Tendo and Toppers impress

Tendo and Toppers shine amid the gloom

Essex's match with the Sri Lankans may have ended with a damp draw amid the dark clouds and rain but it certainly had some bright moments.

Ryan ten Doeschate recorded his highest score for Essex with 164 off 174 balls, showing the Flying Dutchman is in good nick as the next phase of Friends Life t20 games start again tomorrow with an away match again at Surrey at The Oval.

Also impressive (again) was Reece Topley, the young fast bowler who's made such an impression this season. The 17-year-old took four wickets for just 23 runs off 13.4 overs in Sri Lanka's first innings and struck twice again in his eight overs in their second innings before play was abandoned.

Despite his young age and only a handful of games, Toppers is causing quite a stir at the County Ground and is highly rated by the coaches there. His appearances so far this season have been limited by his school commitments. Roll on the summer holidays so he can turn out more regularly for Essex.

Brearley on Cook

The plaudits contine to oome in for Alastair Cook. Hot on the heels of his MBE comes insightful praise from one of England's finest ever captains, Mike Brearley. In a piece in today's Observer, Brearley identifies the qualities that make Cook such an impressive cricketer, qualities that don't always grab the headlines. Read it here

No maidens for Surrey game

Essex head for The Oval tomorrow night hoping to complete a London double after last week's defeat of Middlesex at Lord's. The game was going to be the first to feature "walk-on girls" accompanying batsmen to the wicket to "add a touch of glamour" but the idea was abandoned by Surrey's marketing team after an outcry by supporters. Hopefully the game will be exciting enough without the need for such gimmicks.

Honours and daddy hundreds

Cook's honour

Just a quickie today to say huzzah and hurrah for Alastair Cook for receiving an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

The Essex and England was rewarded for his amazing achievements on the Ashes tour over the winter as were England captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower (formerly of Essex) who both got OBEs.

With his brilliant run of form, the England One Day captaincy and now this gong, Cooky must have banished all the doubts about him last summer. What a difference a year makes.

Daddy hundred for Tendo

After a tough day in the field yesterday, Essex looked to be in real trouble in the tourist match against Sri Lanka at Chelmsford today. The Sri Lankans posted 337 for nine and in response Essex were soon reduced to 24 for three with Godleman, Pettini and Bopara all falling cheaply.

Enter Ryan ten Doeschate. The Dutchman showed his class in a 195 run stand with Tom Westley before the latter fell for a close-but-no-cigar 99. Tendo went on to score 164 off just 174 balls, smashing 24 fours and a six along the way.

But when the Dutch all-rounder went with the score on 320, the innings crumbled with the last four wickets tumbling for just four runs to leave Essex on 328 for nine at the end of the day.

With just a day to go, a draw looks a certainty unless both sides agree to chase a result. But a good day for Tendo, unlike Ravi Bopara who would have hoped to rediscovered his batting touch against the tourists and impressed the selectors.

The People's Republic of Chelmsford

I wrote a piece for the Essex Chronicle and Brentwood Gazette on the 'twelfth man' effect of Fortress Chelmsford this week which those nice chaps on the sports desk were kind enough to use... you can read it here

Shah shines, hope for Ravi and Cooky's stats

After a prolonged hiatus, it’s back to the blog as the cricket season reaches its most exciting phase.

We’re two Tests into an intriguing series with Sri Lanka and there's the exciting prospect of the world's best Test side, India, coming to these shores later this summer.

Essex face the Sri Lankans in a tour match starting today, a good chance to take stock of the season so far as well as rest some players who have been toiling away for weeks with few breaks.

Shah shows his class

In the domestic game, the Friends Life t20 has whirred into action with all its accompanying thrills and spills. Four games in and Essex's tally is two losses and two defeats.

They looked in great nick against Gloucestershirer last Friday at Fortress Chelmsford. Bouncing back after a comprehensive defeat to Sussex the night before in Hove, the Eagles amassed a mighty 204 for four with Ravi Bopara, Owais Shah, Ryan ten Doeschate and Scott Styrus all in good form with the bat.

If Gloucestershire were poor with the ball (even the great Murali was out of sorts), they were even worse with the bat and at one stage were four for three in reply. The writing was on the wall and they struggled on to 82 all out, losing by a huge 122 runs.

