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Dot balls are the currency T20 bowlers deal in. Essex’s overseas leggie has sent down 23 of his 66 deliveries in this fledgling Vitality Blast campaign without a run being hit off them.

In the bish, bash, bosh world of T20 cricket, he even managed the rarity of bowling a maiden over against Surrey, a wicket maiden at that, only the third he has recorded in a career of 118 matches and nearly 400 overs. It is a feat akin to a batsman scoring a century.

“I’ll take that!” the 27-year-old Australian white-ball international says eagerly. “I’m happy to say I’ve got three centuries! It’s a good feeling to bowl a maiden, particularly in such a high-scoring game as that one was. We got over 220 – and it was only a 15-over game. Once you bowl a maiden, and the asking rate goes up, it’s game-changing, particularly when you’ve got guys at the other end like Aaron Finch who can potentially win the game for the opposition.

“Yes, dot balls are very important. I’m not the kind of guy who will blast teams out; I’m not the kind of guy who will get three wickets in an over. I’m more the kind of bowler who builds pressure and does it that way.

“Dot balls tend to turn to wickets. In the role I’m playing here I’m finding myself bowling throughout the innings. I usually bowling an over of power play, a couple in the middle and one towards the end. So it’s important to keep taking wickets the whole time. Sometimes you aren’t going to get them yourself, so it’s important that you close out overs to make it easier for the guy at the other end.”

The guys at the other end when Essex play Hampshire at The Cloudfm County Ground on Thursday (7pm) will include Mohammad Amir. It is a double-whammy for Essex. As he showed when he turned out for the county in the 2017 season, his economy rate then was often below even his impressive career average of 6.75 runs per over.

“It’ll be exciting to have Mo on the field for the first time,” says Zampa. “We’ve probably missed him the first couple of games. He’ll make a huge difference in the power play for us and he’s going to be really important at the death. Having him at the other end is probably going to help me: maybe I’ll become more of a wicket-taking option for the team and my role might be a little bit different now.

“He got a five-fer against us [Australia] in the World Cup, so I was able to watch that and realise just how good he really is.”

After a disappointing World Cup in which Zampa played just four games, and Australia were knocked out in the semi-final by England, all eyes turn to the Ashes. In particular, in this part of the country, they will focus on Peter Siddle, Essex’s Aussie seamer, recalled to arms at the age of 34 for his sixth Ashes campaign.

“I’m really stoked for him,” Zampa says of his close friend. “It’s a good story. He’s been in and out of the team, but he got his opportunity in Test cricket again last year. He really appreciates the opportunity that Essex have given him. I think if it wasn’t for that, he probably wouldn’t be in the Ashes squad. He’s definitely benefited from his time over here.”

As for the series itself, Zampa says: “I think the top orders are what will define the series. Steve Smith is huge. He’s on a different level to everyone else. Him batting at No4, Usman Khawaja at three, David Warner opening; England don’t have a lot of Test match experience compared to that top order. I think that could have a huge bearing on the series.”

The stage is set for England Women to take on Australia in Friday’s Vitality Women’s IT20 match at The Cloudfm County Ground. Heather Knight’s team will be looking to continue their unbeaten record at Chelmsford and it will be played in front of a sold-out crowd as supporters have snapped up tickets to support their country in the Ashes!

Essex County Cricket Club Chairman said: “This is fantastic news for the Club and Women’s cricket, and I’m sure both England and Australia will be looking forward to walking out in front of a full house on Friday evening.

“The women’s game continues to go from strength-to-strength, and we take great pride in our commitment to developing the participation of Women and Girls cricket across the region.

“This is only boosted by the opportunities of hosting two high-class sides and we are looking forward to a great match on Friday as England Women look to continue their unbeaten record at The Cloudfm County Ground.”

Supporters looking to purchase tickets can add their details to a waiting list and should any tickets become available, then they will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Get in touch with us by phone on 01245 254010 or email [email protected].

The squad has been announced for the match and it includes Essex’s Mady Villiers, who receives her first call-up to the side after impressing during England Women’s Academy’s series against Australia A.

England Women Squad:

Heather Knight (Berkshire, Captain)
Tammy Beaumont (Kent)
Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire)
Kate Cross (Lancashire)
Sophie Ecclestone (Lancashire)
Georgia Elwiss (Sussex)
Jenny Gunn (Nottinghamshire)
Amy Jones (Warwickshire)
Laura Marsh (Kent)
Nat Sciver (Surrey)
Anya Shrubsole (Berkshire)
Sarah Taylor (Sussex)
Mady Villiers (Essex)
Lauren Winfield (Yorkshire)
Danni Wyatt (Sussex)

New signing, Cameron Delport announced himself to Chelmsford on Friday night by smashing Essex Eagles’ quickest ever T20 century!

