Feroze Khushi, Paul Walter, Adam Wheater (wk), Simon Harmer, Aaron Beard, Sam Cook, Jamie Porter.

Surrey: Mark Stoneman (c), Ryan Patel, Scott Borthwick, Will Jacks, Jamie Smith (wk), Laurie Evans, Rikki Clarke, Guy Atkinson, Adam Finch, James Taylor, Amar Virdi.

Match Details:

Umpires: Chris Watts & Ben Debenham
Match Referee: Peter Such
Toss Won By: Essex, who elected to bat
Result: Essex win by 169 runs

Thanks to Levett Consultancy who are our matchball sponsors for this match and all fixtures in the 2020 season.

Day Four Match Highlights:

Simon Harmer reflects on another home victory:

Day Four End of Match Report:

Simon Harmer turned in another outstanding performance as Essex crushed Surrey in the Bob Willis Trophy match at The Cloudfm County Ground.

Harmer followed up his 6 for 67 in the first innings with 8 for 64 in the second as the visitors were bowled out for 167, taking his tally to 29 wickets in his last three matches against Surrey.

The off-spinner’s match return of 14 for 131 was the fifth time in 46 matches that he had bagged 10 or more wickets in a game for the county and he has now collected hauls of five or more wickets in an innings on 19 occasions in an Essex sweater.

Harmer bowled throughout the final day and was on course for all ten wickets after dispatching the first six batsmen back to the pavilion, but he was to deny himself that opportunity by taking a magnificent catch low down at second slip to get rid of Jamie Smith to present Aaron Beard with the first of his two wickets that came at a cost of 33 runs in 10 overs.

It was Smith who provided the backbone of Surrey’s innings as he struck 8 fours, with many flowing drives, in a contribution of 45 that spanned 89 balls in a 131-minute stay at the crease.

However, the rest of his colleagues were incapable of keeping spin magician Harmer at bay as a number of them fell to the array of spinner’s tricks. None more so than Laurie Evans who gave Harmer the charge when facing only his second delivery to present Adam Wheater with the easiest stumping he is likely to ever claim.

Having resumed on 27 for 1, Surrey adopted a watchful approach and the first hour of the final day brought them just 17 runs for the loss of one further wicket, that of Scott Borthwick.

When lunch arrived, the visitors were on 86 for 3, as Ryan Patel had also been removed, ending a 97-ball innings for 19 when he skied an intended pull to mid-wicket.

The only partnership of note featured Smith and Will Jacks who put on 51 for the fourth wicket. Jacks contributed 21 but once he became an lbw victim against Harmer, Surrey’s resistance was swept aside.

Rikki Clarke was snapped up at forward short-leg and Gus Atkinson was bowled as Harmer continued his teasing ways. Aaron Beard had James Taylor caught at cover leaving Harmer, fittingly, to wrap up the innings and the match when having Amar Virdi caught at mid-off.

The South African, who provided the inspiration for Essex’s double triumph of the County Championship and Vitality Blast Cup last season, has so far taken 20 wickets in the opening two matches of this inaugural Bob Willis Trophy competition.

The thrashing of Surrey, from which Essex earned 21 points, takes them to the top of the South Group and leaves them in confident mood for their next test, a visit to Hove to face Sussex on Saturday.

Simon Harmer reflects on another home victory:

Day Three Match Highlights:

Paul Walter’s Day Three reaction:

Day Three Close of Play Report:

Essex go into the final day of the Bob Willis Trophy clash against Surrey at The Cloudfm County Ground as favourites to claim their second win in the competition.

A score of 261 in their second innings, left their opponents facing a victory target of 337 and by the close, they had moved to 27 for the loss of Mark Stoneman.

On a pitch which is likely to offer increasing assistance to Simon Harmer, that will represent a tall order for the visitors as the off-spinner confirmed when he trapped Stoneman leg before in the final over of the day.

Stoneman’s only consolation was that he displayed more enterprise than he did in his first knock when he laboured through 65 balls to collect five singles. This time around his 16 runs all came in boundaries.

His opening partner Ryan Patel will resume on 10 as Surrey know that it will need something exceptional to deny Essex victory.

The Essex innings was based on a cautious rather than cavalier approach. The most fluent of batsmen was Alastair Cook who included three glorious drives among his six boundaries to make 42 from 69 balls.

