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Tickets are now on general sale online to all Essex supporters, and this is your chance to see the County Champions in action!

Demand is higher than ever for Vitality Blast, Royal London One-Day Cup and Specsavers County Championship cricket, with a record number of tickets sold so far in the two priority periods!

Following the release of three brand new playing kits for each respective competition for the 2018 season, excitement is building and there is a real buzz around Chelmsford for what is to come.

Overseas signings Peter Siddle, Neil Wagner and Adam Zampa will all head to the Cloudfm County Ground, with all three current or former Internationals, due to bring high quality to the squad.

Varun Chopra, Ravi Bopara and Ashar Zaidi will all look to bring the fireworks to Fortress Chelmsford in the Vitality Blast, and availability for the Middlesex and Glamorgan games is already limited.

 
Get your tickets online here, or purchase them in person from Monday or over the phone from Tuesday.

There’s been a new face at The Cloudfm County Ground in recent with new Assistant Head Coach, Dimi Mscarenhas now part of the coaching staff and getting down to work with the squad.

The former Hampshire all-rounder has experience from around the globe and is looking to instill some of his skills into his new Essex colleagues. Dimi has been specifically brought for his skills as bowling coach, with previous roles at Big Bash side, Melbournes Renegades and also the New Zealand national side.

Dimi spoke to Essex Cricket TV for the first time to discuss his new role at the Club and give an insight to what he is looking to bring in the seasons to come.

Membership and tickets for the 2018 season are now on sale and available in person, by phone or online now. Secure your season of cricket at The Cloudfm County Ground today, with the opening match of the season against Lancashire now just weeks away!

While Essex had representatives in the four corners of the cricket-playing world over the winter, the sensation of September, Sam Cook, stayed home and buried his head in books.

Seam bowler Cook burst into the side in the final month of last season, taking the new-ball with Jamie Porter and claiming 18 wickets at 15.89 each in four Specsavers County Championship matches as Essex sealed the title for the first time in quarter of a century.

But within days of the trophy presentation after the three-day demolition of Yorkshire – in which Cook posted the second five-wicket haul of his brief career – the 20-year-old was back behind his desk at Loughborough University, embarking on the final year of a degree course in history and international relations.

“It was an awesome month for the club,” he says. “It is still the time I look back on and have to pinch myself – did it really happen?

“Just thinking about that final day against Yorkshire still gives me goosebumps. Looking around a packed-out Chelmsford, I’ll never forget seeing all the smiling faces and how much it meant to everyone, not just the players and staff, but the fans as well.

“The squad’s a family unit. I’ve been around the team for quite a while, being in the squad and doing 12th man up to that point, so I felt part of it. You never feel like an outsider in this dressing room.”

During the close season, Cook fitted his cricket around his studies; now he will have to fit what remains of his studies around the Essex fixture list. The Chelmsford lad, who signed his first professional contract in October, has a couple of pieces of coursework, an exam and a 12,000-word dissertation to complete before he can concentrate fully on cricket. He is on course for a 2:1 – “a decent degree”, in his words.

“I’ve broken the back of it,” he says. “I’ve got about 3,000 words left of my dissertation. It’s on ‘Corruption in Fifa’. It’s not been boring, it’s something I’m interested in. It’s been really enlightening.”

In between immersing himself in the problems of world football, Cook has been pounding away in the gym and nets at Loughborough. He had his first outdoor session at The Cloudfm County Ground on Tuesday.

“It came out nicely,” he reports. “I’ve had a few little things I’ve tried to work on and I’ve definitely felt the benefits indoors. This is the time of the year when you’re putting what you’ve practised over the winter into effect outside, and you get more of a gauge whether it has helped or not.

“The nets are pretty bowler-friendly at the minute, so going out to Barbados on our pre-season tour will be a real test of whether what I’ve been working on has been useful.”

Essex head on Sunday to the West Indies for a two-week trip that includes the annual County Champion match against the MCC. The Championship season opens in four weeks’ time against Yorkshire at Headingley.