The record, which came off 38 balls, was also the fifth quickest in English T20 history and the South African looked at ease as he dispatched the likes of Sam Curran, Imran Tahir and Tom Curran around The Cloudfm County Ground!

Watch highlights from Cameron’s innings…

Delport and the Eagles will next be action at The Cloudfm County Ground on Saturday 27 July against Gloucestershire. Play begins at 7pm and ticket are selling fast for our remaining Vitality Blast fixtures – purchase online now.

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).

Cameron Delport is a bit hazy about the precise details of his one and only previous visit to The Cloudfm County Ground. But Essex’s big-hitting T20 import is pretty certain about where he carted the bowling on that occasion.

“I played here in about 2005,” he hazards. “I was on a student exchange at Portsmouth Grammar School and Graham Ford [a fellow native of Durban] was coach of Kent and he got me to come and play a twos game here. It was a combined game. I think we were Kent and Essex, maybe, and played against Middlesex or Surrey or someone.

“I batted probably at seven and hit a few into the car park. I remember doing that.”

If the 30-year-old Delport lives up to his reputation it won’t only be cars parked behind the executive suite that are under threat. Delport has already been eyeing up the short Chelmsford boundaries and the maintenance staff have expressed concern about the safety of his office windows high up in the Pavilion!

If you need just one innings to sum up the man who has signed on for two summers and is set to bring firepower to the Eagles side against Middlesex and Surrey this week, it has to be one of the most recent: back in March he thumped the Lahore Qalanders attack all around Karachi in compiling an unbeaten 117, his century for Islamabad United taking just 49 balls, the fastest recorded in Pakistan Super League history. At that point he had creamed 11 fours and launched six sixes; by the end of his innings he had faced a further 11 balls and add two more boundaries.

“It was pretty magical,” he recalls. “It was the first time competitive cricket had come back to Pakistan. We’d been playing our previous games in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. We needed to win, I just went with the flow, that’s how I like to play. I didn’t really think about it too much, I just went for it. There were a few balls there to be whacked.”

Delport is one of the modern breed of T20 gunslingers. A genuine all-rounder, with the figures to prove it. He has played in all the major leagues around the world; indeed, since leaving Leicestershire last August he has turned out in the Caribbean Premier League, Afghanistan Premier League, the inaugural Mzansi Super League at home in South Africa, the Bangladesh Premier League, and finally in Pakistan. His air-miles account looks pretty healthy, as does his growing aggregate of runs: from September to March he amassed 1,003 runs all told. Then he had a rest.

“I didn’t do the IPL this year, so I’ve had a little break. In my downtime, I did some surfing, played a lot of golf, a lot of beach-time, went into the bush. There are a lot of game reserves just north of Durban. But in early May I started to get that itchy feeling and started having a few nets back in Durban.”

Essex will be hoping the itch still needs scratching and the Delport is ready to lift a team with some hitting at the top of the order.

Delport has spent a week around a group of players who have just gone top of the Specsavers County Championship in red-ball cricket ahead of the forthcoming month-long block of the short-format version.

“I know the boys are excited about it,” he reports. “Things haven’t gone well for the last couple of years, so that’s got to change. Our luck’s got to change.”

You can catch Cameron Delport and the Essex Eagles during this year’s competition with tickets now available. The opening clash against Surrey is sold out but be quick to snap up your tickets for other remaining 6 matches!

Tickets prices start from £25.00 Adults, £20.00 Students/Young Adults (18-25) and £10 Juniors (U18s) with Allocated and Premium seating also available. Purchase online now or phone 01245 254010 to book by phone.

Essex County Cricket Club can today confirm that Matt Coles’ loan deal at Northamptonshire has been extended by a further month.

He will be available to play in today’s Specsavers County Championship Division Two match against Derbyshire at Queen’s Park, as well as the first seven games of Northants Steelbacks’ Vitality Blast campaign.

The 29-year-old has featured in three matches for Northamptonshire so far and has taken six first-class wickets, whilst he is also averaging 34.50 with the bat.

On the extension, Coles said: “I’m loving my time at Northants so it made sense for me to stay on for another month.

“I’ve settled in well and all the lads have made me feel really welcome, and I’m excited about the next four week’s worth of cricket with the Vitality Blast starting in a week or so.”