Many of those came in a partnership with Tom Westley, the skipper arriving at the crease after Nick Browne became an early victim of Adam Finch when he was caught behind for four.

Cook had looked so at ease that it came as something of a surprise when he fell lbw to Gus Atkinson to end a 47-run stand with Westley which lasted 12 overs.

Westley, having managed 23 runs in three previous trips to the middle, was in need of a sizeable contribution and one looked on the cards as he prospered into the 30’s, but on 34, he departed in disappointing fashion against off-spinner Amar Virdi, when turning the ball off his hips to Scott Borthwick at backward short-leg.

Westley’s contribution from 61 deliveries contained three boundaries, one fewer than Varun Chopra who was also in need of runs. He struck a patient 39 from 96 deliveries and was another looking increasingly comfortable in the middle until he played Finch straight into the hands of Ryan Patel at cover point.

Paul Walter again put together another useful contribution, following his 33 on the opening day, with 46 second time around. He needed 96 balls to collect those runs but in between periods of restraint, he helped himself to seven boundaries. He was eventually undone by the spin of Virdi who breached his defences and knocked out off-stump to leave Essex 209 for 6.

Adam Wheater unleashed a few emphatic blows as Essex carried their lead beyond 300 before Harmer was trapped leg before by Virdi for 14 and they then lost their remaining three wickets in the space of seven deliveries.

Finch had Wheater caught at backward point for 33 by Borthwick and then despatched Sam Cook to a first ball lbw.

Virdi was to bring the innings to a close on 261 when he had Aaron Beard caught behind to end with figures of 4 for 85 while Finch returned 4 for 38.

Day Two Match Highlights:

Simon Harmer’s Day Two reaction:

Day Two Close of Play Report:

Simon Harmer claimed 6 for 67 as Essex carved out a first-innings lead of 75 runs in their Bob Willis Trophy clash with Surrey at The Cloudfm County Ground.

And after bowling their opponents out for 187, they progressed to 13 without loss with Nick Browne on 4 and Alastair Cook 8 not out.

That advantage could have been greater but Essex were made to pay for their profligacy in the field as Will Jacks, who top-scored with 70, was dropped three times before he reached his half-century.

Either side of Aaron Beard putting him down on the backward square leg boundary when he had made 31 to deny Porter another scalp, Varun Chopra twice failed to hold on to chances at forward short leg when Jacks pushed at deliveries from Harmer.

The batsman’s luck finally ran out when he popped up a simple catch to Beard at mid-wicket to give Harmer deserved reward and end a stand of 80 in 21 overs with Laurie Evans for the fifth wicket.

Jacks and Evans decided on a positive and entertaining approach after coming together with their side in trouble at 54 for 4.

The pugnacious effort from Jacks spanning 127 balls contained a dozen boundaries while Evans was bowled for 41 by Jamie Porter with the first delivery after tea to end his 70 ball sojourn.

It was Porter that had plunged the visitors into trouble early on by having Ryan Patel snapped up at second slip by Harmer with his sixth ball of the innings and then seeing off Scott Borthwick with his next ball with the aid of Feroze Khushi at short mid-wicket.

Harmer embarked upon his destructive course by ending opener Mark Stoneman’s attritional innings that saw him gather just five singles in his 65-ball stay.

His vigilant occupation of the crease came to an end when he was caught low down by Alastair Cook at first slip.
After getting rid of Jacks. Harmer went on to demolish the tail whilst Porter’s reward was 4 for 53.

Earlier in the day, Essex lost their last three wickets, those of Harmer, Beard and Sam Cook, for the addition of nine runs after they had resumed on 253 for seven.

Two of the wickets were picked up by Rikki Clarke whose nagging accuracy was to earn him figures of 3 for 26 from 21 overs.

Essex were left with 4 overs to face at the end of the day, a task their openers negotiated without alarm.

Day Two Tea Report:

Will Jacks aggressive approach steered Surrey guided to 136 for 5 at tea after they had recoiled to 54 for 4 at one stage in the afternoon. The 21-year-old right-hander posted an 81-ball half-century although he did enjoy a generous helping of good fortune being dropped three times, on 25, 31, and then 46 before reaching the milestone with the ninth boundary of his innings.

