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Young pace bowler, Jack Plom has been called up to the England Under-19s squad for two “Tests” against South Africa at Scarborough and the Emirates Riverside next month.

He will be joined in the squad by Somerset’s Tom Banton, one of six members of the World Cup squad who will continue with the Under-19s this summer – along with Warwickshire batsman Liam Banks, Worcestershire seamer Adam Finch, and the Middlesex trio Ethan Bamber, Luke Hollman and wicketkeeper Jack Davies.

Three other members of the World Cup squad – Worcestershire seamer Dillon Pennington, Surrey all-rounder Will Jacks and Yorkshire’s Harry Brook, who was the captain in New Zealand – have not been selected despite remaining eligible, to allow them to continue gaining further senior experience with their counties.

The England Under-19s selectors have taken the same approach with Henry Brookes, who was ruled out of the World Cup through injury and has become a regular with Warwickshire this season – while Matt Potts, the Durham seamer who shared the new ball with Brookes in last summer’s Under-19s series against India, was ruled out through injury.

Plom, Kent wicketkeeper-batsman Oli Robinson and Derbyshire spinner Hamidullah Qadri are all recalled after responding positively to their omission from the World Cup squad, and there are four uncapped players – the Sussex batsman Harrison Ward, Derbyshire seamer Alfie Gleadall, Worcestershire’s Jack Haynes, and Gloucestershire’s Greg Willows.

Jon Lewis, for whom this will be a first series as head coach of the Young Lions programme after he was initially appointed for the World Cup, said: “I’ve never seen the Under-19s play at Test level, and for all of us the chance to test ourselves against the best young players from South Africa is a really exciting one.

“Already this season it’s been encouraging to see three of the guys from our World Cup squad – as well as Henry Brookes, who was a regular for the Under-19s last summer – earning regular selection by their counties and making some significant contributions.

“The key for us when making these selections is working out with the counties what’s best for each individual player, and in the cases of those four we agreed it was best for them to stay in county cricket.

“That removes some experience from our squad, but that increases the challenge and opportunity for the guys who have been selected.

“Tom Lammonby was really unlucky to miss the World Cup, but my experience of him is that he’s got a good cricket brain, and I’m looking forward to seeing him captain the side.”

England will announce a separate squad early in July for the three-match Royal London One-Day Series against South Africa that follows, with the first game at the Emirates Riverside on July 23 being televised live on Sky Sports, followed by matches at South Northumberland CC and Scarborough.

Lewis will be joined for both the four-day and one-day matches by two more former England cricketers who are now developing their coaching careers in county cricket, Mal Loye and Min Patel, as batting and spin-bowling coaches respectively.

Neil Killeen, the former Durham seamer, continues as fast-bowling coach and Andy Mitchell of Middlesex will be the strength and conditioning coach.

“Mal is Head of Development at Derbyshire, and was part of the coaching staff for the Midlands who won the Super-4s competition at Under-17s level in Loughborough last summer, and Min coaches the Second XI at Kent,” added Lewis.

“I’m delighted to have them both on board as they have a broad range of coaching and playing experiences both domestically and internationally, including extensive work with young cricketers.

“We’re grateful to their counties, and also to Durham and Middlesex, for allowing their staff to join us at such a busy time of the summer.”

The England Under-19 selectors – Lewis, David Graveney and John Abrahams – have named nine more players to face the South Africans in their warm-up match for the series, against an Invitational XI in Loughborough on July 3-4 – when England will face the Unicorns in a two-day match.

England Under-19s squad

Tom Lammonby (Somerset, captain)

Ethan Bamber (Middlesex)

Liam Banks (Warwickshire)

Tom Banton (Somerset)

Jack Davies (Middlesex)

Adam Finch (Worcestershire)

Alfie Gleadall (Derbyshire)

Jack Haynes (Worcestershire)

Luke Hollman (Middlesex)

Jack Plom (Essex)

Hamidullah Qadri (Derbyshire)

Oli Robinson (Kent)

Harrison Ward (Sussex)

Greg Willows (Gloucestershire)

Fixtures

July 3-4 v Unicorns (Loughborough)

July 8-11 – first “Youth Test” v South Africa Under-19s (Scarborough)

July 16-19 – second “Youth Test” v South Africa Under-19s (Emirates Riverside)

*A separate England Under-19s squad will be named in early July for the three-match Royal London One-Day Series against South Africa A with games at Emirates Riverside (July 23, live on Sky Sports), South Northumberland CC (July 26) and Scarborough (July 29).

