Don't panic, don't panic

Essex need to heed the time-honoured words of Lance-Corporal Jones from Dad’s Army after two morale-sapping defeats in the space of three days: Don’t Panic.

The crushing County Championship loss to Lancashire a day early on Friday was followed by a 10 wicket rout by Yorkshire Carnegie in the first match of the rebranded 40 over competition yesterday.

The latter loss was Essex’s heaviest defeat in a one day match which Yorkshire achieved with more than four overs to spare.

Few positives can be taken from either match, save a couple of half centuries from Ryan ten Doeschate and Alastair Cook in the longer format and a typically assured, intelligent century from Grant Flower in the one day game.

If the Championship game was all but lost after the batting collapse on the first day, the 40 over game was a stroll in the park for Yorkshire’s batters after Essex posted a middling total but then bowled without a hint of menace or threat.

The omens were bad from the start when Alistair Cook was befuddled by a full toss from Tino Best which knocked over his middle stump. The West Indian’s delight at removing the Essex and England opener was evident in his rather extravagant celebrations which provoked laughter from the crowd. They didn’t have much to laugh about the rest of the day.

From there on, the Essex innings was a stuttering affair with no fluency. Most Essex batsmen conspired to give their wickets away rather than be bowled out and every time Mark Pettini’s side seemed to be settling into a groove they lost batsmen. Their modest total of 232 looked very gettable on a pitch which didn’t seem to do a lot.

If the batting was unconvincing, the bowling was uninspired. Yorkshire openers Andrew Gayle and Jacques Rudolph were comfortable from the outset and never looked in trouble. One spilled catch was the only sniff of a chance for Essex and a strange sense of resignation set in early on.

Essex’s bowling performance was almost entirely lacking in energy and ideas. A worrying sign.

Next up today in the Championship are Somerset who've lost both their games so far and lie bottom of the table.

A good time, then, for Essex to show some character and get back in the winning habit.