Two of his “lives” came facing Simon Harmer when Varun Chopra was unable to complete difficult chances at short leg and the other let-off came when Aaron Beard could not hold the chance off the bowling of Jamie Porter.

Jacks capitalised on his good fortune striking the ball firmly on both sides of the wicket and he found valuable support from loanee Laurie Evans. The Sussex player, who is spending a week with Surrey, was soon into his stride as the pair built up a valuable partnership following the loss of Jamie Smith. He had become Porter’s third wicket of the innings when he was bowled for 8 to give the paceman figures of 3 for 30 at that point.

Together, Jacks and Evans addressed a difficult position for their side with a positive approach. Jacks half-century arrived with a powerful cover drive off Beard and soon after, Evans drove straight to clear the ropes when facing Harmer.

Their 50 partnership arrived in just 67 balls with Jacks contributing 21 and Evans 28 and the pair continued to gather the runs at an agreeable rate until the return of Harmer paid dividends for the home side.

Jacks and Evans had put on 80 in 21 overs when the off-spinner had Jacks caught at short mid-wicket by Beard for 70 shortly before tea.

At the break, Evans had reached 41 from 69 balls that included 4 fours and a six while Rikki Clarke had still to get off the mark.

Day Two Lunch Report:

Jamie Porter grabbed two early wickets in as many deliveries when Surrey began their reply to the Essex first innings score of 262 all out in the Bob Willis Trophy clash at The Cloudfm County Ground and at lunch, the visitors had been reduced to 36 for 3.

The paceman struck with the last ball of the first over when he produced a superb delivery that found lift and the edge of Ryan Patel’s bat and Simon Harmer took the catch at second slip.

Then with the first ball of his next over, Porter removed Scott Borthwick who played the ball to mid-wicket and Feroze Khushi dived forward to complete the catch. Neither batsmen had got off the mark.

Will Jacks prevented the hat-trick when he dug out a good length ball before combining with Mark Stoneman to carry Surrey to 35 until Essex claimed their third wicket.

It was Harmer who was the successful bowler. Introduced into the attack after 7 overs, the off-spinner was in his seventh over when he turned a ball away from left-hander Stoneman and Alastair Cook took a catch low down at slip. The batsman had proved an obdurate customer spending 65 balls to record five singles before his dismissal.

Porter (5-1-19-2) eventually gave way to Sam Cook who switched ends and also produced a lively burst before the interval although both pacemen conceded boundaries to Jacks who wasted no opportunities to seek out boundaries helping himself to three off Porter and a couple from Cook.

At lunch, he had scored 28 from 49 balls with Jamie Smith still to get off the mark.

Essex had survived 16 balls before losing their remaining three overnight wickets in 18 balls at the start of the day whilst adding 9 runs. Rikki Clarke had Aaron Beard caught behind for 1 with a delivery that lifted off a good length and then had Sam Cook trapped in the crease for 3 before Gus Atkinson ended the innings when Harmer was caught in the covers for 19.

Evergreen 39-year-old Clarke was the pick of the Surrey attack with figures of 3 for 26 from 21 overs.

Day One Match Highlights:

Adam Wheater’s Day One reaction:

Day One Close of Play Report:

Feroze Khushi played a prominent role as Essex posted a total of 253 for 7 on the opening day of their Bob Willis Trophy duel with Surrey at The Cloudfm County Ground.

He scored a vital 45 while featuring in a match-winning stand of 86 against Kent earlier in the week and followed it up with a well-constructed 66 in only his second first-class appearance to frustrate the Surrey attack.

Khushi arrived to do battle after James Taylor had removed skipper Tom Westley and Varun Chopra with successive deliveries to reduce Essex to a shaky 49 for 3 after the home side had won the toss.

But the 21-year-old right-hander displayed an unruffled temperament to put the innings back on an even keel with Alastair Cook.

Khushi pulled and drove with confidence to gather his runs from 108 deliveries, eight of which he dispatched to the boundary, but was eventually to perish somewhat tamely by chipping off-spinner Amar Virdi to Ryan Patel at mid-wicket.

