 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Essex County Cricket Club" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |
| One Day name | Essex |
|---|---|
| Personnel | |
| Captain | Tom Westley |
| Coach | Chris Silverwood |
| Overseas player | Simon Harmer |
| Team information | |
| Founded | 1876; 149 years ago (1876) |
| Home ground | County Ground, Chelmsford |
| Capacity | 5,500 |
| History | |
| First-class debut | Leicestershire in 1894 at Leyton |
| Championship wins | 8 |
| Pro40 wins | 5 |
| FP Trophy wins | 3 |
| Twenty20 Cup wins | 1 |
| B&H Cup wins | 2 |
| Bob Willis Trophy wins | 1 |
| Official website | EssexCricket |
Essex County Cricket Club is one of eighteenfirst-classcounty clubs within the domesticcricket structure ofEngland and Wales. It represents thehistoric county ofEssex.
Founded in 1876, the club hadminor county status until 1894 when it was promoted to first-class status pending its entry into theCounty Championship in 1895. Since then, the team has played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England.
Essex currently play all their home games at theCounty Cricket Ground, Chelmsford. The club has formerly used other venues throughout the county includingLower Castle Park inColchester,Valentines Park inIlford,Leyton Cricket Ground, theGidea Park Sports Ground inRomford, andGaron Park andSouthchurch Park, both inSouthend.
The limited overs team has previously been known as theEssex Eagles but now play simply asEssex.
It is almost certain that cricket reached Essex by the 16th century and that it developed during the 17th century with inter-parish matches being played. The first definite mention of cricket in connection with the county is a highly controversial match in 1724 between Chingford and MrEdwin Stead's XI, which is recorded inThe Dawn of Cricket byH. T. Waghorn. The venue is unknown but, if it was at Chingford, it is also the earliest reference to cricket being played in Essex as well as by an Essex team. The game echoed an earlier one in 1718 as the Chingford team refused to play to a finish when Mr Stead's team had the advantage. A court case followed and, as in 1718, it was ordered to be played out presumably so that all wagers could be fulfilled. We know that Lord Chief Justice Pratt presided over the case and that he ordered them to play it out onDartford Brent, though it is not known if this was the original venue. The game was completed in 1726.
The earliest reference to a team called Essex is in July 1732 when a combined Essex & Herts team played against theLondon Cricket Club. In July 1737, there was London v Essex at theArtillery Ground, London winning by 45 runs. In a return game at Ilford on 1 August 1737, Essex won by 7 runs. References are then occasional until 1785 when the Hornchurch Cricket Club became prominent. This club had a strong team that was representative of Essex as a county. However, the sources differed among themselves re whether the team should be called Essex or Hornchurch. But there is no doubt that Essex was a First-Class county from 1785 until 1794, after which the county strangely and abruptly disappeared from the records for a long time. An Essex CCC was formed and held fixtures in 1860 and held an Annual General Meeting in 1861, but no further reference is seen until 1876.[1]
Essex CCC were formed on 14 January 1876 at a meeting in theShire Hall, Chelmsford. The new club did not become First-Class until 1894, playing its inaugural first-class match on 14, 15 & 16 May 1894 againstLeicestershire CCC atLeyton. It was the initial First-Class match played by either club, and Essex failed to win a match against any other county.[2] In 1895, both of these clubs andWarwickshire CCC joined theCounty Championship. In the club's first championship match, of their first championship season,James Burns scored 114 against Warwickshire atEdgbaston and this was the first century for Essex in First-Class cricket.George Frederick Higgins scored the second championship century for Essex in the same match putting on 205 with Burns for the fourth wicket. The club made a high score of 692 againstSomerset with the veteranBunny Lucas scoring 145, but the most notable feat was byWalter Mead who took 17–119 againstHampshire CCC at Southampton.
Essex improved rapidly from 1895, so that by 1897 they were in the running for the Championship, only losing it whenSurrey beat them at Leyton.[3] They fell off after this despite beating a fine Australian team on a dubious pitch in 1899, never finishing higher than sixth between 1899 and 1932.[4] Their batting on Leyton's excellent pitches was generally good with the "Essex Twins" ofPerrin andMcGahey and the sound and skilfulJack Russell, but the bowling depended too much on Mead,Buckenham and laterDouglas and when availableLouden.
