Essex Career Story

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I will coach the Essex team as iam from Southend on sea

Essex will be in the County Championship Division 2 and also the Challenge trophy, Also competing in the T20. The Essex side seam to have plenty of youngsters, So my first job will be to sign two good bowlers to add some quality to the side.



Essex play there home games at the County Ground, Chelmsford. I have signed two bowlers, Simon Cook and Nadeem Malik. Essex will play away to Cambridge UCCE in a friendly first then they play at home to Gloucestershire in the County Championship.

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CAMBRIDGE UCCE V ESSEX University match


1) A Cook
2) R Quiney
3) R Bopara
4) J Foster
5) M Pettini
6) G Smith
7) G Napier
8) S Mahmood
9) D Masters
10) N Malik
11) S Cook

1) H Horton
2) C Oliver
3) M Pointer
4) J Coles
5) G Kevan
6) S Birch
7) C Hitchins
8) D Welch
9) N Brown
10) L Matthie
11) J Mysercough

CAMBRIDGE UCCE 1ST Innings 231 all-out
G Kevan 76 S Mahmood 4-45
C Hitchens 49 D Masters 4-53

CAMBRIDGE UCCE 2ND Innings 153 all-out
H Horton 59 S Mahmood 4-29
J Coles 27 N Malik 3-33

ESSEX 1ST Innings 451 for 4 dec
A Cook 222 no D Welch 2-100
R Quiney 103 L Matthie 1-118

ESSEX WON BY AN INNINGS AND 67 RUNS
MAN OF THE MATCH

Alister Cook won man of the match with an excellent 222 not -out, Essex played well and are looking good for the new season, R Quiney made 103 runs. S Mahmood took 4-45 and is looking good. Essex will play Gloucestershire at Chelmsford for the County Championship opener.

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The first match of the county championship Division 2
Essex v Gloucestershire

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1) A Cook 2) R Quiney 3) R Hassan 4) J Foster 5) S Authurton 6) G Smith 7) G Napier 8) S Mahmood 9) D Masters 10) N Malik 11) T Mills

1) M Klinger 2) G Roderick 3) H Marshall 4) I Cockbain 5) A Gidman 6) W Gidman 7) P Muchall 8) D Payne 9) J Fuller 10) C Dent 11) L Norwell

Welcome to DAY 1 The county championship starts with Gloucesterhire batting first the weather is good, Essex will give youngsters Rehan Hussan and Sam Arthurton a chance in first class cricket. Rehan Hussan just 18 years old and born in Essex is excited at having his big day in front of the home crowd.

Rehan Hussan 18 years old.
Tymal Mills has also been called by the Essex squad the 20 year old has replaced new signing Sam Cook.
The match started with some Aggressive bowling from D Masters and S Mahmood, Gloucestershire played well and went into tea with a 106 for 3, Gloucsetershires Hamish Marshall had a good performance with a 105 before being bowled by Greg Smith, Essex used on average 4 on aggression bar which may have helped Gloucestershire reaching 305 all out by late afternoon. There was a fine display from Greg Smith taking 4 wickets.

As you can see Greg was over the moon taking his 4th wicket Paul Muchall for just 11 runs. Essex went into bat with about 20 minutes left and scored 15 for 0.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE 305 all out
H Marshall 105 G Smith 4-85
M Klinger 43 S Mahmood 3-72

Essex 15 for 0
Gloucestershire lead by 290 runs.
Around the grounds
Leicestershire 205 for 5
Glamorgan 274 for 4
Lancashire 173 all out

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Welcome to day 2


Essex start there innings here on a nice sunny day, But it soon turned cloudy when Alister Cook was run out on just 15 runs. Then Essex born Rehan Hassan went out lbw 10 minutes later for 15 runs, So not the best of starts with the score 49 for 2 and Essex could have a mountain to climb here. Some good batting by Rob Quiney brought the score to 92 for 2 at tea. Quieney and Arthurton both battled well against the Gloucestershire bowlers, But Sam Arthurton was caught by Muchall with a score of 32 which i thought good for the youngster, He played well.
So at lunch Essex were 193 for 4 and 112 runs behind. James Foster had a fantastic game in the afternoon hitting many 4s, James Foster scored a fantastic 123 not out and Essex finished the day on 326 for 5.