It was Virdi who ended the innings of Cook. The former England captain looked in total control as he progressed to 42 out of 98 on the board, but he became a victim of the spinner’s third delivery of the innings when he edged a drive to Rikki Clarke at slip. Cook’s effort spanned 93 balls and contained five fours.

Earlier Nick Browne fell to debutant, Gus Atkinson for 10 before Taylor struck a double blow for a Surrey side well-below full-strength because of Test calls and injuries.

Westley was caught behind having just reached double-figures while Chopra was caught low down at second slip by Scott Borthwick to pave the way for Khushi to underline his promise.

Before his departure, the youngster shared in a stand of 67 with Paul Walter who was playing his first red-ball match since April 2018. He was in no mood to give his wicket away, only occasionally straying from an ultra-cautious approach to show aggressive interest.

Walter also shared in another half-century stand, one of 57 with Adam Wheater before he succumbed to Scott Borthwick in the leg-spinner’s first over of the match.

His contribution of 33 from 115 deliveries ended when he was bowled but in the context of the overall innings, it was a praiseworthy effort.

With the score 222 for 6, Wheater moved to his half-century on a day when he was also awarded his county cap along with Sam Cook.

He reached the milestone with the fifth boundary of his innings but he was dismissed soon afterwards for 52, having faced 101 balls when he cut a short ball from Clarke to Laurie Evans at gully.

That left Simon Harmer and Aaron Beard to take the county to their second batting point and the pair will resume the second day with Harmer unbeaten on 16 and Beard 1 not out.

Live Stream:

Day Four begins at 11am on Tuesday and our Live Stream of the game is available via the Essex Cricket Matchzone – here.

This weekend saw the start of the new County Cricket campaign up and down the country but the recreational game has been enjoying its return over the last few weeks.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement at the beginning of July regarding cricket’s return, Club sides have pulled on their whites once again with a number of new safety precautions in operation, such as restrictions on changing facilities and the use of spit to shine the ball.

The return has also seen a renaming of the Shepherd Neame Essex League divisions to former Essex County Cricket Club Captains, such as Gooch, ten Doeschate and Fletcher.

This weekend has seen a number of the Essex First Team players feature for their respective club sides in the region to get some valuable match practice since lockdown.

Walter Shines For Billericay against Shenfield

Billericay 296-2 (40.0 overs)
Shenfield 216-4 (40.0vers)
Billericay won by 80 runs

Paul Walter provided the fireworks, hitting an unbeaten 166 off 122 balls carrying Billericay out of sight against Shenfield in a high-scoring Gooch Division encounter at Blunts Wall Road.

The Essex man struck no less than 24 boundaries and five 6’s as Billericay posted a sizable total just shy of 300.

Skipper, Darren Ironside, was also amongst the runs, reaching fifty on what proved to be a difficult day for the bowlers.

Having lost George Ballington early, the Shenfield response grew but ultimately didn’t gather enough momentum to trouble the home side. Tom Ballington continued in-form batsmen theme finishing on 94*, while Ollie Ekers fell two short of his half-century – Ironside taking 2/44.

Paul Walter came up against his Essex teammate, Jack Plom who ended with figures of 8-0-44-1.

Buttleman Century Helps Brentwood

Brentwood 321-6 (40.overs)
Colchester and East Essex 244 (39.3 overs)
Brentwood won by 77 runs

Essex wicket-keeper/batsman, Will Buttleman, hit a century while Ben Allison was also heavily amongst the runs as Brentwood roared to a ‘Gooch Division’ victory over Colchester and East Essex at the Old County Ground.

Buttleman hit 109 off 93 balls before falling to Charlie Watts, while skipper Allison remained unbeaten on 82 as Brentwood – offered the opportunity to bat – posted a huge 321.

The chase was always going to be a tall order for Colchester. Charlie Fernandes top-scored with 41 – Jack Levy the pick of the Brentwood attack with 4/40.

Elsewhere

Academy player, Robin Das struck 72 not out for Wanstead & Snarebrook as they defeated Harold Wood by 8 wickets.

Match summaries courtesy of Brian Jeeves – Yellow Advertiser (www.yellowad.co.uk/category/sport)

It has been a long time coming, but finally, Essex’s cricketers will start their much-delayed 2020 season this weekend.

