CLICK HERE FOR MATCH UPDATES IN THE ECCC DIARY

Essex have named a 12-man squad for their LV County Championship match against Leicestershire at The Ford County Ground, starting on Wednesday (May 21).

Pakistan international Danish Kaneria is in line for his first appearance of the season after returning to England on Monday. The leg-spinner replaces Andre Nel as the County’s overseas player as the paceman departed at the weekend for the Indian Premier League.

Quick bowler Alex Tudor is pushing for his opening Championship match of the season with Varun Chopra omitted from the side that won the last four-day game against Middlesex at Chelmsford. Alastair Cook, who also played in the win over Middlesex, is away with the England team.

Ravinder Bopara returns after missing the last Championship game due to England Lions duty.

Tim Phillips is unavailable after knee surgery.

Speaking ahead of the game, First-Team Coach Paul Grayson told the Essex CCC website:

“We fell off the horse against Kent (in the Friends Provident Trophy on Friday) but got straight back on against Middlesex on Sunday – which is the sign of a good side with good characters. We are in a good position in the FPT but it’s back to the red ball now. We have players who can play in both forms of the game and will be having a good practice session on Tuesday ahead of the match. We are looking forward to the challenge that Leicester will offer us.”

TICKETS
Tickets are available to the general public for each day at £15 for adults/£7.50 juniors (juniors can upgrade to a year’s membership for just an extra £4.50 – contact the Membership department on 01245 254010 for more information).

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 morning. You can access the commentary via the Essex CCC website by CLICKING HERE or at http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/realmedia/cricket_commentary.ram from the start of the match.

MILESTONES
The following Essex players are approaching career milestones:

For Essex (First-Class)
49 matches Mark Pettini

First-Class
3907 runs James Middlebrook

ESSEX SQUAD to play Leicestershire in the LV County Championship at The Ford County Ground (Wednesday May 21 to Saturday April 24):

Jason Gallian, Tom Westley, Ravinder Bopara, Mark Pettini, James Foster, Ryan ten Doeschate, James Middlebrook, Alex Tudor, David Masters, Tony Palladino, Chris Wright,
Danish Kaneria.