James Foster in action.

ESSEX 326 for 5
J Foster 123 not out W Gidman 1-43
G Napier 50 not out D Payne 1-63
Essex lead by 21 runs
Essex may declare tomorrow at tea.

305 all out after 88.5 overs 2 Extras 1st Innings

326 for 5 after 102 overs 10 Extras 1st Innings

Essex were on 2 -3 Aggression bars when batting this normal mode ball by ball.

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Welcome to day 3

Essex will resume there batting this morning with there 21 run lead. The team were giving orders to bad aggressive, Graham Napier got a total of 97 runs and James Foster scored a fantastic 167 runs before going lbw to Muchall just before tea. The tail enders were soon all dismissed on low scores. So Essex got a total of 431 runs all out.

Graham Napier full of smiles.
Gloucestershire game into bat just after tea, Michael Klinger and Chris Dont were taking everything the Essex bowlers through at them. Michael Klinger scored 84 runs Chris Dont got 58 runs. Essex threw everything at Gloucestershire but the wickets would not fall. Gareth Roderick scored a 89 and come late afternoon Gloucestershire were 291 for 4 and leading by 165 runs.

431 all out after 134 overs 14 Extras 1st Innings

305 all out after 88.5 overs 1st Innings 291 for 4 lead by 165 runs 2nd Innings

So with the final day approaching its looking like a draw, The weather not looking good for tomorrow morning.

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Welcome to day 4

Well its not raining so we should get a full days play here at Chelmsford. Gloucestershire retied at first tea with a grand total of 413 for 8 leading by a massive 287 runs. This game looks a certain draw and not wanting to take any chances the team used 3 bars on the aggression with the batting. Essex needed 200 runs to win at lunch was it possable to catch up, Essex increased there aggression to 4 bars with Foster and Cook looking very good, With just 60 minutes to go Essex need 145 runs to win Cook on 45 runs and Foster on 38 runs. It was time to go aggressive with the batting, Foster and cook were knocking the ball all over the park hitting many 4s.It got to 30 minutes of play left and 97 runs needed to win so very aggressive batting was used Cook and Foster soon both were out but it went to the final over where Essex needed 27 runs from 6 balls.But it wasnt going to happen. But certainly a exciting fininsh if only Essex had used aggressive batting earlier in the day they may have won this match.

James Foster man of the match.
431 all out 1st Innings 266 for 4 2nd Innings
305 all out 1st Innings 413 for 8 dec 2nd Innings
MATCH DRAWN


County Championship Division 2 Table
Essex play away next to Northamtonshire in the County Championship

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NORTHAMPTONSHIRE V ESSEX
County Championship Division 2

Welcome to the county ground Northamptonshire the ground has a capacity of 6,500 but can hold 10,000 with temporary seating.

Essex have made four changes to the previous squad, They have brought in Bopara, Pettini, Philips, Chambers. So here are the line ups for the teams.

1) R Newton, 2) D Sales, 3) A Hall, 4) S Peters, 5)D Willey, 6)D Murphy, 7)T Copeland, 8)M Azharullah, 9)L Evans, 10)S Newman, 11) L Daggett.

1) A Cook, 2) R Quiney, 3) R Bopara, 4) J Foster, 5) M Pettini. 6) G Smith, 7) G Napier, 8) S Mahmood, 9) D Masters, 10) M Chambers, 11) T Philips



Essex have lost the toss and will bowl first

The teams look evenly matched its going to be a close match, But hopefully by bringing in the fresh players Bopara,Pettini, Philips and Chambers the experience should pay off, But the Essex youngsters will get starts in the first team during the season.