No one is keener to get going than Tom Westley. Appointed Captain in succession to Ryan ten Doeschate in January, he leads the County into competitive action for the first time tomorrow, behind closed doors at Chelmsford, against Kent in the inaugural Bob Willis Trophy fixture.

The 31-year-old said: “Yes, it’s been frustrating, but it’s probably been a lot less for us than many people out in the community. It’s obviously been difficult. It’s something that we hadn’t prepared for, but it is what it is. We’re just delighted to be back playing cricket.

“The Bob Willis Trophy is a unique competition. All counties have a chance of winning it. It might be the first and only time it’s played, so it would be a huge honour to win it.”

Essex aim to add the new competition to the Championship and T20 titles they won last year, but they will do so without an Overseas player, and with Ravi Bopara now settled at Sussex and Dan Lawrence missing the opening game on England duty.

Westley said: “It’s going to be slightly more challenging than it’s been in the past without those players, but we’ve got some very talented young players who are desperate to fill their shoes.

“And we’ve got some outstanding senior players, like Tendo, Cooky, Harmy, Varun Chopra. There is a lot of experience there and players who have had a lot of success. As a Club, we’re always looking to improve and build. We want this period of success to be extended.

“We’ve got a number of young batters who will probably feature at some stage during this five or six-game period. The likes of Feroze Khushi, Rishi Patel, Michael Pepper, Will Buttleman – the last two are keepers so they will hopefully put a bit of pressure on Adam Wheater.

“Then we’ve got a number of talented young seamers. Aaron Beard has had a taste of first-class cricket and done well. He’ll be looking to cement his spot. Matt Quinn, who’s been a bit injury-prone in recent years, is bowling fantastically well at the moment. Ben Allison, who went on loan to Gloucestershire last season; the list goes on, which is brilliant testament to the Club that they can keep producing home-grown, talented cricketers.”

Essex had a two-day warm-up against Kent earlier this week, in which Lawrence, Cook and ten Doeschate all recorded half-centuries and Jamie Porter claimed four wickets, with Westley adding: “Everyone has been really impressive over the last month since we returned to training.

“I was very impressed with the way Feroze Khushi has been shaping up with the bat. Aron Nijjar bowled nicely as a potential second spinner, or if Harmy is not available. All the seamers stood out. But I keep repeating, I feel very fortunate that we’ve got a lot of talented young cricketers who could step up.”

As Captain, Westley will have to get used to a new set of rules brought in specifically for the COVID-era red-ball tournament. 120 overs maximum in the first innings, the follow-on figure extended to 200, 90-over days rather than 96, the new-ball available after 90 and not 80 overs.

“I suppose as Captain the one thing we’ll have to be mindful of is managing the bowlers’ workload, the likelihood of getting injured is increased because of the shortened prep.

“It will also be different this year not being able to shine the ball. We’ll cross that bridge as we go, but I think it will just be the bowlers using their sweat to try and buff out any marks and keep it as shiny as possible.

“But regardless of whether you can shine the ball, or any of the other new rules, you’d like to think that the best team will win over the course of a match. The lack of noise, the lack of atmosphere because there are no crowds, will take a bit of getting used to. But we are professional cricketers and we can’t use that as an excuse for any poor performances. I’m expecting very high standards, as we always try to reach at Essex.”

This weekend sees the introduction of a new competition to County Cricket as the County Championship waits for a year. The Bob Willis Trophy is a special one-off red-ball competition that is separate to the County Championship and will be played this summer only following the delay to the men’s domestic season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament, which will feature all 18 First-Class Counties in three regionalised groups, will herald the start of the domestic season and culminate in a five-day final.

Essex Members and supporters will be able to watch the new red-ball tournament via live streaming on first-class county websites while highlights of each day’s play are also set to be available.

In anticipation of the new season and tournament, here are some common questions about the Bob Willis Trophy to ensure you are across all the key details:

When will the Bob Willis Trophy start?

All 18 first-class counties will be in action when the tournament starts on Saturday 1 August. The final group-stage matches are due to begin on September 6 before a five-day final.

What is the format of the tournament?

The Bob Willis Trophy will be played in three regionalised groups, consisting of six teams per group. Each county will play five group-stage matches – meaning they will meet every team in their group once. The two group winners with the most points will progress to the final.

Which counties are grouped together?