Selected for an Invitational XI to play South Africa Under-19s at Loughborough, July 3-4

Ben Allison (Essex), Ben Charlesworth (Gloucestershire), Jordan Cook (Nottinghamshire), Ed Fluck (Lancashire), George Lavelle (Lancashire), Will Sheffield (Sussex), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Kaz

Szymanski (Glamorgan), Rob Yates (Warwickshire)

Jamie Porter has been studying the Specsavers County Championship form with the eye of an optimist as Essex approach the halfway point in the title defence.

Essex start back-to-back red-ball matches against Nottinghamshire this week, followed by the visit of current leaders Somerset on Monday (2pm start), attempting to recreate last season’s midsummer surge that underpinned their Championship success.

Essex crushed both Warwickshire and Middlesex by an innings in successive games 12 months ago to open a lead at the top that grew and grew. Porter hopes to be experiencing a spot of déjà vu in the next week or so.

With wins in their last two four-day games against Worcestershire and Lancashire, Essex sit third in the table, seven points off Somerset. And Porter believes the Championship pennant could still be flying over The Cloudfm County Ground at the end of the season.

“Yes, I think we can win the Championship,” he says. “We won’t have too many excuses if we don’t. I don’t think we’ll do it in the same fashion we did last year – that was very convincing. I think it’s going to be tighter this time, but we always knew that was going to be the case.

“If we keep winning, and we keep winning the way we are, and put on a run like we did this time last year, I don’t think we’ll be too far away.

“We’ve just beaten Lancashire, and if we beat Nottinghamshire, and get a result in the pink-ball game, then we’ll probably be top at the end of this little block, with maybe a 15-point gap – depending on how other teams do, of course.

“Notts is a huge game for us, but it is one we can win. They’re missing some big players, so if we can take advantage of that and beat them, we go into the pink-ball game against Somerset in a very strong position. If we look at how we did last year in the day-nighter we must feel very confident.

“It’s only been after the Lancs game that I looked closely at the table. At the start of the season there’s no point really because there’s results everywhere; it moves quickly. To come away from that with three wins, a draw, one loss, and that abandoned game at Yorkshire, is pretty good going. I’m happy.”

Porter has been an integral part of Essex’s solid start to the season. He is again the county’s leading wicket-taker with 23, one fewer than he had after five games played last year, and with a second five-wicket haul in his most recent outing at Old Trafford.

The 25-year-old took five for 30 in a stunning spell of new-ball bowling that had Lancashire dismissed inside a session for 105. He said: “I feel I did what I usually do: try and hit a length, hit it hard, and I got my reward. I feel good, I feel confident. But, to be honest, it’s not really about getting 75 wickets again, it’s about winning the Championship.”

Porter spent a day training with England at Headingley ahead of the second Test against Pakistan earlier this month. “It was just good to be involved and see what that environment is like,” he says.

“They said a few encouraging things, but ultimately it means nothing if I don’t hold up my end. I’ve still got to keep taking wickets. I’m very ambitious – I want to play for England. I don’t think I’ll ever lose that hunger. I’m going to keep trying to take wickets and keep pushing for a place in that side.”

Essex were left wondering what could have been after suffering Play-Off defeat at the hands of Yorkshire Vikings in the Royal London One-Day Cup. After limiting the visitors to 259, the batting lineup, which had proved so reliable throughout the competition, came up short under the lights at The Cloudfm County Ground and thus ending hopes of a Lord’s Final.

