Essex Eagles have been drawn to play Yorkshire Carnegie in a Friends Provident Trophy Semi-Final at The Ford County Ground on Saturday July 5.

The Eagles were given the reward of a home tie in the last four after overcoming Leicestershire Foxes in the Quarter-Final at Grace Road on Wednesday.

Carnegie are captained by former Essex player Darren Gough and with all-rounder James Middlebrook and First-Team Coach Paul Grayson both hailing from the white rose county this match is certain to be fiercely contested.

Essex are likely to have rising England batsmen Alastair Cook and Ravinder Bopara at their disposal while Yorkshire could have experienced international campaigners Michael Vaughan and Matthew Hoggard among their ranks.

Ticket News
Check out the Essex CCC website on Friday when ticket information on this match will be available.

Play is scheduled to get underway at 12.05pm (with a reserve day scheduled for Sunday July 6).

Essex reaction to the draw (as told to the Essex CCC website)

CAPTAIN MARK PETTINI
“We are very pleased to have been drawn at home with the prospect of a typically partisan Chelmsford crowd to play in front of.

“There will be a little bit extra in it for those looking to beat their old county (James Middlebrook and Paul Grayson at Essex and Darren Gough at Yorkshire).

“As captain it’s very exciting to be leading the team into a game like this. For me, it’s a dream come true – I can’t wait.

“It will be a big boost to have Ravinder Bopara and Alastair Cook available for the game but it’s a team game and we are confident we have the players to perform on this stage.”

FIRST-TEAM COACH PAUL GRAYSON(who played for Yorkshire from 1990 to 1995 before joining Essex)

“I left Yorkshire a long time ago but all of my family are still up there. Most importantly we have a home tie in front of our own crowd at Chelmsford where we know the conditions well and know the pitch well.

“The fact it’s against my old county is pretty irrelevant really but it will be nice to welcome Darren Gough back to Essex. I’ve already spoken to him on the phone and we both would rather have avoided each other in the semi-finals in the hope that we could have met in the Final – which would have been a nice swansong for Darren. It’s not to be but the Dazzler is looking forward to bringing his side to Chelmsford after he enjoyed his three years with us so much.”