NORTH GROUP: Derbyshire, Durham, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire.
CENTRAL GROUP: Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Warwickshire, Worcestershire.
SOUTH GROUP: Essex, Kent, Hampshire, Middlesex, Surrey, Sussex.

Given matches are to be played behind closed doors, how can I watch them?

The First-Class Counties are set to live stream the Bob Willis Trophy on their websites. Essex home games will be available via the Essex Cricket Matchzone, which will be available via the Club’s website, as well as live scorecard, match stats and individual clips.

We must stress that our games in 2020 are behind-closed-doors and spectators are not currently able to watch these games live in person at The Cloudfm County Ground.

If I miss a day’s play where can I watch the highlights of my county?

Highlights packages for each day’s play in the Bob Willis Trophy will be available the following day via the Essex Cricket TV YouTube channel and social media channels.

Will the Bob Willis Trophy have first-class status?

Yes, although there will be some changes from the County Championship after the ECB, First-Class Counties and Professional Cricketers’ Association have worked closely to build a set of guidelines to help mitigate against injury, especially to fast bowlers.

Those changes include:
• There will be a reduction to a minimum of 90 overs in a day’s play
• Each county’s first innings of a match can last no longer than 120 overs
• The follow-on will increase from 150 to 200 runs
• The new ball will be available after 90 overs rather than 80 overs

The loan system will also be altered for this season only to allow counties to loan a player from another county for a minimum of a week.

Why not just play a shortened County Championship?

On June 29 the First-Class Counties agreed to play red-ball and white-ball cricket in this shortened summer and, after the opening 10 rounds of the County Championship were lost due to the pandemic, a truncated red-ball competition was needed.

The 18 First-Class Counties worked closely with ECB to plan a tournament that could be staged within strict health and safety protocols and included minimising travel and need for overnight hotel stays while adhering to Government guidance.

That has resulted in a regionalised competition that will not only ensure age-old rivalries are played out each round but also that all 18 First-Class Counties have a chance to win the competition.

Will the point-scoring system be different from the County Championship?

Yes. The number of points on offer for a draw will be eight an increase from the five points for a draw in the County Championship. This change has been made to help mitigate against the impact of weather in a shortened competition. All other points scoring will be the same as in the County Championship.

Will the winning county be presented with the County Championship trophy or a new trophy?

A new trophy will be presented to the champions. The trophy is set to feature a cuboid design painted by Bob Willis’ wife Lauren, following his death last year, and which captures his iconic bowling action in full flow.

What happens if the final is a draw?

In the event of a drawn final there will be one tie-breaker option. That option is that the county which leads on first innings, as long as there were two fully-completed first innings, would be deemed the winner of the final. In any other circumstance a drawn or tied final will see the trophy shared by the finalists.

Fixtures for the Bob Willis Trophy can be found – here

Fixtures for Vitality Blast are to be announced in early August.

30 years ago today, Graham Alan Gooch, OBE, DL chose to put the India Test team to the sword. Records tumbled as the Essex legend rewrote cricketing history.

After setting the Test record for the highest match aggregate (456) when becoming the first batsman in any first-class fixture to follow a triple hundred with a century, he set a host of other milestones details of which feature later in this article.

Apart from his weight of runs, he took the vital wicket of Sanjay Manjrekar, held two catches, and then figured in the last wicket to fall in the match when he ran out Sanjeev Sharma, a dismissal that wrapped up the England victory.

It was little wonder his performance made his nomination as Man of the Match the simplest decision for those charged with deciding such awards. He was in a class of his own.

But before embarking on the record-breaking innings that was to prove a statistician’s delight, Graham played for his beloved County against Lancashire at Colchester immediately before the match at Lord’s.

Essex won by 6 wickets and Graham recalls the match. “Yes, I got 177 (21 fours facing 152 balls) in that game when Lancashire set us 348 to win,” he said. “It was a classic run chase of that era. I remember Mike Atherton bowled then and he was quite a good leg-spinner, he was quite aggressive and over the years, he got me out a couple of times including lbw in this match. We were playing three-day games then and they were often really exciting. Not always, but for a lot of the time both sides were trying to win the game. So, you would have a total to chase which made for an exciting game of cricket in terms of the pursuit of points. It was exciting for the players and spectators and you don’t see much of that nowadays because, generally, to win a game, you have to bowl a team out twice and take 20 wickets. You might have more games set up in the Second Division because obviously, teams are trying to win promotion into the First Division.