Head Coach, Anthony McGrath, spoke after play to express his frustration at not making it over the line with his side now looking ahead to the upcoming Vitality Blast competition and Specsavers County Championship, which returns on Wednesday for the visit of Nottinghamshire.

Varun Chopra, Essex’s talismanic batsman of this season’s Royal London Cup campaign, recognises the void left by the absence of captain Ryan ten Doeschate from today’s quarter-final against Yorkshire at Chelmsford.

Ten Doeschate misses the 50-over showdown, the first of a two-match suspension for an outburst during the Specsavers County Championship win at Old Trafford earlier this week.

Chopra said: “It’s going to be a big loss. He’s our leader out there. He’s a big-hitter as well, coming in at six. His scoring ability when you are in a hole, and also the acceleration he can provide at the back-end, is great for us as a side.

“He probably didn’t hit his straps in the group stages, but he is one of those guys who you know when it’s a big game – a quarter-final, a semi-final – you want in your side. But we’re still going to go out there with a strong side, and if we play well we’ll get the result.”

The blow will be softened somewhat by the availability of Alastair Cook for his first game in the competition this year, to open the batting with Chopra. “Tendo will be a big loss,” said Chopra, “but it’s not a bad replacement coming in. Cookie was our best player in this format last year, he’s been in good touch this summer, and hopefully he’ll put in a big performance for us in the quarter-final.”

Cook’s return will mean a halt to the prolific first-wicket partnership between Chopra and wicketkeeper Adam Wheater, which has been worth 537 runs at 67.12 in the eight Royal London matches so far. It has provided the platform for Essex to win five of their matches and snatch second place – and this home quarter-final – from Kent in the last match.

Chopra said: “Me and Wheater have worked well together. We run well, him being shorter, me being taller, perhaps helps. We complement each other at the top of the order. It’s been nice to bat with him.

“In this format, if you do set a base in the first 10-20 overs, with the extra fielder in the circle, with two white balls, a good wicket and the sun out, you can really capitalise. If we’re 50-60 for no loss, or even if 60 for two, we feel quite comfortable. Wheats and my job is to get the side off to a solid start. We do that by playing strong cricket shots and being positive, not having a dash like some pinch-hitters have in the past.”

Chopra has slotted consummately into Cook’s role this season totalling nine runs short of 500 runs, with a career-best score of 160 and three fifties, one of them unbeaten and just shy of a second hundred, and an average of 61.37. He admitted: “It’s been a good tournament for me, no doubt. The longer you play the game, you do have good months and bad months, good seasons and bad seasons. I’ve played long enough not to take anything for granted out there. But, yes, this competition has been good for us as a batting side, and for me personally.

“The 160 against Somerset was particularly pleasing, just the way I managed to construct it. I think I was 40 off 25-30 [balls] to start with, and was going really well. Then we lost three quick wickets. Somerset bowled really well and Ravi [Bopara] and myself had to absorb a lot of pressure for a period of time. We managed to get in and free up after reaching 100 I then hit something like 60 off 30 balls in the last 10 [overs]. It was satisfying as a batter to play an inning where you’ve had to put a lot of thought into it. To get the win as well made it extra special.”

Yorkshire inflicted Essex’s only Championship defeat of the season last month. “That Yorkshire game was disappointing after the first innings [when Yorkshire were dismissed for 50]. But you’ve got to give credit to the opposition sometimes, and also accept that as sportsmen you’re not always going to have your best days.

“But we’ve won three on the bounce now and if we put in another good performance tomorrow we can move on to another semi-final. Then we’re two games from Lord’s.” And ten Doeschate would be back to lead them in the final.

Graham Gooch OBE is set to take on a 193-mile walk to raise funds for the PCA Benevolent Fund and Graham Gooch Scholarship this September in ‘Goochie’s Coast 2 Coast 2018’.

Gooch, who previously donated £50,000 to the PCA Benevolent Fund from his Scholarship, is now aiming to raise £20,000 to be split across both charities as he undertakes the famous ‘the Wainwright Coast to Coast walk’ from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire.

Gooch, who will be joined by his partner and three friends, is hopeful that the funds raised will help the Benevolent Fund and his Scholarship continue their “great work.”