Sussex again proved Essex's undoing this week, laying siege to the hosts at Fortress Chelmsford, scoring heavily in their first 10 overs and then restricting Essex in the first half of their innings to ease to a 17 run win.

So Essex really needed to win last night at Lord's against Middlesex and they did so in style... despite the odd wobble. Middlesex's 150 for five looked a decent if gettable total but after losing Bopara and Pettini in the first two overs, the stage was set for Owais Shah's triumphant return to his former club.

In an innings of controlled aggression, Shah hit 78 not out off 50 balls to guide Essex to a five wicket win with two overs to spare. Great stuff from the former Middlesex man who no doubt felt he had a point to prove and did so in style, holding the Essex innings together after those early wickets.

Gus Fraser, Middlesex's director of cricket, was in the commentary box for the game for Radio Five Live Sports Extra and seemed to have only begrudging praise for Shah's match-winning innings. Shah will have been fired up for the game by the manner of his departure from Middlesex last year - he found out his contract was not being renewed via a local newspaper rather than the club.

Still, Middlesex's lost is Essex's gain and Shah looks a class act with former Essex man Alex Tudor, also on the Five Live commentary last night, saying he could still see him breaking back into the England team.


Ravi's progress

On the subject of the England team, I managed to grab a chat with national selector Geoff Miller this week. He's part of a cricket night coming to the Queen's Theatre in Hornchurch later this month along with Aggers, Mike Gatting and cricket writer and broadcaster Ralph Dellor.

I asked Geoff about Essex's England men, Alistair Cook and Ravi Bopara, and he was effusive in his praise of the former, saying how highly he was rated by the England management, especially after his magnificent Ashes series over the winter.

On the Ravi front, Miller said the batting all-rounder was still a part of his plans but needed to be more consistent. The encouraging news for RavBop was thatthe national selector believes he brings something different to the Test team with his bowling, something that Eoin Morgan, the current number six, obviously doesn't offer.

Ravi is one of the few regular Essex first team players to face Sri Lanka over the next three days. After a couple of iffy weeks with the bat he'll be looking to show the selectors what he can do again - and what better way to do it then against a touring Test side?

Essex are giving some of their younger bowlers a game against the tourists and I also asked Miller if he'd had a chance to see much of Maurice Chambers and Reece Topley in action.

He said he thought Chambers had a lot of potential but needed to turn that potential into results now and described 17-year-old Topley as "an exciting propspect" who he'll be keeping an eye on.

Also in the Essex squad against Sri Lanka are Max Osbourne and Tymal Mills, two academy players who look to be very promising, as well as Tom Craddock, a 21-year-old spinner signed on a trial basis from the Unicorns after impressing in CB40 games against Essex. It looks like the Sri Lanka game could be a good chance to see some Essex stars of the future.

Cooking the books

Alastair Cook has developed a knack for re-writing the record books recently. His exploits Down Under in the Ashes (766 and all that) and since then have had the cricket geeks busily flicking through their facts and figures and some interesting stats have emerged.

Cook's average in his last 10 Test innings is a shade over 122 as opposed to the rather more modest 22.6 he was averaging in the 10 Tests before that. It shows just how much he's turned things round after his indifferent summer last year.Upping your average by a 100 is not bad going!

Cook is now at number eight in the all-time list of England's century makers with 18 tons, just one behind his captain Andrew Strauss and four behind the number one, Wally Hammond.

Abd un the list of top 10 centurions before the age of 27, Cook is only behind Sachin Tendulkar. Not bad for a lad that learned his trade at Maldon Cricket Club.

Fozzy's Big Dash

Finally, don't forget James Foster's Big Bash next Saturday, June 18, a t20 match between an Essex side and an All Star XI that will include the likes of Mutiah Muralitharan, Darren Gough, Monty Panesar, Luke Wright and Phil Defreitas. It's a great chance to support the Essex captain during his benefit year as well as see some top players in action. Details here

You can also support Fozzy by buying his beer! The Golden Fleece in Chelmsford is stocking this special ale by Brentwood Brewing Company and the skipper made a mad dash from the County Ground to the pub the other Friday (after helping Essex draw their Championship game with Middlesex) to launch Fozzy's Beer. It's on tap at the Fleece now and is a rather fruity little number!