“In those days, there was only one day between the last day of a Championship match and the start of a Test match.

“I had scored a lot of runs that summer, conditions for batting were ideal. The previous season had been the year of the big seam on the ball, it had a thicker coarser seam and tended to move around a bit more. But in 1990, the authorities addressed that, and batsmen started scoring plenty of runs.”

So, onto the Lord’s Test.

Thirty-seven years old at the time, his innings was the sixth-highest triple hundred in Test history at that time and included the third-highest tally of runs in boundaries in a Test innings. Only Hanif Mohammad had scored more runs (499) in any first-class game.

As for India’s captain, Mohammad Azharuddin, one wonders how long it was before he could sleep soundly again after he made the nightmare decision to put England in to bat after the tourists had won the toss.

On a dry pitch and with bounce that was to become increasingly variable with spin also coming into the equation as the game progressed, his decision to insert the opposition was baffling.

But he would not have been the only member of the India team to suffer with regrets. Gooch had scored 36 when he was dropped by wicket-keeper Kiran More. Spare a thought for the hapless gloveman who had to watch Gooch’s wonderful innings – often at close hand – as the runs flowed relentlessly from the heavy bat over after over, hour after hour after over to run salt into the keeper’s wounds

Graham relates: “The first day at Lord’s is always quite a difficult decision to know what to do if you win the toss. If it is a little bit overcast and muggy, you think maybe you should bowl because there could be difficult batting conditions on the first day although generally, it’s the first morning if there are any problems. So, if you can get through the first session of the match without losing more than a wicket or two, then you’ve done okay because the pitch generally flattens out. And that’s what happened in this game. They chose to bowl, ‘Athers’ was out reasonably early, David (Gower) got a few and then ‘Lamby’ (Alan Lamb) joined me.

“I did have a bit of luck with the dropped catch and I have to say it wasn’t a particularly difficult catch. The bowling was downhill from the Nursery End, More moved to his right and didn’t even dive, he didn’t have to really, he stooped down but the ball didn’t stick. So, there we go!

“Often the other centuries in that match are forgotten, Azharuddin particularly scored a brilliant hundred but there were quite a few incidents in that match.”

Gooch underpinned England’s highest total against India and teamed up with Lamb for the third wicket to add 308, a record partnership for any wicket against India.

“To have the opportunity to be able to bat long enough to have the chance to score a triple hundred is rare, because if you are scoring that sort of total at one end, you are often scoring more than that at the opposite end if you see what I mean,” Gooch explained. “But that situation didn’t quite transpire in that game.

“Obviously when I got to 300, there was inwardly the self-gratification because very few people have anywhere near the opportunity to do that and it’s a lovely milestone to have against your name.”

Azharuddin attempted to make amends with a sparkling innings of his own but it was not in the same league as Gooch’s mammoth effort and having scored 124, the Indian skipper was bowled by Eddie Hemmings.

India eventually avoided the follow-on but only just and then Gooch and Atherton extended the lead by 208 in a breezy partnership spanning just 148 minutes, a record opening stand by England against India. Gooch became the first player to score five Test hundreds at Lord’s with 123 in the second innings. “I was pretty livid when I went into bat second time around,” and he revealed the reason why.

“Angus Fraser was bowling at the Pavilion End to Kapil Dev towards the end of the India first innings. He nicked it and I “caught” him at second slip. My hands were on the ground and the ball went straight in. Anyway, he stood there because he didn’t think it had carried which was fair enough, he’s entitled to do that. There were no TV replays or anything like that in those days. Nigel Plews was the umpire, he walked over to the square-leg umpire who was Dickie Bird and I walked with him. Plews said, ‘Dickie, did that carry’ and Dickie said, ‘Nigel, I cannot help you.’

“So, Kapil Dev was given not out, and I was not a happy skipper because at that stage they were getting close to avoiding the follow-on. Then he proceeded to hit Hemmings for four consecutive sixes round about the long-on area where the clock is. Eddie being the wily old pro that he was kept tossing the ball up and tempting him, which is not necessarily the wrong thing to do but Kapil kept whacking the ball over the boundary. They got one run past the follow-on and then Fraser bowled one ball at (Narendra) Hirwani, the leg-spinner, and got him out. So, they’d saved the follow-on by one run.