“We want to raise money for all the great things the PCA supply for present players, past players and future cricketers,” he said.

“I’ve seen first-hand what work goes into supporting these cricketers and to help this is something I’m very passionate about.”

The PCA Benevolent Fund is part of the PCA’s commitment to helping former and current players and their dependants in times of hardship and upheaval or to readjust to the world beyond the game.

The charity provides support in a huge variety of ways, both reactively and increasingly proactively with a drive to help and educate PCA members on all health and wellbeing issues key in helping players to negate problems further down the line.

Gooch, who was named PCA President in March 2018, has also run his own Scholarship programme for fifteen years under the umbrella of the Essex Cricket Foundation.

Having previously played for the county for 24 years, Gooch’s Scholarship supports initiatives including the Essex Cricket Academy with the charity funding their recent Indian coaching camp in February 2018. The Scholarship frequently sends young Essex players on overseas coaching and playing tours, trips that Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara and most recently Aaron Beard have benefited from.

Embarking on the 193-mile hike which starts in Cumbria on September 17 with the finish line in North Yorkshire on September 29, the former England Captain recognises this different approach as he attempts the gruelling 14-day challenge. The fundraising trek is something that “excites” Gooch as he looks to step out of his comfort zone.

“I wanted to branch out from the usual fundraisers, it’s a physical challenge and something I’m really looking forward to,” he continued.

“We do like challenges and I think this is a different approach to raise some funds for two excellent causes.

“The walk averages just over 15 miles a day. In the Lake District the first five days will be tough because it’s very up and down.

“We’re training for it, it should be fun, but it is going to be a challenge.”

Gooch is encouraging day walkers to join him on the trail across the coast to support with raising funds.

To donate visit ‘Goochie’s Coast 2 Coast 2018’ Just Giving page, where there will also be an option to include Gift Aid.

For more information on how to get involved contact Sam Relf – [email protected]

Essex County Cricket Club is pleased to announce that Australian International, Peter Siddle, will return to the Club on August 1 and be available for all competitions.

Siddle will be available for eight Vitality Blast games, and the quarter-finals should we progress, as well as the Specsavers County Championship matches against Somerset, Hampshire and Surrey.

The 33-year-old made a significant impression during his brief stint with the Club in April and May, and took 20 wickets in 4 matches at an average of 16.10.

The Victorian is delighted to be returning to the Club and said: “I loved my time at the Club earlier in the season, and I can’t wait to get back to Chelmsford and play for the Eagles again.

“It was a little bit of a stop start period with the weather, but I am looking forward to getting a run of games together in both Blast and Championship cricket.

“I have seen first-hand how passionate the Chelmsford crowd is for Championship cricket, and I have heard amazing things about T20 games as well. Hopefully I can bring my experience in both red-ball and white-ball cricket to the team and help continue the good work so far this season.”

Essex Head Coach, Anthony McGrath, is equally excited to see Siddle returning and added: “Peter made an excellent contribution both on and off the pitch earlier on in the season, and made a brilliant impact on everyone at the Club.

“He not only continued to show how good a bowler he is, and the skills he has, but he also showed what a great person he is, and that is equally important for fitting into the way we work.

“We know he will have an impact with the red-ball, but Sids was also outstanding in the Big Bash for the Adelaide Strikers over the winter, and we hope he can bring those skills to our T20 side during his stay with the Club.”

Essex’s Overseas signings are in partnership with Seven Investment Management, the Eagles’ Vitality Blast official sponsor.

Having secured a home tie in the quarter-finals of the Royal London Cup by beating Kent Spitfires emphatically on Wednesday, Essex now turn their attentions to the red ball when they travel to Old Trafford to face Lancashire.

The County Championship clash starts on Saturday and the visitors are boosted by the inclusion of England opener Alastair Cook who is named in a 13-man squad for the trip north.

Having completed a two-match series with Pakistan, England do not face another Test match until 1 August and Cook has been made available to play for his county in all formats in the interim period.