The seam attack has been augmented with the signing of Australian Test bowler Peter Siddle for the first five Championship matches, after which the returning Neil Wagner takes over, and the acquisition of all-rounder Matt Coles from Kent.

Cook is not daunted by their arrivals. “Any competition in the side is healthy competition,” he says. “Any addition to the dressing room of that standard is only going to help us. Any competition is only going to drive you on and make you play better. It’s a positive thing.

“We had a brilliant time last season, not only on the pitch, but the buzz around the dressing room. We’re driven, and even more now because we’ve got the belief; we know we can do it and we want to replicate it this year.”

Essex County Cricket Club is delighted to announce the signing of Australian International leg-spinner, Adam Zampa, for the duration of the 2018 T20 Blast.

The 25-year-old will join the Eagles from 1 July and will be available for Finals Day on 15 September, should Essex progress.

Zampa has played in 31 ODIs and 13 T20 Internationals for Australia, and represented franchises around the world, such as Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash and Rising Pune Supergiants in the IPL.

Somewhat of a one-day specialist, with vast experience of high pressure situations, the leg-spinner will bring quality and variety to Anthony McGrath’s squad.

Head Coach McGrath is thrilled to add Zampa to the ranks and said: “I have been keeping tabs on Adam for a while. He has the ability to spin the ball both ways and that mystery in the middle overs is something that we have been missing from our T20 side.

“Adam has done excellently in the Big Bash and IPL, and has also featured regularly in white-ball cricket for Australia, so we know we are bringing in someone of International quality.

“We have done our homework and leg-spin makes a real difference in T20 cricket around the world, but you don’t want to just bring in any leg-spinner. Adam is one of the best around at the moment and it is another outstanding signing for the Club.”

Zampa is equally excited to be heading to England for the T20 Blast and added: “I’ve always wanted to play County cricket and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to improve my skills in English conditions.

“I have heard great things about the Chelmsford crowd, and can’t wait to represent the Eagles in the T20 Blast.”

Essex’s Overseas signings are in partnership with Seven Investment Management, the Eagles’ Vitality T20 Blast official sponsor.

Essex County Cricket Club is pleased to announce Australian opening bowler, Peter Siddle, will join the County Champions for the first 5 Championship games of the season.

Siddle will complement Anthony McGrath’s bowling attack for the opening weeks of the 2018 season and will add vast experience at the highest level.

The 33-year-old has played 62 Tests, 17 ODIs and 2 T20 Internationals, taking a combined total of 229 wickets in all competitions for Australia.

Head Coach McGrath believes Siddle will be an excellent addition in the opening weeks of the season and said: “Peter is someone with proven quality at the highest level. He is vastly experienced and is a player who won’t just deliver on the pitch but will help our younger bowlers as well.

“He recently played in one of the best International teams around, and we are looking forward to picking his brains and seeing what else we can produce as a bowling unit with his help.

“Darren Lehmann spoke glowingly about him as a person and a bowler when I spoke to him recently, so we are looking forward to him joining us and making a real impact in the opening weeks of the season.”

Australian, Siddle, is looking forward to calling Chelmsford home for the opening weeks of the campaign and added: “I am delighted to sign for Essex. I have heard very good things about the Club and the quality of the playing squad and look forward to contributing strongly towards the title defence during the first few weeks of the season.

“I’ve enjoyed my previous experiences of County Cricket and can’t wait to get underway at Chelmsford.”

Essex’s Overseas signings are in partnership with Seven Investment Management, the Eagles’ Vitality T20 Blast official sponsor.

Paul Walter is continuing a demanding workload as he shapes up for the 2018 season, a campaign in which he is determined to hold down a place in the Essex side in all formats of the game.

And the belief that the county hold in the all-rounder was illustrated recently when the player put pen-to-paper on a deal that has earned him a contract extension to the end of the 2019 term.

“It’s been pretty full-on since the end of last season,” the 23 year-old admitted. “I was involved in the England Pace Programme from the start of last November, then I went to Desert Springs for 5 days and I’ve also been spending a lot of time up at Loughborough.”