With the decline of these players, Essex fell to some of their lowest levels ever during the late 1920s. Their bowlers conceded over 40 runs a wicket in 1928 – about the highest ever with uncovered pitches. The emergence ofJack O'Connor,Stan Nichols and when available, theamateur fast bowlersKen Farnes andHopper Read, though, made Essex during the 1930s a dangerous if inconsistent side. They finished as high as fourth in 1933, and owing to their pace bowling maintained almost as high a standard up to the outbreak of war. The batting, however, tended to depend too much upon O'Connor and a number of amateurs who were rarely available, and Essex lost too many games to break the North's stronghold on the Championship.
After World War II Essex fell off, taking their firstwooden spoon in 1950.[5] During this period it was left toTrevor Bailey to do all the pace bowling, and he was often unavailable due to Test calls, whilst spinnerPeter Smith was frequently overbowled until he retired in 1951 – thus a strong batting line-up led by Bailey andDoug Insole could seldom win games. Not until 1957 did Essex come back into the top half of the table, but Bailey andBarry Knight never had support of sufficient class to permit them to reach the top of the table, even whenRobin Hobbs became England's last successful leg-spinner late in the 1960s.
In the 1970s, with overseas players now permitted, Essex were able to gradually strengthen their team to achieve much more than they ever had before. This decade saw the advent ofGraham Gooch, one of England's finest opening batsmen, even though he began his Test career with apair against Australia in 1975. He didn't return to the England team until 1978, but after a slow start began to assert his dominance over Test bowlers as he had on the county scene. Dedicated to training, he forced his burly physique through a tough regime to prolong his career long after some of his contemporaries had retired.
Along with Gooch, county captain and England batsmanKeith Fletcher built a powerful eleven in the late 1970s that dominated domestic cricket from 1979 to 1992, when Essex won six of thirteen County Championship titles. The bowling in the first half of this period was borne by tireless left arm seamerJohn Lever and spinner and pranksterRay East. The South AfricanKen McEwan and Fletcher were the best batsmen after Gooch. As Lever declined, England all rounderDerek Pringle and fast bowlerNeil Foster took over, whilst John Childs crossed fromGloucestershire to take over as the chief spinner.
In the 1990s, Essex had more internationals, includingNasser Hussain, who captained England in several series. BowlersMark Ilott andPeter Such earned caps, as well as wicket keeperJames Foster.Ashley Cowan toured theWest Indies in 1997/98 without playing an international match. Essex were also able to sign England fast bowlersDarren Gough andAlex Tudor, after they leftYorkshire andSurrey respectively.
Led by all-rounderRonnie Irani Essex won theNational League Division 1 title in2005, their first major title in eight years.
In 2006, Essex successfully defended theirNational League title in the newly rebrandedPro40 format by the narrowest of margins, having tied for the title on points. The club missed out on promotion in the County Championship only on the last day of the season, losing toLeicestershire while their rivalsWorcestershire beatNorthamptonshire. In that season'sTwenty20 Cup Essex beatYorkshire to reach the semi-finals atTrent Bridge, where they were beaten by eventual tournament winners Leicestershire. Essex also had Twenty20 success in the first floodlit Twenty20 Tournament, held between the four teams with permanent floodlights, in a series of 2 legged matches. Essex beat Derbyshire 1–0, after the first leg was washed out, and they won the second leg convincingly.
