Match Preview | Essex v Warwickshire

 

Essex return to Specsavers County Championship action on Monday, as Warwickshire visit The Cloudfm County Ground.

The team will be looking to bounce back after the Royal London One-Day Cup semi-final defeat on Friday evening but still remain the only undefeated in the division and will be looking to make it back-to-back victories after the 8-wicket win against Surrey last week.

Head Coach, Chris Silverwood has named a 13-man squad for the match and believes his side are all set to put on another positive performance over the four days.

“Friday night was obviously disappointing for everyone but the beauty is we are straight into another game and have to focus our minds back on Championship cricket again.

“We have adapted well to Division One so far and Monday is another opportunity to play our brand of cricket and make our presence felt.

“We will not be taking Warwickshire lightly even though they’ve had a difficult start to the season. They have a number of dangerous players and we know it will be another tough encounter.”

Leading wicket-taker, Jamie Porter and batsman, Dan Lawrence will miss the match after being called up to the England Lions squad to face South Africa ‘A’ over four days on Wednesday.

That has opened up an opportunity for Sam Cook who is another product of the Academy and in contention to make his First Class debut for the Club.

Silverwood said, “Losing Jamie Porter and Dan Lawrence to England Lions duty is obviously a blow but that is why we have put together such a strong and competitive squad.

“We have a number of young bowlers breaking through and this is an opportunity for them, similar to the one Jamie got a couple of years ago. I have full faith in the team we will be putting out and if we stick to our plans we will be absolutely fine.”

Essex squad to face Warwickshire:

Ryan ten Doeschate (27) (Captain) (Harwich)
Aaron Beard (14) (Chelmsford)
Ravi Bopara (25) (Hainault & Clayhall)
Nick Browne (10) (South Woodford)
Varun Chopra (6) (Ilford)
Alastair Cook (26) (Maldon)
Sam Cook (16) (Chelmsford)
James Foster (7) (Wicket-Keeper) (Wanstead)
Simon Harmer (11)
Neil Wagner (13)
Paul Walter (22) (Billericay)
Tom Westley (21) (Mildenhall)
Ashar Zaidi (99) (Ilford)

Warwickshire have named a 14-man squad for the trip, which includes Neil Wagner’s international team mate, Jeetan Patel who returns after Champions Trophy duty with New Zealand.

Warwickshre squad: Ian Bell (Captain), Ian Westwood, Andrew Umeed, William Porterfield, Jonathan Trott, Sam Hain, Tim Ambrose, Rikki Clarke, Keith Barker, Jeetan Patel, Boyd Rankin, Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Sukhjit Singh, George Panayi.

Play is scheduled to begin at 11am on each of the four days with tickets available to purchase for a discounted price in advance, or on the gates from 10am.