“We are always delighted when we have Cookie around, everyone knows the quality of the guy and what he brings to the team both on and off the field with his ability and experience,” Essex Head Coach Anthony McGrath enthused.

“He loves playing for Essex and it’s great that he’s back with us.”

The return of the England left-hander is timely as regular Championship opener Nick Browne is still sidelined with a broken finger.

McGrath does not believe the switch from the limited overs to four-day format should affect his side.

“Our batsmen have been in really good form in the One-Day Cup and we are hoping that they can transfer that into the red ball stuff,” he said. “There’s no reason why not, I know the balls do behave differently but we are looking for the momentum we’ve got with the bat to continue into the four-day game.

“We are expecting another tough encounter, Lancashire are a good side but when we do realise our full potential, we’ll prove ourselves a very good team as we did last season.

“We have only collected three batting points this season and although I appreciate it was tough early on, that was the same for all teams. I have to say that in Championship cricket, we haven’t batted as well as we can and it would be good to rack up some big first innings scores and get the bonus points.

“I think that with our bowling attack, providing we can get the scores on the board of say of 400 or 450, then we are always going to have a chance of winning matches with the bowlers we have.

“Overall, I’m reasonably satisfied with our Championship form. As I say, we could have done with a few more batting points and that would have got us the table a little bit more but it’s very tight up there.”

“Given that we’ve had one game rained-off, we’ve had two wins out of the four we played,” McGrath continued. “We’ve not been at our best yet but still managed to pick up a couple of victories. We’ve now got three red ball matches before the end of this month and we are hoping to get plenty of points on the board.”

One of those two wins this season came in the corresponding fixture between the two teams at The Cloudfm County Ground in April when Essex won an absorbing contest by 31 runs.

Last year’s runaway Champions start the match in fourth place, 14 points adrift of early pace-setters Nottinghamshire, while Lancashire are two places and five points behind Anthony McGrath’s side.

27 Ryan ten Doeschate (C)
31 Adam Wheater (WK)
25 Ravi Bopara
6 Varun Chopra
1 Matt Coles
26 Alastair Cook
16 Sam Cook
11 Simon Harmer
28 Dan Lawrence
19 Michael Pepper
44 Jamie Porter
13 Neil Wagner
21 Tom Westley

Matt Coles has only played one Royal London Cup match at Chelmsford in a red Essex Eagles shirt, but already The Cloudfm County Ground feels like home. And he is preparing a warm welcome for his former Kent team-mate in today’s day-night game that Essex need to win to progress to the knockout stage of the 50-overs competition.

The 28-year-old all-rounder has taken five wickets in his two appearances for the Eagles, both of them victories to ensure fate resides in their own hands going into the final group match against a Kent side who have already qualified.

Coles has a good white-ball record at Chelmsford, though predominantly with bat in hand: his highest T20 score of 54 was there in 2014, and few who saw it will forget his devastating 91 from 52 balls in a Royal London contest two years ago.

“It was one of the reasons for coming here,” says Coles, who signed a two-year deal in October. “When you do well against a team, or at certain grounds, you think it might be somewhere you could take your game forward.

“The small boundaries help a bit, but then again you do have to bowl with them. So it’s a win-lose sort of thing. It’s about adapting to each ground you play at, and it’s definitely a ground where I’ve played enough cricket – for Kent and Hampshire – to know what roughly to bowl in certain situations.

“This being the home ground, it’s where you have to feel most comfortable. The last game here [against Glamorgan last week] I felt comfortable; it felt like home.”

Of his exit, via the Dartford Tunnel, from his native county, Coles says: “I just felt it was time to get away. I wasn’t really enjoying it as much as I would have liked, and when an opportunity popped up to come to Essex, the county champions, it was a no-brainer. It was a chance to play at a club that’s moving in the right direction rather than somewhere that sits stagnant.”

There will be little love lost out in the middle against life-long friends and colleagues. “Last time I went back to Kent [after leaving Hampshire] I got booed when I walked out! It sums it up really. They’re opponents now, so it’s irrelevant really about who’s friends and who’s not. No doubt I’ll be giving them a bit of stick out on the pitch, and hopefully pulling my weight to give Essex the greatest opportunity to win.