Essex were promoted back to Division One for the 2010 season.[6] Essex won theCounty Championship in 2017[7] and 2019,[8] and won theBob Willis Trophy in 2020.[9] Essex won the2019 T20 Blast, beatingWorcestershire Rapids in the final. Captain and player of the matchSimon Harmer hit the winning runs and took 3-16.[10]
The club currently plays all its home games at Chelmsford – Colchester's cricket festival has been suspended since the 2017 season.[11]
| No. | Name | Nat | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batters | ||||||
| 21 | Tom Westley* ‡ |  England | (1989-03-13)13 March 1989 (age 36) | Right-handed | Right-armoff break | Club captain |
| 47 | Robin Das | England | (2002-02-27)27 February 2002 (age 23) | Right-handed | Right-armmedium | |
| 56 | Charlie Allison | England | (2005-03-02)2 March 2005 (age 20) | Right-handed | Right-armoff break | |
| 64 | Dean Elgar* ‡ |  South Africa | (1987-06-11)11 June 1987 (age 38) | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | UK passport |
| All-rounders | ||||||
| 8 | Noah Thain | England | (2005-01-13)13 January 2005 (age 20) | Right-handed | Right-armfast-medium | |
| 11 | Simon Harmer* ‡ | South Africa | (1989-02-10)10 February 1989 (age 36) | Right-handed | Right-armoff break | Overseas player; T20 captain |
| 20 | Matt Critchley* | England | (1996-08-13)13 August 1996 (age 29) | Right-handed | Right-armleg break | |
| 22 | Paul Walter* | England | (1994-05-28)28 May 1994 (age 31) | Left-handed | Left-armfast-medium | |
| 59 | Mackenzie Jones ‡ |  Scotland | (2005-03-06)6 March 2005 (age 20) | Right-handed | Right-armfast-medium | |
| 99 | Luc Benkenstein | South Africa | (2004-11-02)2 November 2004 (age 21) | Right-handed | Right-armleg break | UK passport |
| Wicket-keepers | ||||||
| 19 | Michael Pepper* | England | (1998-06-25)25 June 1998 (age 27) | Right-handed | — | |
| 51 | Simon Fernandes | England | (2000-03-22)22 March 2000 (age 25) | Right-handed | Right-armoff break | |
| 77 | Jordan Cox* ‡ | England | (2000-10-21)21 October 2000 (age 25) | Right-handed | Right-armoff break | |
| Bowlers | ||||||
| 16 | Sam Cook* ‡ | England | (1997-08-04)4 August 1997 (age 28) | Right-handed | Right-armfast-medium | |
| 29 | Shane Snater* ‡ |  Netherlands | (1996-03-24)24 March 1996 (age 29) | Right-handed | Right-armfast-medium | |
| 44 | Jamie Porter* | England | (1993-05-25)25 May 1993 (age 32) | Right-handed | Right-armfast-medium | |
| 85 | Charlie Bennett | England | (2006-05-01)1 May 2006 (age 19) | Right-handed | Right-armfast-medium | |
| — | Zaman Akhter | England | (1999-03-12)12 March 1999 (age 26) | Right-handed | Right-armfast-medium | |
| — | Mitchell Killeen | England | (2004-09-29)29 September 2004 (age 21) | Right-handed | Right-armfast-medium | |
Essex county cricketers who have during their career also represented their national team inTest cricket,One Day International cricket orTwenty20 International cricket.
England
Ronnie IraniGraham GoochKeith FletcherJack RussellStan NicholsRavi BoparaNasser HussainAlastair CookBarry KnightJames FosterNeil FosterNick KnightDarren GoughPaul GraysonAdam HollioakeMark IlottAlex TudorJason GallianJohn LeverWalter MeadClaude BuckenhamJack O'ConnorJohnny DouglasFrederick FaneCharlie McGaheyPaul GibbMike DennessAftab HabibJohn StephensonJim LakerDerek PringleMartin SaggersPeter SuchOwais ShahSajid MahmoodReece TopleyMonty PanesarTymal MillsBen FoakesTrevor BaileyJohn ChildsDoug InsolePeter SmithKen FarnesNeil WilliamsSailor YoungHopper ReadTom WestleyDan LawrenceRobin HobbsJordan CoxLiam DawsonSam CookIndia
Bangladesh
Australia
Mark WaughAndy BichelBruce FrancisMichael KasprowiczStuart LawAllan BorderMerv HughesBryce McGainRob QuineyShaun TaitPeter SiddleAdam ZampaDaniel SamsBeau WebsterPakistan
Netherlands
Zimbabwe
South Africa
Hashim AmlaSimon HarmerDean ElgarLee IrvineDale SteynAndré NelLonwabo TsotsobeAlviro PetersenCharl WilloughbyEathan BoschWest Indies
New Zealand
Andre AdamsChris MartinTim SoutheeScott StyrisJames FranklinHamish RutherfordJesse RyderNeil WagnerJimmy NeeshamDoug BracewellSri Lanka
Scotland
Ireland
Most first-class runs for Essex
| Most first-class wickets for Essex
|
| National teams | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams |
| ||||||||||||
| Tournaments |
| ||||||||||||
| Grounds | |||||||||||||
| Lists | |||||||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||||