The Basildon-born player was recently named, along with fellow Essex stars Dan Lawrence and Jamie Porter, as a member of the South squad for the three-match 2018 North-South series to be played in Barbados in March.

“It was a real pleasant surprise to get selected and hopefully, I can make my mark on the series and maybe put my name in the hat for selection for the Essex game against the MCC that follows,” said the left-arm bowler.

“Things have been going really well for me in the last couple of seasons, I think I did okay in the one-day matches I played last year and I’m hoping to re-create that and go on to better things in 2018. I made a few worthwhile contributions but the target ahead of me is to be more consistent in my all-round game in white ball cricket and carry that over into Championship cricket.

“I don’t want to be considered as primarily a one-day player, I want to embrace all forms of the game. In a bid to achieve that, I’ve been doing a lot of work including my skills and disciplines in the red-ball game. Hopefully, that will transfer into the season and I can get myself into consideration for all formats and have a good season across the board.”

The 6’8” player has made giant strides since first being introduced into the Essex side during 2016. He made 7 appearances in the T20 side that season, before earning his Championship debut in the away clash against Derbyshire where he showed his burgeoning all-round abilities with an unbeaten 47 and four wickets as Essex stormed to an innings victory.

Reflecting on his rapid rise, he acknowledged that it has been a personally productive time. “With all the talent we have around the Club, I felt it was an achievement in itself just to get selected in the first place. But then you have to prove yourself.

“Its been a really two good years for Essex having won promotion in 2016 and then the title last year and I’ve been delighted to get opportunities to be a part of those successes but you always have to be ready to grasp those chances when they do come along and do  yourself justice.”

Having made the transition from club cricketer to the professional game so comfortably, the paceman who packs a punch with the bat had faith in his ability to make the upward curve.

“I always believed that I could make the professional ranks and I know that I have a lot more to give because I’m still learning so much but I will admit that I’m a little surprised by how quickly things have happened for me. I’ve been lucky enough to get my chance and also fortunate enough to steer clear of injuries.

“My height does offer me something that few bowlers have, there are not too many 6’8” bowlers around bowling fast and so that works in my favour. But I’m always working on new skills and ideas; batsmen get to know about you and so it’s always harder in your second or third full year on the circuit but I think I can cause batsmen a few more surprises.

“I’ve worked really hard in the last couple of years and put in so many hours training and working on my game and for me, that’s a key to where I am at present but I know that I’ve still a long way to go.

“I’ve been able to see the importance of it all and it gives me the belief that I can get a lot, lot better. That’s what I’m striving to do, not only this winter but over the next few years or however long that I’m lucky enough to play the game.

“It’s been excellent to have the opportunities that I’ve been afforded this winter through the ECB Pace Programme, and the time at Desert Springs and now with the selection for the North-South series.

“I’m really looking forward to the next few months, I’m back on the Pace Programme in South Africa for a couple of weeks,  have four days again in Desert Springs and more winter training with Essex before I’m off to Barbados.

“Hopefully I’ll come back a better player. I’m happy with the technical side of my game, I feel in good shape physically and I’m looking forward to getting out on the pitch and showing what I can do.”

Essex stars Dan Lawrence, Jamie Porter and Paul Walter have all been named in the South squad for the 2018 North-South Series, which will be staged in Barbados in March.

Mullaney, who recently succeeded Chris Read as the Nottinghamshire captain and played a key role in the Outlaws’ white-ball double last season, will lead a North squad coached by Paul Collingwood as they aim for revenge for the 3-0 whitewash inflicted by the South in the first series in the UAE last year.

Northeast, who scored an unbeaten century in the second game of last season’s series in Dubai, is joined in the South squad by two more key figures in their 2017 domination – Kent team-mate Daniel Bell-Drummond and Hampshire all-rounder Liam Dawson, who was voted man of the series by the England selectors.