“So, when I went in to bat in the second innings, my recollection is that far from being calm, I was more annoyed and frustrated and I suppose that transferred itself into my playing quite aggressively. Two hundred was the follow-on figure and we’d have been able to enforce the follow-on but for that catch that wasn’t given. So, we added quick runs and declared 471 ahead.”

Challenged with a mammoth target to win with 110 overs available, India adopted a go-for-glory approach that failed dismally against some outstanding fielding and consistently accurate bowling. Their quest ended with a slick run out-executed by Gooch who, as England captain, was able to celebrate his fourth Test win in seven matches.

“I ran Sharma out from mid-on and that is even rarer than the 300, me running someone out,” Gooch laughed. “That put the seal on a game that had my stamp on it.”

The tourists only consolation that was that they had figured in a match that set new Test records and at least they could claim one positive contribution, the match aggregate of runs totalled 1,603 a new record for any match at Lord’s.

Graham admits he is not particularly a records man. “When I got to 300, I started to accelerate to hasten the declaration after tea on the second day. There is a story, and it’s true, that when I was out and came into the dressing room, Mickey Stewart our manager offered me his congratulations but then asked ‘What were you doing getting out?’ I said,” Sorry Mickey, I’ve run out of petrol. And he basically told me that I should have gone on and beaten the record which was 365 held by Gary Sobers. To be honest, it was the first time I’d even thought about it.
Probably, if that had been mentioned to me before-hand, I might have tried to beat the record. The chance to do that is a once in a lifetime opportunity and not even that for most people.

“As I got older, I got much better at converting scores into hundreds and centuries into big hundreds, hence the term ‘daddy hundreds. That phrase came from the time many years earlier when I was playing for England the second time around and when I was starting my international career properly as it were in 1978 after my earlier two Tests three years before. Kenny Barrington, a great man, was like a father figure to the likes of myself, John Emburey, David Gower, Mike Gatting, Ian Botham. Kenny was a selector and there was no manager or coach or anything like that in those days.

“Kenny was the assistant manager on the first three tours that I went on and he assumed the role of coach, not officially, but he had been a great player, he knew the game, he ran the nets, he did the coaching and helped us a lot. He was a much-loved figure in terms of his advice and his demeanour, his character was brilliant. He could laugh at himself and the boys used to take the mickey out of him a little bit, but he used to love it. He was never a guy to say, ‘In my day, it was better,’ he never said that. The bit of advice that he gave me and probably several others was to say, ‘If you get in, make it count. If you get to 50, make sure you get to 100. If you get to 100, make sure you get to 150 and if you get that far, make sure you try and get a double-hundred.’ The rationale was, ‘Why give it away when it’s the easiest time to score runs is after your 100. Generally, it’s just yourself that will get you out by being expansive and making a mistake or trying to push the score along too quickly. Or in the modern terminology, ‘playing out of your bubble’.

“The next time that you go back in, you have to start
all over again with your score on nought and you might get a ball that shoots along the deck, or one that takes off the glove or you get a poor lbw decision against you or whatever and you might be out for nought. Then the next time you go in, the same thing might happen again, and you’ll be glad you turned that hundred into 180 or more. So that was the rationale behind it and that stayed with me throughout my career. You’ve probably heard Alastair Cook say on more than once occasion, ‘You’ve never got enough runs’. And that’s right because you never know what’s going to happen in your next innings. People have slumped in form, people lose form, it happens to every player. So, when you are playing well, that’s the time to cash in while you can.

“That’s what I always tried to instil in players when I was coaching full-time and what I tell them now if I’m asked to help them. Always try to stretch out the run of form as long as possible, because you don’t know what’s around the corner. “

And what did Graham do to relax after such demands in that Lord’s Test? Feet-up perhaps or a few days away to recover. Not so. His mode of recovery was to play for Essex later that week at Southend where they met Nottinghamshire. He top-scored in the first innings with 87 and followed with an unbeaten 65 in the assisting the County to a 10-wicket victory.

A true maestro, what a player!