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PRE-MATCH TEAM NEWS

Essex have named a 12-man squad for their LV County Championship match against Derbyshire at Derby, which starts on Wednesday (April 23).

England opener Alastair Cook makes his first appearance of the season at the top of the order while Alex Tudor is also added to those on duty in the first Championship match of the season against Northamptonshire.

Graham Napier (pain at the back of the knee) failed a fitness test in the 2nd XI over the weekend ahead of Sunday’s Friends Provident Trophy game and remains on the sidelines. Napier will see a consultant today (Tuesday).

TICKETS
Tickets can be purchased in advance either at www.derbyshireccc.com or on 01332 388 101 costing £11 adults and £6 juniors. Tickets on the day cost £14 adults, £7 juniors.

ONLINE AND RADIO COVERAGE
BBC Essex – our official broadcast partner - will be providing live ball-by-ball commentary of the game from 11.00am on Wednesday. You can access the commentary via the Essex CCC website or at http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex from the start of the match.

Updates will also be available in the ECCC Diary section of the Essex CCC website.

PRE-MATCH COMMENTS BY FIRST-TEAM COACH PAUL GRAYSON

Paul Grayson on the fine start to the season
Confidence and morale is high at the moment. We were outstanding against Northants (in the Championship) and top-drawer against Kent (in the Friends Provident Trophy) – I couldn’t have asked for more with the way we’ve started. We have good players in good form.

I mentioned before the season started that we are a fitter squad than we’ve ever been but we’ve also improved our skill levels too and that’s been evident over the first week. We’ve played some smart cricket and have looked good technically. A high standard has been set and the test now is to repeat it.

Grayson on Derby
Derbyshire made some bold moves other the winter – including bringing in Rikki Clarke as skipper – so it won’t be easy but if we play like we did against Northants then we have an exceptional chance of winning the match. 

Grayson on Jason Gallian (after his 171 on Championship debut against Northamptonshire)
We identified that we wanted to strengthen our squad with an experienced opener for this season so when Jason became available we knew he was the right man to come to this Club. He has fitted in very well and offers a lot with his experience. He couldn’t have dreamt of a better start and long may it continue. Jason’s keen to score runs and win trophies with Essex so we hope this is the start of things to come. With Ravi (Bopara) in excellent form and Mark Pettini showing what a good player he is after last season’s blip our batting is looking in fine fettle.

Essex squad to play Derbyshire in the LV County Championship at Derby
(Wednesday April 23 to Saturday April 26)

Alastair Cook, Jason Gallian, Tom Westley, Ravinder Bopara, Mark Pettini, Ryan ten Doeschate, James Foster, James Middlebrook, David Masters, Andre Nel, Chris Wright, Alex Tudor.