“I think I’ve definitely learnt a few more tricks of the trade over the last six months. They will know most of what I do, what my plans are. It’s one of those things given I’ve played with them for so many years. But, look, I also know things about them, so it’s not one-sided.

“I know what to do against certain people. It’s like [Daniel] Bell-Drummond doesn’t get forward enough, doesn’t move his feet, so you’ve just got to bowl it fuller to him. [Joe] Denly: he’ll fiddle a wide one early on. You know their weaknesses, so it’s trying to exploit them as much as possible.

“But they’ve been on a good run so it’s going to be a tough game, a fiery game. They have stand-out players in-form at the moment: [Heino] Kuhn, Denly and Bell-Drummond with the bat; [Matt] Henry and Steveo [Darren Stevens] have been doing their job with the ball. But I do feel we’re a better team and I think Essex will come out on top.”

Coles’s time at Essex has been restricted by an ankle injury that still requires regular treatment. But he reports he is available for selection in all formats, as and when required. That includes the Specsavers County Championship match against Lancashire, starting at Old Trafford on Saturday. “I’m ready,” he says. “If I have to take extra Ibuprofens, then so be it!”

Head Coach Anthony McGrath believes Essex need to win all three of their remaining South Group matches starting with victory over Glamorgan on Wednesday if they are to maintain their interest in this year’s Royal London One-Day Cup campaign.

The Eagles suffered a six-wicket defeat to Surrey on Sunday, their third defeat in five matches, leaving them with an uphill task if they are to make the knockout stages of this year’s competition.

“It’s make or break time,” the Eagles Head Coach conceded. “There’s no consistency about our game at the moment.

“We were short again with the bat against Surrey and they outplayed us. We needed a hundred from one of our batters but that didn’t happen and once Surrey got ahead of the run-rate, it was pretty easy for them on that wicket. You have to hold your hands up and say well played to them.

“I think that 10 points will probably be enough to get us a place in the next stage of the competition but to achieve that, we need maximum points from our last three games. So we need to start with a win against Glamorgan and take it from there.”

The Welsh county have made a dismal start in this competition having lost their opening four matches but McGrath does not under-estimate the task ahead of his side.

“Results haven’t gone their way but that counts for nothing,” he said. “They were the only team to beat us last year in the qualifying round of matches in this competition so that shows that they can be a huge threat. They do have some fine one-day players in their team and we‘ll need to be at the top of our game if we are to overcome them and get the win we desperately need.”

To achieve that, the Eagles will need to rein in Colin Ingram whose presence in the visitors line-up will undoubtedly fill the Essex attack with some trepidation.

The South African, is leading Glamorgan in white ball cricket this year, and enjoys an lengthy love-affair with the Essex bowlers. The 32 year-old from Port Elizabeth has taken a century off the Eagles bowlers on each of the last three occasions that the teams have clashed in the 50-over competition with scores of 142, 107 and 130.

And his personal run-fest against them does not end there. He has also helped himself to a couple of hundreds in his last two T20 innings against the Eagles.

Essex have added Jamie Porter to their squad list ahead of Wednesday’s match and McGrath admits there could be one or two changes to the side that were beaten on Sunday.

“I’ll consider all of our options before naming the starting eleven,” McGrath said. “We’ll see what the injury situation with some of our walking wounded.

“We are naturally disappointed with the way that the results have gone so far and we are fully aware that we need to step up and show our true abilities and qualities in the remaining three matches starting with Glamorgan on Wednesday.”

Essex Eagles squad
27 Ryan ten Doeschate (C)
25 Ravi Bopara
6 Varun Chopra
1 Matt Coles
16 Sam Cook
7 James Foster
11 Simon Harmer
28 Dan Lawrence
44 Jamie Porter
29 Shane Snater
13 Neil Wagner
21 Tom Westley
31 Adam Wheater
99 Ashar Zaidi