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Welcome to day 1

Northamptonshire have started there innings here at the county ground, Essex bowlers Mahmood and Masters are struggling to take wickets. S Newman and D Sales are batting very confident infront of the home crowd,

Essex have been trying all sorts of methods to take wickets and now doing a lot of very aggressive bowling, S Newman scored a fantastic 190 runs before being bowled lbw by Masters.

Scott Newman hits 190 against Essex
The Essex bowlers were feeling very tied at the end of the day, D Masters taking just 2 wickets, Mahmood, Philips and G Smith all took one wicket each.



NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 397 for 5 after day 1.

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Welcome to day 2

Northampton will resume there batting this morning. Not the start Essex wanted here, Its going to be a massive task just to get a draw. Northampton done Essex a favour by declaring just after tea with a massive 606 runs.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 606 for 7 declared
Essex will be batting with a aggression bar of 2 to 3 as they dont want to lose too many wickets, Its going to be a hard job just getting a draw. R Quiney fell first with just 7 runs and Essex were 15 for 1, The Essex side hoppled into tea with 40 for 1 with Bopara on 22 not out and Cook on 9 not out.


This some live action from Alister Cook
Essex still batting on just 2 to 3 bars for the remainder of the day here, Iam confident my side will get a draw but its not going to be easy. Iam still amazed at the amount of runs Northampton scored i did not use very aggressive bowling for long just some short spells.


Well thats day 2 over with can Essex survive the next two days,The team will be batting with just 2 to 3 aggression bars.

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Welcome to day 3

Essex resume there batting today with a mountain to climb. Mark Pettini and Alastair Cook start there innings with 483 runs needed. Pettini was out lbw just before lunch with 34 runs.

Essex still 404 runs needed, Alastair Cook batting on form with 73 runs looking very good Greg Smith on 23 runs both batsman on 3 bar aggression. Azharullah bowled a very aggressive ball hitting Alastair Cook straight on the shoulder. After about ten minutes the team doctor helped Alastair Cook off the pitch.

Alastair Cook injured.
Azharullah then with the very next ball got G Napier with lbw, So Essex down to ten men and praying Alastair Cook will return for the next innings. G Smith went out lbw to daggett, Smith scored 68 runs. In the same over Mahmood was clean bowled by Daggett. Essex need 170 runs to avoid the follow on. Next to go was Chambers bowled by Copeland just before tea.

Essex now need 152 runs to avoid the follow on. But within 2 overs of the restart after tea Philips is bowled by Copeland. Essex start there 2nd innings and are 297 runs behind Northampton. More bad new for Essex Alastair Cook will not be playing anymore today, So ten man Essex have it all to do here at the county ground. Essex will be batting with 1 aggression bar and try waste lots of time. Rob Quiney was caught by Copeland on 8 runs.

Thats the end of day 3

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Welcome to day 4

Essex have it all to do today, They got to fight for there lives here. So the idea is to batt on 1 aggression bar and defend the innings. Essex started well with James Foster hitting 3 fours in succession, Ravi Bopara also scoring runs at quite a fast rate. Then suddenly Ravi Bopara is out, not the start Essex wanted so next in is Mark Pettini, Essex have a mountain to climb. Azhurulla is having a fantastic game for Northamtonshire. Copeland bowls to Pettini and his clean bowled, What was Pettini doing there. Then to make matters worse James Foster is caught behind on 61 runs, Graham Napier steps in but after just 2 runs he clean bowled by Evans for just 2 runs.

FIRST LUNCH BREAK AT THE COUNTY GROUND.


Well as coach of this Essex team iam not happy the way the players have responded to the 1 bar aggression, They have been batting very strongly, As play is resumed Sajid Mahmood went out straight away first ball, Essex are sinking like the titanic here Masters soon followed after being bowled by Copeland. Essex are going to be lose here Azhurullah takes Chambers out lbw, Then the next ball Tim Philips is clean bowled by Azhurllah, Thats it Essex all out and have lost here at the county ground. But it has to be said well played Northamptonshire.