Bell-Drummond is the only one of the four players who earned automatic invitations to join the South squad last summer to take up his place in this year’s series. The top four England-qualified players in the PCA’s MVP Rankings for each group of the Royal London One-Day Cup were again invited – but Alastair Cook and James Vince are unavailable after their inclusion in England’s squad for the Test series in New Zealand, and Ravi Bopara has signed to play in the Pakistan Super League.

Of the four players who qualified from the North Group, Warwickshire’s Sam Hain and new Lancashire signing Keaton Jennings are two of six survivors from last year’s beaten North squad – with Ben Duckett, Joe Clarke, Paul Coughlin and Saqib Mahmood. Shiv Thakor is deemed unavailable as a result of his recent criminal conviction and suspension from all cricket activity [under the ECB’s auspices], and Gary Ballance has chosen to concentrate on his role as Yorkshire captain in their pre-season plans including a warm-weather training camp in South Africa.

James Whitaker, the National Selector who finalised the squads after discussions with coaches Collingwood and Ramprakash, his fellow selectors Angus Fraser and Mick Newell, and the England and Lions coaching staff, said: “We believe these are two exciting squads which again underline the value of this North-South Series as an opportunity for us to see some strong contenders for white-ball cricket playing at a higher level of competition and intensity.

“The unavailability of several of the players who had earned automatic invitations means the squads are tilted more towards youth and potential this year.

“The North squad has six players aged 21 or under, and the South squad includes four 20-year-olds plus Sam Curran, who is still only 19.

“Some of the players we have selected have very limited List A experience with their counties. But in those cases their potential has already been identified with selection on the ECB’s International Pathway.

“For example Delray Rawlins is currently in Sydney on an Overseas Placement, and we have included three fast bowlers currently training with the Pace Programme – Zak Chappell in the North squad, and Paul Walter and Tom Helm with the South.

“But it is also a good opportunity for more experienced players who have impressed in the county game, such as Steven Mullaney, Brett D’Oliveira, John Simpson and Sam Northeast, to show the selectors and England coaches what they can do at a higher level.”

The squads include 15 players who have already been selected for the England Lions tour of West Indies this spring, and the series will follow on from the one-day section of that tour.

The teams will each play a warm-up game on March 15 before the three-match series at the Kensington Oval on March 18, 21 and 23. The Kensington Oval will also stage the MCC’s Champion County match against Essex from March 27-30 in a spring festival of English cricket in Barbados.

“It’s a new series this year with completely different squads, and we know Colly and the North will be keen to make amends for what happened in the 2017 series in the UAE,” said Ramprakash, who will be assisted by the Lions head coach Andy Flower. “There’s a big incentive for all the players to impress as we get closer to the 2019 World Cup, and I’m looking forward to getting involved in the series for the first time.”

Collingwood will be assisted by Paul Franks, the former Nottinghamshire and England all-rounder who was appointed in recognition of his contribution to the Outlaws’ title-winning Royal London One-Day Cup campaign in 2017.

Collingwood said: “We know we’ll be the underdogs after what happened last year, but there’s plenty of talent in our squad and we’re all looking forward to getting stuck in – and putting on a good show for the North.”

Squads
North: S Mullaney (Notts, captain), S Hain (Warwickshire*), B Duckett (Northamptonshire), J Clarke (Worcestershire), K Jennings (Lancashire), B D’Oliveira (Worcestershire), A Davies (Lancashire, wk), P Coughlin (Notts), M Fisher (Yorkshire), S Mahmood (Lancashire), R Gleeson (Northamptonshire), Z Chappell (Leicestershire), M Parkinson (Lancashire).
South: S Northeast (Kent, captain), D Bell-Drummond (Kent*), N Gubbins (Middlesex), D Lawrence (Essex), D Rawlins (Sussex), L Dawson (Hampshire), J Simpson (Middlesex, wk), S Curran (Surrey), P Walter (Essex), D Bess (Somerset), T Helm (Middlesex), J Porter (Essex), G Garton (Sussex).
*Means automatic qualification through PCA MVP Rankings