THE FINAL RESULT HERE AT COUNTY GROUND



Essex were simply not good enough against a far better team, Some of the senior players were just lacking in concentration, I will have to think hard who i play in the next match. But on a final note was amazed how easily we lost wickets on 1 bar aggression.

THE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION 2



Essex next game is at home to Hampshire at chelmsford in the County Championship.

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COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION 2

ESSEX V HAMPSHIRE

Essex have Alstair Cook injured for 8 days, Pettini out for 3 weeks with back problem and Quiney been called up by Australia. So there be starts for J Mickleburgh, K Velani, S Cook and 18 year old Kishen Hassan. This going to be a hard fixture for the Essex boys as Hampshire a very good side.

THE TEAM LINE UPS

1 R Hassan 2 J Mickleburgh 3 R Bopara 4J Foster 5 G Smith 6 K Velani 7G Napier 8S Mahmood 9 D Masters 10 S Cook 11 N Malik

1 N Mckenzie 2J Adams 3G Bailey 4 S Ervine 5 A Wheater 6 M Carberry 7 L Dawson 8 C Wood 9 D Balcombe 10 D Briggs 11 J Tomlinson

ESSEX HAVE LOST THE TOSS AND HAVE BEEN PUT IN TO BAT

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my computer lost some files

My Computer lost some files so we re join this match on day 3 session 1 where Hampshire have been asked to follow on.

ESSEX FIRST INNINGS



Essex played a good innings here but it took the best part of two days.

HAMPSHIRE FIRST INNINGS



Essex smashed the Hampshire team here, Hampshire 188 all out have been asked to follow on they trail by 239 runs. We are now in day3 session 1 with about 50 minutes to lunch, Where Hampshire are about to start there 2nd innings. Are Essex going to taste victory for the first time this season.

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Welcome to day 3

David Masters and Sajid Mahmood will be bowling first for Essex, Hampshire will start there 2nd innings, The pitch is good for spin so we will see Greg Smith in action. Hampshire start brightly hitting some fours and picking up many silly little singles, Greg Smith and Simon cook soon take over with some promising bowling. The innings started 30 minutes before tea, So the players are off the field.



Essex lead by 202 runs here and there first victory could be on the cards. Sajid Mahmood bowls to Adams, Adams smashes the ball straight into the path of Mickleburgh who makes the easy catch. A few overs later Greg Smith bowls to Mckenzie who swipes at the ball and it lands in the hands of Foster the Essex wicket keeper, Hampshire 39 for 2 great start for Essex, Who leading by 200 runs. 15 Minutes later Greg Smith Bowls to Bailey, Bailey was trying to send the ball out of the park, But Jaik Mickleburgh with the catch.


Jaik Mickleburgh with a nice easy catch

Hampshire 46 for 3 after 17 overs Then Greg Smith bowls out Eruine lbw just Amazing stuff here at Chelmsford, Hampshire are falling apart at 56 for 4, Greg Smith is on 3-33 and loving this pitch. A few overs later Greg Smith clean bowled Mcarberry, Hampsire look doomed on 61 for 5 Essex lead by 178 runs.


Greg Smith smashes mcarberrys wicket

Hampshire batsmen Dawson and Wheater start to knock a few runs up, The Essex bowlers carnt get near them, Hampshire moving up to 118 for 5. The teams head of tea again.


THE SCOREBOARD WITH TWO HOURS OF PLAY TO GO

With two hours to go both teams can feel the tension here, Wheater and Dawson both still batting well there partnership adds up to 117 runs. Mahmood bowls to Dawson who launches the high in the air, Then Jaik Micklebugh drops the ball. Dawson smiles. Sajid Mahmood bowls to wheater, Wheater caught by Mickleburgh what a lovely catch. Hampshire are pulling there way back in to this match.